Silverware Tray Repurpose For The Holidays

I found this wooden silverware tray at a thrift store YEARS ago and it has been setting in my "Hey, let's repurpose that" pile forever.

Y'all got one of those piles in your garage, right?

I loved the red color on the sides!!! It was just screaming Christmas to me, but I couldn't figure out what exactly to do with it until now.

I decided to set it up on its end and make a shadowbox out of it.

BTW, am I the only one that thinks it odd that back in the 40's or 50's when this was made they only had 4 places for silverware to reside (3 long ones on the bottom and 1 on top). Almost all silverware trays I find on Amazon nowadays have at least five spaces. Do we have more silverware pieces now than our grandparents did?

And before I forget, it's Thrift Store Decor Team day, so when you are done with this project hop on down to the bottom to see the other thrift store makeovers our team has done.

(This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. You can read my full disclosure policy here.)

Christmas Shadowbox from Thrifted Silverware Tray

Supplies:

Wooden silverware tray
Scrapbooking paper, wallpaper samples or wrapping paper
Doodads for inside the shadowbox - in my case, bottlebrush trees and a small Santa sleigh
Flaked Buffalo Snow
Paper cutter or scissors
Spray Adhesive - I used Gorilla Heavy Duty Spray Adhesive
Glue Gun or Bottled Glue - I used Gorilla Clear Glue

Instructions:

Cut your scrapbooking paper down to the correct size.

The scrapbooking paper I used was found on Amazon and I have to say I liked the quality of the paper. It's nice and thick with cute patterns. Sometimes it's a gamble to buy something site unseen, but I think I won the gamble this time.

The easiest way to precisely cut paper is with a paper cutter made for this purpose, although scissors would work also if you have a steady hand. I do not.

Spray adhesive on the back side of the scrapbooking paper and apply the paper to your cubbies.

I chose to use 3 different patterns.

Glue your trees to the bottom.

If you want a little snow I have a tip for you:

Move to Alaska.
If that is not possible, use faux snow.
Spray a light layer of adhesive and immediately throw some snow on it.
Let that dry a few minutes, tip box over and very lightly shake off any snow that didn't stick.
And then, spray another layer of adhesive right on top of the 1st layer of snow and apply more snow.
After letting dry, you can then tip box over and lightly shake off any left over flakes.
That should give you a nice little base of snow.

Then glue Santa and his reindeer down.

I kept going back and forth whether to glue a sleigh up here or a little red truck.

Then I thought maybe, just maybe, little red trucks had been a little overdone in the last year or so.

Since Santa never goes out of style, Santa it was.

I know the 1st question I will get asked is where did you buy the cute little Santa and sleigh? I bought a few of them last year at Michael's in the mini fairy garden section. Unfortunately, I do not see it online this year, but Amazon has a similar Santa and sleigh. Or Michael's has a whole line of small Christmas characters, trucks and such that can be used to create different vignettes.

Now let's see what the other Thrift Store Decor Team gals are doing this month: