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8.19.2010

Tres Chic

I finally finished my latest project, and of course it has to do with some spray paint.  But lets start at the beginning, this is what I started with

A $3 tray on clearance from TJ's

I sanded it down, gave it a few coats of Zinsser primer and a coat or two of white spray paint and my tray looked brand new


Of course a plain white tray wasn't going to do, so I decided to spice it up with a zig zag pattern

I went online and found this one and printed out a few sheets.  Once taped together I cut out the right size for my tray.

Since I didnt want to paint all the zig zag lines by hand I decided to tape the whole thing and then cut the pattern out with an x-acto knife.

Here is the bottom of the tray all taped and ready to be cut. 

The zig zag pattern is off to the left, I just used double sided tape to stick that to the tape and then cut through the paper and the tape to get the correct pattern.

Here is my tray all cut with almost all of the tape pulled off.

Warning! Be careful with the x-acto knife!  The blade can slip and cause damage- I have the sliced finger to prove it

ouch!

Once my pattern was all set on the tray I taped off the parts I didn't want spray painted


I then took this outside and with my orange spray paint covered the bottom of my tray. 

Once dried, I peeled off the tape to reveal my orange zig zags. I had to touch up a few areas where orange paint got on the white edges and then gave it a final coat of clear lacquer spray paint to protect all my hard work

All my hard work paid off as this is what I was left with

A fun orange zig zag tray for my entryway


It will be the perfect place for change, keys, mail, sunglasses, etc.  All those things that end up on the table closest to the door now have a proper home.








Since I had the tape and spray paint left over from other little projects this was another cheapy makeover that cost me around $3.  Can't beat those kinds of deals.


PS- I'm guest posting over at JourneyChic today sharing one of my favorite summer drinks!

72 comments:

  1. SO CUTE! Quite an undertaking but it turned out so well! And I totally love that turquoise footed cup!

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  2. Love it! I have a boring white tray from West Elm that needs some sprucing up.. This is perfect!

    Best,
    Laura

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  3. This tray is as fantastic as you! I've missed you so much! xoxo e

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  4. It looks so cute! I have a tray I've been wanting to paint over, so this gives me an idea of what to do with it!

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  5. Holy zig zag...that is way cute!
    Sherry

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  6. how cute r these?! - if only there were more hours in the day!

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  7. What a great idea! The colors and design are just great, love it, love it! Janell

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  8. You are the master! I am soo doing this project this weekend.

    xo.

    PS- I totally had the same thing happen with an Xacto knife a few years back...

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  9. You're a spray-painting master! I love how it turned out.

    And that little turquoise change cup is to die for, adorable.

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  10. very nice. hope the finger heals.

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  11. You have the patience of a saint to do the zig-zag pattern! Looks great.

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  12. It looks GREAT!! I love the white, orange and turquoise! Fabulous! :)

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  13. Great job - very creative! Love the color scheme.

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  14. SO cute... that's the exact same way I did my thrift store box. I think I might've linked it here already...

    http://bontempsbeignet.blogspot.com/2010/08/quatrefoiled-plans.html

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  15. I love the zig zags and the colour of orange you used!

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  16. Love it!! It's zig zag heaven!! Seriously....so cute!

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  17. wow, what a great project. I love it.

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  18. Love it!! Martha would be jealous!!

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  19. looks awesome! super job. I need to do that!

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  20. wow- looks so different! Love the blue cup with the orange and white. Sounds time consuming, but definitely worth it.

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  21. You have once again wowed me. I love it and the cute little turquoise footed dish.

    -Rene

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  22. That's awesome! Seriously loving the chevron stripes in red! What a great project!
    Xoxo
    Lila Ferraro

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  23. Great job!! Looks fantastic!!

    Now I'm trying to figure out what I'd can spray paint in my house....

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  24. Love the colors!!! I have chevron-envy!! :)

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  25. Love it! Those orange zig zags are perfect!

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  26. Holy crap! It's adorable, and kudos to you to have ALL that patience to cut out those zig zags!! I would have made it through one and given up. haha
    xo
    amanda

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  27. Oh my gosh, love it! Ang orange and blue together! Killer.

