Coffee Table Tray

Major thrift store score this weekend... Among a $5 gold oil lamp, a $3 VCR and a $1 Wall Hook thing originally from Target, this little brown tray was just waiting for me to take it home.

I know, $1.99!??? That's crazy. Good thing it was 50% off day so we got it for $1.

We also recently picked up some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Pure White. I admit that while the DIY version does the trick on a budget, there ain't nothing quite like the real thing.  The instructions for using chalk paint can be found here.

After applying about 2 coats within an hour, I did a quick coat of soft wax.

Mrs. Tray still looked a little naked so I picked up some small L brackets and rub 'n buff'd em with the silver leaf RNB. LB then drilled some pilot holes and popped in some small self-tapping screws. (Lilly on HIMYM would love this guy's calves).

Now she was looking a little more fancy, but I decided to give my Martha Stewart silver metallic paint and a stencil I picked up a spin.  I grabbed some pouncers (always look in the fabric paint section for cheaper ones than are in the painting section-- tricky little craft stores!)

The trickiest part with any stenciling project is getting it to stay in place. This was made doubly hard by the fact that I was stenciling on something with edges & the stencil did not go flush to the edges. After flipping it this way and that, I found that I could use a cup for most of it. And here she is, all ready to be sealed. Walter totally approves. I took her out back and gave her a final good spray with this sealer and now she is back to work!

Any good thrift store finds you are working with lately? Link em in the comments and make me jealous proud please!

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