A few years ago at a swap meet here in town one of the dealers
was selling some old books for just a few dollars a piece.
There were a handful that I was interested in
but they were in terrible condition.
It was getting late and he didn't want to haul them home,
so he suggested I pick out several for a dollar.
One was a French Lesson Book in English from the 1850's
and another was this book published in 1905.
The Lesson book's cover and binding were falling apart
but I loved the yellowing pages and some penciled notes
from a student many years ago.
And if you've visited many flea markets or antique malls
I'm sure you've run into at least one of these glass top trays,
probably from the 30's or 40's.
So some Modge Podge and book pages,
with a little white paint,
transformed the ho hum
into a sweet little tray to brighten the ottoman in my studio.
The vintage bird graphics aren't glued down,
they're just under the glass
so it can be changed out for the seasons.
I'd been wanting to do this for awhile and finally got it done
during one of my "paint" sessions.
I'm like Alaina, who runs through the house with a wet paintbrush
looking for what else can be transformed!! te he.
Hope you'll enter my give away if you haven't yet,
just click here
I'm joining in on these great parties this week,
(links on the buttons on the sidebar)
See you Tuesday morning for Design Challenge,
xoxo,
























42 common thoughts:
Love the tray! Great job!
I have one of those trays that I painted cream and under the glass I put white muslin with a crocheted oval doily over it. I use it on my coffee table and change out the items on top with the seasons! I like your idea of the old book pages too. Pamela
Love the tray Debra! You know I probably have seen a bazillion of these trays and never ever bought one. Next time though......
Hope you had a grand weekend!
Purrs!
Romeo and "her"
That is so cute! Love the birds and you did a great job painting and distressing it.
What a wonderful transformation, it's just beautiful. Hope you have a great week!!!
hugs~~~ Daphne
Lovely...blessings
Nice transformation on the tray. Love the little birdies.
Debra - Such a lovely transformation. The vintage book pages are a stunning touch. Hope you have a wonderful week. ~ Stephanie Lynn
Great tray!
Love it!
tot
Love the tray transformation. Great idea.
I laughed at that, running around the house with a wet paint brush. How funny.
You did a fabulous job on your tray, I love it!
I have one of these Debra and have needed some ideas on what to do to it, so thank you for the inspiration.
Now I need to find me a good book for the project.
sending hugs...
Looks great I need to go find a tray and do something creative like this!
http://www.the2seasons.com
Beautiful tray!!
Great ideas! Beautiful tray!
What a lovely idea Debra, and that you can change the items on top of the beautiful old pages, is great.
I laughed ,too- seing for my inner eye ,the runner with her brush. hihi.
Love and hugs,Dorthe
Love this tray and love that book!!!
Thank you for sharing.
Lesley V
Love this tray and love that book!!!
Thank you for sharing.
Lesley V
I had never seen those trays before, they are gorgeous, the transformation you did on it is fantastic, love the idea of changing it with the seasons, I see some orange coming.
Have a lovely week!
XXX Ido
What a great idea. I love the tray. The french pages are perfect. Thanks for joining TTT. Hugs, Marty
I love this! I'm going to have to look for French books to do a project with - maybe decoupage a picture frame!
Modern Cameo
What a beautiful transformation! I love the way it looks with the book pages.
That looks so beautiful Debra! I love the little birdies tucked underneath too. :-) I cracked up at your "wet paintbrush" comment because I was doing that exact thing this weekend and I'm pretty sure my family thought I was nuts!
Vanessa
Darling idea~
SO pretty, Debra! I actually passed up a tray today...I knew I'd regret it!
What a lovely transformation.It looks gorgeous.
Kathy
Sweet Tweet
Love it, Debra. I love book pages on anything.
Debra,
This is a lovely, frenchy tray! You worked your creative magic and turned this ho-hum tray into one we all would LOVE to have!!!!
Yvonne
**Love** that book Debra as well as the tray...great idea!
It's gorgeous Debra! What a great find--that book. I love how the tray can be changed up for the seasons. Thanks so much for linking this post to Share the Love Wednesday!
Mary
Debra, great deal on the books! Love the whole tray redo idea. I have a black iron tray that I've put sheet music on top of to cover the design. After seeing you tray, I may paint my tray and go with some French writing - love it! Linda
Very nice. Love the addition of the little bird. (-:
Love your tray! You have the best ideas! My grandmother had a lot of old schoolbooks, so as a child, I used to be fascinated by them. Wish I had some of them now.
I'm a sucker for anything with a bird. This is perfect. Thank you for linking up to Open House Party. I really appreciate it...come back next week!
Your tray turned out lovely, Debra. I've had a couple of old trays like that over the years. Now I wish I still had one to transform. ;)
Thanks for linking to Time Travel Thursday again this week.
Hugs,
Liz @ the Brambleberry Cottage
http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/
Cute, cute, cute
Hi Debra,
Your tray is super sweet, I need to do that with one of my trays.
Thanks so much for the inspiration.
Hugs, Cindy
The tray has personality! I really enjoy projects that use old books.
oooooh, love this! visiting from a beach cottage. bravo! come visit me anytime. :)
michele
Love what you did to this tray! Adorable-I'm your newest follower!!
Love the tray...got my attention right away! Beautifully vintage, old world feel.
~Pam
pamspaintparlor.typepad.com
Post a Comment