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  28. Oh my gosh, love it! Ang orange and blue together! Killer.

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  29. Wow!! Looks so great! You are such a diy diva! xo

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  30. That is just to fun. I am a tray collector! thank you for the DIY.

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  31. What a wonderful job you did. I love the turquoise bowl too!
    Teresa (Splendid Sass)

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  32. It looks great! Ouch on your finger!!! :(

    Now I wanna look out for a cheap tray w/ potential. Inspiring!

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  33. Wow, you have the patience of a Saint! Love the way it turned out, just not the slice of your finger. Ouch.
    pve

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  34. absolutely fantastic. Will have to bookmark this one!

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  35. That looks awesome! I am not sure I am that crafty, but I am going to attempt this for sure!

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  36. love the color you chose and the change cup is beautiful and balances the whole thing out. great job, i love it!

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  37. Super cute! I've got an old brown tray hanging out in my upstairs closet -- I really need to get a little DIY on it and perk it up!

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  38. love this post and lvoe your blog!!

    xo,
    your newest follower!

    hope you'll swing by!

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  39. Such a fun tray! Love the zig zags I upgraded a little tray a few months ago with bright yellow paint & leftover fabric.

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  40. I'm impressed-what a difficult DIY and with fantastic result. I of course can't get enough of chevron patterns. Just posted a dining set getting chevron makeover.

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  41. Okay, all of these little painted boxes and trays--I am most impressed! I want one, too!

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  42. This looks so great! You are so clever. You have inspired me to look for a cheap tray so that I can try this myself. This is definitely #LL4L! Have a good weekend!

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  43. Thanks so much for the guest post, Lindsay! My hubby is dying to try the cocktail.

    I love your tray - I'm looking for something similar in size, and this has inspired me to keep an eye out for size and shape but ignore the looks, because you've proven that looks can easily be changed!

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  44. This is great. I've never seen that technique used before. Why didn't I think of that?!!

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  45. I absolutely adore this tray! Can this be an early Christmas gift?

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  46. Way to go! I was in a DiY mood this weekend, but didn't come away with anything half as cute! You should feel awesome about your $3 tray!

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  47. This is amazing and I will definitely be trying this soon!

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  48. What an amazing transformation. That tray is so interesting but I would have passed it up in the original condition. Great creatitive thinking on your part!

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  49. Oh my sweet goodness. Love it and it looks way cuter with that turquoise goblet.

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  50. Love that shade of orange! What's it called?

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  51. Oh I love it!
    Great color!;)
    I did a similar project, you can see it right here...


    http://pudel-design.blogspot.com/2010/09/tray-redo2nd-try.html

    Love your blog!;)

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  52. I love this, it turned out gorgeous!!! And how cool that you paired it with that turquoise color, so fabulous!

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  53. Where did you find the zigzag pattern online?

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  54. Sharyn, I honestly cant remember where I found the exact pattern. But if you google zigzag pattern, or even chevron pattern a few should come up. So sorry I cant be more help, it was awhile ago when I found it :)

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  55. LOVE this idea!! I'm going to make one for a friend for Christmas, I think.

    One suggestion to prevent paint color bleed-through: after you have the tape down, spray over it with white again. Then, any bleed is just white like what's underneath. When that's dry, spray the color you want and finish the steps. Makes the lines crisp and without much touch-up effort (I think touch-up is the worst!).

    Thanks for the idea!

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  56. LOVE this!!! The color is amazing...great job :)

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  57. ok, i just posted on your paper mache tray, but i saw this and had to comment to, it's totally cool. I'm inspired to craft some trays around here, now. Thanks!

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  58. Lindsay, As I mentioned earlier this week, you are my new favorite blog! I was stalking your posts and found this one with a tray project. Guess what, I already have a tray and 2 colours of spray paint (because I am addicted to spray paint). I shall be making myself a little tray.

    Oksana from www.ordermatters.com/blog

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  59. Question: did the razor blade cut into the tray when you cut the tape?

    thanks!

    -Kim

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  60. Kim, I cut very shallow to make sure it didnt cut through. But, it did in some places of course. The clear spray coat I gave the whole thing at the end fixed all those little areas!

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