Decorative Trays

Hello crafty friends I am back again! Today I am showing you a decorative tray I made with some leftover bits and pieces from previous crafty experiences. So I started with an old Walmart frame that my parents had on their porch for who knows how long:

Then I picked a pretty paper that I wanted to base the color scheme of the whole tray on.

I then sanded down the frame lightly so that it would soak up the paint better. I painted it a rich red color to match the darker flowers in the paper and then cut down the paper to fit inside the frame. 

I went ahead and removed the stand attached to the back of the frame so that it could lie flat. I pried it off with some scissors which I do not recommend. Safety first kids. 

I also put a few coats of varnish on the painted frame to give it some nice shine. My plan for handles for the tray was leftover drawer pulls I had from my dresser makeover I did over the summer. I wanted to just hot glue the handles on the frame, but the frame is not flat (I don't know how else to explain that but look at a picture of the frame to see) so it wasn't working to just attach the handles to the frame itself. My idea to fix it was to cut some small pieces of wood that I could attach the handles to and then attach the wood to the frame. Did I cut the pieces of wood using a steak knife because my little saw is broken? Yes. Do I suggest that you do that? No. Once again, safety first everyone. 

I painted the pieces of wood a green to match the leaves in the paper and then used gorilla glue hot glue to attach the handles to the wood. I could then glue the wood to the frame and secure the handles in place. And here it is!

I think this came out really cute! Obviously it is not a tray meant to hold extremely heavy objects, but it is like the cute decorative tray you have on a coffee table or on a vanity that doesn't really have any purpose besides being cute. I think I will make a few more of these for the craft fair with various papers and colors. What do you guys think?

 - Rebecca