Friend, I am back on this beautiful day with some of my favorite creative blogging friends sharing our Trash to Treasure makeovers. (See our past T2T makeovers Here.) Some dramatic before and afters are sure to melt away the winter blahs! This month I’m teaching how to paint a barn quilt on a thrifted tray.
This big tray was marked $4.99 at Goodwill, and I got it for half off. Gotta love that!
Quick story: My friend Helen owns a shop in St. Charles, MO called Helen Nichole Designs, where she sells home decor and upcycled furniture. She also offers painting classes, and I saw on her Facebook page that she was painting barn quilts as wall art. Honestly I had no idea what a barn quilt was, but I loved how the art looked and it sparked me into doing some research.
Here’s one of Helen’s barn quilt paintings:
Barn quilts are basically large wooden squares (usually 8x8ft or even 4x4ft) that have been painted to look like a quilt and are hung on the side of a barn as a symbol of the farm and the family’s heritage. (Learn more here – it’s very interesting!)
Here are just a few examples of barn quilt patterns:
There’s even an adult coloring book of barn quilts by Marian Parsons (aka Miss Mustard Seed):
And here’s a lovely quilt barn puzzle I stumbled across:
(We own two Heartland puzzles by Bonnie White and they are absolutely gorgeous! Take a look at July 4th Fireworks and also Double Dip.)
Unfortunately I’m too far to take a class from Helen, and I couldn’t find hardly any tutorials online. But I did look through Pinterest for inspiration and found a pattern I loved. I think it’s called a Star or Starburst.
With no directions, I went to Excel to make my own template. The tray was 17×17 inches, so I made a square that was 17 boxes wide and 17 boxes tall. Then I made lines every 2 inches and played around with the different parts of the design until it made sense and looked a little like my inspiration piece. I also colored in some of the areas in Excel to make it easier when I painted.
*This post contains some affiliate links so you can easily find the items I use and recommend. Find a list of all of my favorite DIY products and tools Here.
How to paint a barn quilt on a tray:
Products used: Annie Sloan Chalk Paint® in Duck Egg, French Linen, Paris Grey, and Old White. My favorite Purdy paint brushes. Delicate Surface FrogTape. 3M 320-grit sandpaper. Annie Sloan’s clear wax.
First the tray was cleaned and lightly sanded. Then I painted it in Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint in Duck Egg.
Next I measured and marked every 2 inches on the tray (except 8 1/2 in the middle) with a pencil.
Instead of drawing lines everywhere, I made little plus marks at each intersection.
Then, following the Excel sheet I made, I started taping off areas with FrogTape. I started with the dark gray areas first (Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in French Linen), painting several of them at once as long as the tape wouldn’t overlap sections. Be sure to remove the FrogTape while the paint is still slightly dry so your lines will be more crisp.
Next for the barn quilt tray I taped and painted the light gray areas (Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint in Paris Grey which has a hint of lavender color, especially on top of the blue paint).
Then I went back and finished painting the rest of the dark gray areas.
And then the rest of the light gray.
Phew, that’s a lot of tape so far! If you plan to paint a barn quilt, make sure you have a decent amount of painter’s tape.
It’s not finished yet, but here’s how it looks now (the light gray is still wet on the middle arrows).
Finally, paint the white areas in two different sessions being sure not to overlap the tape. I used Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint in Old White.
Touch up any little blemishes with a small artist’s brush and then lightly sand with 320-grit sandpaper. Protect it with clear wax or any other non-yellowing topcoat. (Note: my barn quilt painted tray is not food safe.)
I love how this can be used standing up as an art piece or laying down as a tray!
I’ve been into sewing a lot more lately since launching Thread and Cloth Studio (find my handmade cloth animal dolls on Instagram and Facebook), and I’d love to make a quilt someday. I have a lot of respect for people who do!
