Everyday Adventures: Tray Chic

We've had all our wedding photos sitting on top of our bookshelf for months, and I was just waiting to get some frames so I could start a gallery wall over our stairs. I kept putting it off, until one day Matt was just like, go to Goodwill and look for frames already! So I went, and while I didn't find that many frames at this particular Goodwill (I will try the other one in town later), I did find this awesome tray for $2.99.

I figured it would be good to have on our coffee table when we want our house to look clean and pulled together. Because the majority of the time, it looks like this:

I took the tray and gave it a couple of coats of cheap white spray paint — because I totally didn't think to use primer — then added a couple of coats of silver metallic spray paint. Last but not least, it got a few coats of sealant, because we want to put some nice books on it and don't want the paint to stick to them!

But something about it still felt unfinished. Well, this weekend my sister was in town, and as per usual, there was much crafting to be done. On a quick run to JoAnn's for a zipper and some hook-and-eyes (I'll show ya'll this project in another post ^^), I spotted this gorgeous metallic and burgundy paper. I swear it's not this pink in real life.

I bought two sheets to cover the whole surface, trimmed it down to size and used scrapbooking squares to stick the whole thing down.

Note: Scrapbook squares don't stick very well to wood. But I don't want to mess up the paper with other adhesives, so oh well. Also, the paper is RIGHT against the edges, so it stays in place very well on its own. And there is stuff on top of it, so that holds it down pretty well too.

Add on a few books and a fake plant (yes, I've still got like five wedding pots sitting around that I don't know what to do with), and voila! A finished-looking living room!