Painted Serving Tray with Rope Handles

Hi there! I’ve been wanting a galvanized metal serving tray, but I’m way too cheap to shell out 30 to 40 bucks for one, like this one from Pottery Barn.

So when I stumbled across this serving tray in the party supply aisle at Target, I snatched it up. It was only $15!

I wanted to warm up my tray, though, with some texture (all the trays I really liked had wooden handles which look so great on the galvanized metal), so I went to Jo-Anns for some jute cording. I bought 3 yards, which was plenty, and simply attached one end of the cording to the handle with some hot glue, and started wrapping. I put a little dot of hot glue every 4-5 times I wrapped it around just to keep it tight and in place.

Then, I taped off the sides of the tray with painter’s tape, and sprayed the tray’s surface gray. I let this cure for about 2 days (mostly because I got busy with other stuff) and then I taped off stripes and painted those white. Here’s the result:

I love that with just a little effort, I have a piece that looks more expensive than what I paid. Target–although they have gobs of beautiful, trendy things that are perfect just as they are–is also good for some stuff that has good bones. Ya know…stuff you can put your own stamp on. I don’t think I will ever tire of that store. Long live my happy place with its special-and-kinda-weird smell! 🙂

In case you missed it, here are a couple more posts featuring Target finds.