DIY Chevron Tray

Over a year ago during a trip to Goodwill, I picked up an old, tired, wooden frame.  It was only $2, and because of the wood and the depth of the frame, I knew it would make a great tray.

I've looked at it and have never been sure how I wanted to fix it.  After I finished my end table last week, I had a little bit of paint left, so I decided to use it for this tray.

The old wire and hooks needed to be removed, the nails in the back got pounded in a bit {so as not to scratch any surfaces}, and the entire thing got a fresh  coat of ASCP in Paris Grey.  I distressed a tad with fine grit sandpaper, and then applied clear wax.

Then, I cut a piece of chevron fabric to size and used mod podge to apply it.  I had to hot glue around the frame, to secure it a bit.  I then sprayed some Scotch Guard on the fabric, just in case someone actually puts a coffee cup in there and we have a spill.

The bottom of the frame is wood, as is the top of our current coffee table, so I put felt pieces cut to size along the edges of the frame bottom.  This will keep it from scratching the coffee table.

I like that it's large enough to hold magazines, if I want, the remote, some coasters, a candy dish, or an occasional seasonal decoration.  Although, we will probably wait a few years for it to hold decorations.

There are some things that just don't fly in a house full of toddlers, so I choose my battles!  One day we'll have pretty things on our coffee table, but for now, legos will do.


Have a great weekend!

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End Table Meets Paris Grey

This summer I visited Studio Eleven, near my parents' home, and purchased a sample size of ASCP in Paris Grey.  I knew I wanted to use it on an end table in our Family Room, but it's taken me just a few months to get around to it.

I had read that a small jar of this would definitely cover an end table, but I was still a bit skeptical.  You would be amazed at how far this paint goes!

I was able to cover the entire table, plus had enough left over for another project {will share with you next week}, and hopefully just enough for yet another small project.  One small jar is only about $13, which is not too bad for a table, let alone three project re-dos.  If you haven't tried ASCP yet, I'd encourage you to purchase your favorite color in a small size and just go paint something with it.  You'll be happy you did.

When I stood back to take a picture of the table painted, I noticed that I needed to do something to the inside of the drawer.  You can see from the photo below that the wooden color inside was standing out just a bit too much from the front.

It just took a little bit of paint to coat the inside edges of the drawer so that the front looks much better.

After the paint dried, I used some fine grit sandpaper to distress the edges and a few spots on the front and back.

I wiped off the dust quickly and then applied a coat of clear wax.  I've used rags and paper towels before to apply wax, but this time I used a cheesecloth.

This was the best method so far.  There are specific brushes you can purchase for wax application, but they are rather pricey, and the cheesecloth worked great.

I'm happy with how it turned out.  Paris Grey is a lovely color, and the wax really deepens the blue in it.

One of the best things about ASCP for me is the quick drying time.  My kids were down for a nap at 2, and by 3:30, the table was painted, sanded, waxed, photographed, and back in its spot by the couch.  You can't beat a nap-time paint project!

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My First Chalk Paint Experience {the Baby's Dresser}

If you spend any amount of time reading home decorating blogs, then I'm sure you've run into posts about ASCP {Annie Sloan Chalk Paint}.  I mentioned in a previous post that I had purchased some and was planning to paint a dresser.  Well, it's finally finished and ready to share with you!

This is what it looked like before:

Sorry for the pictures!  I started this project at night, so the lighting was awful!  

I simply took off the hardware and spray painted it black.  Then, I used Pure White ASCP to paint the dresser and drawers.  Working with the chalk paint was great, but I definitely have a TON to learn about it!  Perhaps the biggest lesson I learned was that it's not really a great idea to paint a piece of furniture when you're 37 weeks pregnant and struggling with carpel tunnel!  I'll be writing up my own little 'review' of ASCP in a later post, sometime next week.  But, for now, I just wanted to share with you this finished project.  

Hope you all have a great weekend!

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