Repurpose a Metal Tray to a Mini Memo Board

Once: A mini dinner tray probably from the 60s, used to eat TV dinners in front of the Ed Sullivan show.





Now:  A mini menu chalkboard, helpful for menu planning and saving money by eating at home and not in a restaurant every night.

Here's how to make one:

1. Search your local flea markets and garage sales for small, old metal trays. Don't worry about how ugly they are. They'll get a good coat of paint. I found these for $2 a piece.
2. Clean and sand off any rust or chipped areas until the surface is smooth. I used a 120 grit sandpaper. Remove any residue.
3. Paint your tray with the spray paint color of your choice. Make sure it says it works for metal surfaces. I used chalkboard paint for some, and a silver spray paint for another. 
4. Let dry and repeat with multiple coats of paint until the surface is fully covered and the pattern of the tray no longer shows. For mine, the silver paint covered in two coats. For the chalkboard paint, I used four coats to ensure a good surface.
5. At this point, you can get as creative as you want. I made mine into a weekly menu board.
6. Once you've finished your project, you're ready to adhere it to your surface. I knew I wanted to put this board on the side of my refridgerator. I used adhesive backed velcro, though you could also glue on heavy duty magnets. If you want to adhere it to the wall, you can use Command strips from 3M.

I'm working on a few more. I'll post pictures of them when I'm done.