DIY Serving Tray

While I was in Florida last month, I happened into a wine shop down in Tarpon Springs and they had these really cute serving trays made with wine corks...here's the pic...

This one had a $45 price tag on it!

Now I've had this tray for several years now and although I still get plenty of use from it, the style of the tray no longer reflects the tone of the decor in my home or back patio where I plan to use it.

 I thought the best way to transform this tray would be to paint it with my homemade chalk paint first and then change up the surface of the tray. I grabbed some paint I already had, and using a simple chalk paint recipe, I mixed up a light turquoise paint and brushed it right over the black sides and bottom of the tray. The best thing about chalk paint is that there is no prep work involved...all you need to do is to just start painting! (Click here for the recipe.) After the paint was completely dry, I distressed it with 100 grit sand paper.

Then I dipped into my wine cork collection which was beginning to overflow a wee bit, and using 44 corks of varying sizes, I cut them in half length-wise. I chose to use wine corks not only because I happen to have an abundance of them, but the corks themselves are functional as well as stylish. They are absorbent so they can sop up any of the condensation which tends to form on glasses and pitchers containing cold beverages during the warm summer months. In addition they also provide a non-slip surface for these items as well.

I arranged the cork halves end to end and when I finally came up with the configuration that worked best, I simply glued them with my trusty glue gun right onto the existing tile.

I also added some jute twine for a little more detail in addition to hiding a few spots where there was an occasional gap between the corks.

Now I have the perfect serving tray for hosting small summer gatherings on my back patio.

I hope this post has provided for you an idea or two of how to update a serving tray or anything else you have using simple wine corks, some chalk paint and a hot glue gun!

Have a super day!

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