Serving Tray makeover

Vintage tray and tiles

 

I love how this little serving tray turned out. Much better than when I purchased it at our local Thrift Store about a year ago.

 

 

Vintage tray from thrift store

 

It had these little hand painted flowers that someone had lovingly done.. probably in the 70's. It was  loved once but the romance was definitely over. 

 

 

 

Vintage tray

 

I gave it a good cleaning and put a liner in the bottom just so I could use it in my coffee station, but I really wasn't lovin' it. 

 

 

 

Tile store displays

  

Then last week I was gifted a bunch of Tile sample boards from the flooring section of a hardware store. When they arrived I just happened to lean them down beside the hated serving tray and WOW it was love at first sight.  It just happens that way some times.  A piece will just scream at you, telling you what it needs. Well this little tray needed these tiles. You can tell it didn't want the ones pictured above though..  I forgot to take a before pic of the tile boards. :(

I got busy and pried off all the tiles from the boards that I wanted to use, and then I removed all the mesh backing and glue from the tiles.

Vintage tray freshly painted

 

Once I had all the tiles cleaned off   I gave the tray a couple of coats of my own chalky paint mixture in this great graphite colour.  It already looks tons better.  While the paint was drying I sorted the tiles and dry fitted them all together so I could play with the arrangement...  My dear hubby had some tile glue (Installing tile is what he does after all) and I glued all the tiles into the tray.

 

 

 

 

Vintage tray with glass tiles

 

I used a combination of four different sizes of tile in a mix of textures and colours.  Samples are great for this because of their variety.  There were some glass tiles along with porcelain, marble and slate.

I think I should have bought a lottery ticket that day because the tiles fit in this tray very tight and I didn't have to make a single cut.  I did however spend a bit of time playing with the arrangement to find the right tiles to make the fit. Cutting may have been faster.

 

 

 

Beautiful vintage tray

 

I Love how this turned out.  The tiles are fitted so tight that I don't have to use any grout to fill in the spaces.  Hubby says I still can if I change my mind but I don't think it's necessary.  I would make a dozen of these trays if I could, but it's nice knowing it's a one of a kind piece.

I imagine myself curled up in a big chair by the fire, and this tray on a little table near by holding my favorite book and a cup of hot coffee.  How about you?

 

 

 

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