Make and Stencil a Wood Tray

If you read this week's Make it Monday post, I shared a colorful vase that will be part of my summer centerpiece on my kitchen table. I don't do a lot of holiday decorating (except at Christmas time), but I do seasonally change out a few decor items such as blankets and pillows and my kitchen table centerpiece. I am ready to put away the soft colors, the pinks and greens and lavender, and bring out brighter colors. I found this tablecloth at the thrift store for my inspiration.

Tomorrow I will reveal the whole summery centerpiece set-up. Today I am sharing the tray I made for the centerpiece.

Keep reading to see how I turned a $2,99 thrift store cutting board into a fresh and colorful cutting board.

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I f you read my blog regularly you know that I always look at the cutting boards at thrift stores. When I found this round one in brand new condition for $2.99 it was a definite yes. I decided to stain it to make it stand out a little more from the light background color of the tablecloth. I would never use stain, or at least regular stain that is not food safe, on a cutting board that I was going to put food on.

After the stain was dry, I used the STITCHES stencil from Funky Junk's Old Sign Stencils to add some color and pattern that complement the inspiration tablecloth. You can find the stencil HERE. I love this particular stencil because it can be used in so many ways and on so many places. It is perfect for kitchen accessories, pillows, the border of curtains, on planters. 

I wanted to add handles to the cutting board to make it a tray. I decided to use the same black beads that I put on the colorful vase that I shared HERE. These beads came from a wood bead seat cover from the thrift store. I drilled two holes on opposite sides in the channel on the cutting board and threaded 20 gauge wire through it.

I used eight beads for each handle, twisting the wire in the middle. I clipped the extra wire and tucked the ends into the beads.

I finished the tray with coconut oil to protect the wood.

The tray is awfully cute sitting on my bar and that is probably where it will land when summer is over.

Come back tomorrow to see the summery centerpiece. 

Remember, a little paint and a bit of ingenuity and you can make something that is perfect for your home and style. See items with a fresh eye and practice playing and creativity.