Thrift Store Tray Makeover

One of my new year's goals is to finish or get rid of projects that have been sitting around. One of those was this thrift store tray.

I do not have a before picture, I am sure I did take one--it might be on my phone that is at the bottom of a Montana lake. But it was wood and silver, which I loved, BUT the wood was that mahogany color and it had an image on it that I couldn't get sanded off.

The reason I quit making over this tray is because even though I clear coated the wood before painting it, the red stain in the wood kept bleeding through. There was a mahogany colored wood stain used in the 30's and 40's that never dried completely (or something like that) so it bleeds through all paint. Finally, after a few good coats of clear spray (ok, and a couple years of sitting) the red did not come through the white paint.

I stenciled a lacy "doily" in the middle of the tray. I love the tarnished silver around the edges with the white paint.

It is a great example of a thrift store item that is saved and updated with a little paint and is perfect on ottoman.

PS--I don't remember where I got the stencil from, but you can get a similar one (affiliate link) HERE.