Decorative Serving Tray

Hi Everyone!  Today I'm sharing how I transformed an old wood tray into a customizable decorative serving tray.  When I bought the tray (years ago) it was a cherry color wood with silver handles.  Unfortunately I don't have a true before picture because I sprayed it white before I started this blog.  This is how it's looked for the past few months ~

I thought it needed to be warmed up a little...the bright white paint just looked like primer to me. I also didn't love the way the silver handles looked with the white.  As you can see I just had a scrap of fabric in the bottom which wasn't very functional.

So I sprayed the handles with my new favorite spray paint ~

It's Rust-Oleum metallic brass.

The tray itself also got a fresh coat of paint in a warmer heirloom white. I wanted to add some color or pattern to the inside of the tray but I also like to be able to change things up depending on the season, holiday...or my mood. So instead of painting or decoupaging, I picked up some scrapbook paper and cut a piece of glass to size.

Now I'm able to easily change the look of the tray just by switching out the the decorative paper ~

The glass protects the paper, is easy to wipe clean, and gives it a nice finished look.  You can pick up a piece of glass very inexpensively from your local frame shop or hardware store.  Just make sure the measurement you give them is around 1/8" to 1/4" smaller than the actual opening so that you can get the glass in and out without any hassle, and to avoid scraping up your paint job.

And there you go ~ a decorative serving tray that is completely customizable! A super easy way to bring different accent colors and pattern into your room whenever the season, holiday, or your mood changes!

I hope your week is off to a great start! We are loving this taste of spring we've had here in the Midwest this week, it's been wonderful!

Tootles,

Sarah

*I'm linking this project up to some of these great blogs... 

Lucky Horseshoe

Wow!  I took a bit of an unintentional break there!  Norah was sick for a good week followed by Isaac being sick for almost the entire week after that which didn't leave me a whole lot of time to focus on much of anything else.  But Norah is back to her feisty self and Isaac is getting close to his old happy self again, thankfully!

So anyway I'm back to share a fun St. Patrick's Day decoration I made for my front door.  I was trying to think of something I could make other than the usual wreath and a little light bulb went on in my head....a lucky horseshoe!  Once I figured out how to go about making the actual horseshoe shape it all came together quite easily.  Ta-dah......

Here is how I made it:
Start with a foam wreath form ~

Using a steak knife, cut off the top 1/4 of the wreath ~

Use the piece you cut off for the top portion of the shoe...cut to size ~

I bought some wood letters to spell 'lucky' from Hobby Lobby ~

I gave the horseshoe a coat of gold paint and the word a coat of green just in case the glitter didn't give me full coverage ~

I attached the little bits at the top of the horseshoe with toothpicks and glue ~

Then, just go to town with some Mod Podge and glitter ~

After I covered the horseshoe and letters with glitter I gave them both a coat of clear acrylic to help keep the glitter in place ~

Then just hot glue your letters to some ribbon and attach to your form.  I made some felt flower rosettes to add some color.  You can see how I make them here.  Finally, just attach some ribbon to the back of the horseshoe, hang, and enjoy!

I'm hoping to have a somewhat productive week, so hopefully I'll have more to share soon! If you haven't already, I would love it if you'd follow Picked by Jane either via email, Google Friend Connect, Linky Followers, or subscribe using the RSS feed in your bookmarks tab, these options can be found in the sidebar.  Feel free to follow me on Pinterest as well - that button is toward the top of the sidebar.
 Happy Monday!

Tootles,

Sarah 

*I'm linking up at some of these great blogs...

Coffee Filter Valentine's Wreath

So, I've had a package of coffee filters laying around for quite awhile now. When I say awhile, I mean ever since we got our Keurig over a year ago...ahem...It would be a shame to waste them, right? ANYway I decided to make a wreath to gussy up my antlers for Valentine's Day.
Here's how it turned out ~

It's a bit shabby and rustic, but still has some sparkle and I just love it.   And the best part is, I didn't spend a penny!   Here's how I did it ~

I cut a wreath shape out of an old cardboard box for the base. (Doesn't need to be perfect)

Gather the filter like so, and secure with a staple or glue ~

I used good ol' Elmer's glue and added just a little water to it.  Dip just the edges of the filters in the glue and then into the glitter ~

Be sure not to use too much glue, or you'll end up with floppy filters like this ~

Then just start hot gluing your little clusters to the form~

Work your way around the wreath filling in and fluffing as you go, until you end up with something like this ~

As you can see I topped it off with a sweet little "Love" banner.  I used some burlap ribbon, cut out some letters and glitter-fied them, and attached it to some twine.  Super simple!

Have a LOVEly day!
Tootles,

  I'm linking up!  The 36th Avenue

The Artsy Girl Connection

Simple Home Life 

House of Hepworths

The Shabby Creek Cottage

Thirty Handmade Days

Whipperberry

Fingerprints on the Fridge 
Tatertots & Jello
Six Sisters' Stuff  
A Little Inspiration 
Positively Splendid

Valentine's wreath

Hi there! I suppose I'll just jump right in and do a tutorial for my first-ever blog post! Let's see how it goes...

I've been on sort of a wreath making kick over the past year. It's fun to mix it up a bit on the front door depending on the season or holiday. I just finished up a fabric wrapped wreath for Valentine's day. Here's how it turned out~

First, gather up your materials....I used a straw wreath, various fabric, some vintage buttons, black ric-rac, and a metal "B" -our last name initial. Oh, and don't forget your trusty glue gun.

I ended up switching out the glittery heart for the black "B"

Tear your main fabric into 2"-3" strips.  Glue one end to the wreath and start wrapping.  When one strip ends, just line up a new strip with the end of the previous strip and tack it down with some glue.

Once you have the wreath completely wrapped, you can embellish however you like.  I did some rosettes and a little pom-pomish thing that kind of just happened.  To make a rolled fabric rosette, tear a 2" piece of fabric and fold in half.  Tie a knot at one end and begin twisting/folding and rolling tacking in place with glue as you go.  For the red felt rosettes cut a circle out of your sheet of felt.  Start cutting in a spiral until you get close to the center.  Then start rolling and tacking with glue from the center and work your way outward.  I stuck a shiny black button in the center of mine.

Next just figure out an arrangement for all your doo-dads and glue them on.  Here's how mine looked at this point.

All you need now is a strip of fabric to use to hang your wreath. I added some black ric-rac to mine. I also hung the metal letter I picked up from Hobby Lobby by stringing a narrow strip of fabric through the existing hanger on the "B" and attached it to the wreath.

Ta-Dah!  A cute, personalized wreath for my front door!

 

I'm thinking I may need to paint the "B" red so it stands out better against my dark door.  Here's a pic of it hanging against a white cupboard in the kitchen.

Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope you'll come back often!

Tootles,

 
I'm linking up at Tatertots & Jello  , Positively Splendid, Itsy Bitsy Paper, Six Sisters Stuff
Home Stories A to Z, The Girl Creative , Lines Across My Face