Repurposed Picture Frame - DIY Vanity Tray

A vanity tray is commonly used to hold perfume bottles, thus, it's also called perfume tray, but of course, you can use it for other things like your hair brush, make up, or just about anything else that you have to please your vain side. That's also why it's a must have for me but what I like most about having one is it serves as a place where I can temporarily put my watch and jewelry pieces when I feel too lazy and tired to open a jewelry box or watch organizer and put things on the right spot. 

I used to have this acrylic tray from a box of chocolate as my vanity tray, it's perfect for its purpose but I still wanted to replace it when I get to buy or make one. I couldn't find a tray that I like in the stores here or maybe I didn't look hard enough because in the back of my head I want to make it myself. Then, my sister gave me two 8R sized picture frames which she had for a long time but didn't use and she said that I might be able to do something with them as the frames are ugly, but they're not bad for their price, just Php 50 apiece (a little over 1$). And so, it hit me right away that I'm going to make a vanity tray from one of the picture frames. A quick online search told me that this is already a very popular DIY project, picture frames turned into vanity, serving, coffee table, and other kinds of trays. The frames mostly used for vanity trays are the ornate ones since they're already decorative, unfortunately, what I have needs a bit of work for it to at least look pretty.

There are lots of tutorials out there about this project, with different takes and styles that you can check out, and here is what I did to make my own version.

This is the frame I have, it's a kind of plastic and I also don't like black for this tray so I had to cover it.

The frame hangers at the back are already rusty so I just removed them using pliers.

As I didn't purchase any material for this project like spray paint or whatever I can use to paint over this black plastic frame, I just covered it up first with tissue paper, I did two layers, using Mod Podge so I can use watercolor on it.

I mixed a few colors to get coral, I think it got a bit darker but I still like it. After I finished painting the whole frame, I applied a moderate coat of Mod Podge and let it dry.

I measured and cut the size of the scrapbook paper I needed to put beneath the glass. It still look a bit plain to me even with the new color and the scrapbook paper with light pink patterns so I just added some bead details. I strung beads into a thread so I wouldn't need to glue them one at a time.

I glued the string of beads one side at a time using white glue and pulled off the string when the beads are already in place.

I used generous amount of glue to make sure that the beads are not going anywhere and it dried off perfectly with all the beads intact.

This is already good as it is but I still wanted to add a small detail, little feet using wooden beads.

I painted the wooden beads with the same color I used on the frame and finished off with a coat of Mod Podge, too. I attached a bead to each corner of the frame using E-6000 and let it dry overnight, just to be sure.

And here it is, my very own vanity tray from a picture frame. Simple and easy, isn't it? The best thing about this project is you can customize it, you can use a picture, fabric, glitters, or just anything you can think of to place beneath the glass, or you can remove the back completely and just leave the glass for a different look. When it comes to the frame, you can spray paint it, add distress, decoupage, or leave it as it is if you're happy with the frame you have. 

As you can tell, this is a very affordable project though I couldn't say how much it cost since I already have all the supplies I needed but even if you still have to buy your materials, it would still definitely cost less than a store bought vanity tray, and with the fun and satisfaction of having to DIY.

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