DIY Rustic Farmhouse Tray

It's time for another DIY Blogger Project Challenge!

After a few months off, we are back! Each month we create a different project based on a named material theme. This month, it's reclaimed wood. 

Having a long island in my kitchen, I thought how sweet it would be to have a pedestal tray... or tray table. It's a very simple project. And with a decreasing pile of pine from an old bookshelf in my stash, I snagged a 10"x 24" board to reclaim and got started.

I added two wrought iron drawer pulls and four ready made 6" legs as the main supplies. 

Not much to it!

I stained the legs. 
(Tip: Dip small legs like this into the can of stain and wipe off excess. It's super fast and doesn't miss any crevices.)

After the stain dried, I attached the legs through the top of the board with 3" wood screws. (It's rustic; I wasn't concerned with screw heads and the pine board was already stained.)

The long screws will ensure that the legs won't wobble. 

Then, I measured and marked where to drill holes for the drawer pulls (as tray handles). 

I attached the handles by screwing them from under the board. 

After the tray was put together, I distressed the entire tray by sanding high areas. Then, rubbed coconut oil into the wood. 

It doesn't get any easier than that, does it?!? It was like building from a kit! 

It blends in well on the farmhouse style island. 

It can be used as decor, 

an elevated food server, 

or as a carry tray.

I may even take it into the living room and use it as a lap tray on the sofa! 

Plenty of room for a tablet and a... snack! Cute bed tray too. 

It's a very simple and quick project. 

And, using reclaimed wood for something so functional is quite satisfying! 

Let's check out the reclaimed wood projects from the rest of the group! The upcycling options are endless!

Patina Paradise 

Redo It Yourself Inspirations

Little Brags 

The Rustic Boxwood 

Shelstring 

Kitchen Window Herb Garden

It's time for another DIY Blogger Project Challenge!

Each month we have a different project to create based on a named material theme. This month it's burlap or ticking!

I'm working on my kitchen makeover and the one thing I really needed to do was brighten up my window sill and tidy up the herbs. 

It's a dark and gloomy area, even with the lights on during the day. 

Luckily, I bought a metal box at a thrift shop that fits perfectly on the window sill. (it was originally for votive candles). But as you can see it's the wrong color. With ticking ribbon wrapped around it, I thought it would be perfect for the area. 

I roughly painted the box in white. While it dried, I used an empty label sticker outline as a stencil to paint chalkboard labels onto the ribbon.

Once the chalkboard paint dried, I glued the ribbon onto the box.

Then, added the plants and labeled them accordingly. 

It fits perfectly on the window sill.

I can water them at the sink and use them for recipes conveniently. 

It's much brighter and neater. 

I can't reveal the whole area just yet. The kitchen makeover is in the works. The mess and awesomeness will stay hidden for now. 

I also put together a ticking liner for our bread basket tray. It looks good and it keeps any ties and tags from getting lost. Ticking is a great accent in the farmstyle kitchen. I love that classic linen. I'm going to make some chair pads with it. 

This was super easy to do and it looks a whole lot better. 

Let's head over to the other ideas this month! 

Oh wowzers; they are really nice!

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Farm Style Cutting Board Holder

It's time for another DIY Blogger Project Challenge!

Each month we have a different project to create based on a named material theme. This month it's chalkboard paint!

Today I'm sharing another repurposed thrift shop find. Remember those vintage wooden paper plate holders? I snagged one! It reminds me of a breadboard, so I thought it could be converted into a cutting board holder. Something I need to keep my breadboards and cutting boards from slipping on the counter top. 

There were 2 problems with it.

1: The fact it was round and if I wanted to use it on the counter, it would roll from side to side.  To stabilize it, a piece of wood could hold it upright. And that's where my chalkboard theme comes in. I chose to use a wood farm animal shape as a chalkboard; mounted onto the front of the holder.

2. There were two dowels in the way of putting bread boards and cutting boards into the holder. So I cut them off with a coping saw.

While the front was still open, I drilled holes to attach my pig chalkboard when it was finished.

To make the pig chalkboard, I reclaimed some wood from my scrap box and drew the pig outline with chalk.

See that... a chalk board!
Ok, I'm joking!

It was the best way to see my overall pig shape before cutting it out with the scroll saw. It's forgiving this way. Easy to draw and erase with a towel to get it just right.

Once I cut it out, I sanded it and painted it with the chalkboard paint.

Of course, a pig must have a cute little curly tail. So, I drilled a hole for the tail.
Then, using a wire clothing hanger, I snipped off a piece of it and twisted it with two pairs of pliers.
To attach it, I dropped super glue into the drilled hole and placed the curly tail into it.
After the glue set, I painted the wire tail.
Finally, attached the chalkboard onto the plate holder with screws... well, board holder now. And sanded the edges of the pig all the way around for a nice old distressed look.

Because I left the original drilled holes for hanging, the board holder can be wall mounted.

Or, the way I prefer, sitting on the table or countertop.

It has plenty of room to fit all of my boards. 

And because it has no height or width restriction, any size board can slide in place.

As a chalkboard... kitchen reminders can be written on it. After all, some things are too important to forget!

What is nice about the original back on this is... it looks like another breadboard. It just blends right in. 

I'm already glad this is keeping my boards in place and wonder why I never thought of it before!

If you like farmhouse style, this is a pretty handy "two-in-one" kitchen gadget!

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Thoughts of Home on Thursday 

At Home with Jemma

Our Mini Linky Party

I hope you enjoyed this repurpose idea and will check out the rest of our chalkboard paint projects below! 

All of the DIY Project Bloggers have prepared some amazing posts for you this month!

An InLinkz Link-up