I did make a little mistake in measuring/marking but I don’t think it’s very noticeable – let’s just say if I was making my own barn quilt art on a wood background I would make sure the sides were all an even width instead of odd.
Here it is styled as a regular tray:
Here’s a reminder of the before and after photos of How to Paint a Barn Quilt on a Thrifted Tray (feel free to Pin for easy access later):
I’d love to know what you think of this $2.50 Goodwill tray makeover – and also let me know if you’re familiar with barn quilts. I learned so much while researching this project! xo
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And now it’s time again for Trash to Treasure Tuesday with my girls:
Below are the Before photos – visit the links underneath to see the amazing Afters and to learn how they did it!
1. Prodigal Pieces
2. Confessions of a Serial DIYer
3. Artsy Chicks Rule
4. Bless’er House
Larissa ~ Prodigal Pieces says
That’s a fabulous new look! Love the colora you used.
Tammy says
Thanks for the share. I am a quilter and love barn quilts. Link for no. 4 is not working (from your blog or any of the other blogs also)
Sue Dingmann says
Wow! I love it! Computer skilled and an artist! This is one of my favorite Trash to Treasure Tuesday items!
Jen, Girl in the Garage says
Thank you Tammy! Her link is working now. 🙂
Christy James says
What an undertaking…this looks amazing, Jen!! Now I want one too ha ha! LOVE! XOXO
Robyn Wright says
Love the colors!
Teresa says
Love this! I’m going to have to try it. ?
Barbara says
Love this!
Dixie Lee says
I have been pinning tons of barn quilts and put them on my list of workshops I’d like to give/take, so this is quite illuminating, thanks.
Stephanie Chatterjee says
That looked hard to me but it came out great!
Paula says
It’s traditional that quilts have some small error. Linda like your tray. So in my book you did an outstanding t2t. Love it
Nancy says
All that measuring and taping! Wow! Genius. What a beautiful idea. My hats off to you for this project.
Marcie Lovett says
That was some project, Jen! It was worth all the effort – magnificent result. You definitely made the most of that castoff tray!
Nancy @ Artsy Chicks Rule says
Wow, that is a really creative and beautiful project, Jen!! xoxo
Marie Blackburn says
Oh my goodness, I love this! A lot of work but so worth the effort. I bookmarked your link to learn more about these barn quilts when time permits. Gorgeous save, Jen!
Kimberly says
This is fabulous! You are so talented and creative. You put almost as much time and work into this tray as if you made a fabric quilt block! Awesome job!
Jen, Girl in the Garage says
Kimberly, you are too sweet – you made my day! Thank you!!
Jen, Girl in the Garage says
Thanks so much Marie! I’m so glad I learned about barn quilts, they’re gorgeous and I might have to do another someday… 🙂
Jen, Girl in the Garage says
Thank you so much Nancy! xo
Jen, Girl in the Garage says
Thank you Marcie! I did spend a lot of time on this project Sunday but it wasn’t too bad. 🙂
Jen, Girl in the Garage says
Thank you Nancy! It was a bit of work but I’m so happy with the results – it’s on display on my mantel now. ❤️
Jen, Girl in the Garage says
Aww I appreciate the sweet words, Paula!
Jen, Girl in the Garage says
Thank you Stephanie! I was hoping the photos wouldn’t be too confusing, but it’s kinda hard to show every little step. I need to learn how to make a video which would be more helpful I’m sure 🙂
Jen, Girl in the Garage says
Oh how wonderful! Great minds 🙂
Jen, Girl in the Garage says
Thank you Barbara!
Jen, Girl in the Garage says
Thank you so much Teresa! Please send me a photo if you do 🙂
Jen, Girl in the Garage says
Thank you Robyn! I wasn’t completely sure at first, but I think they look good together too. 🙂
Jen, Girl in the Garage says
Haha! Thanks Christy – I think it would be gorgeous on furniture!
Jen, Girl in the Garage says
Wow, thank you so much Sue! (and yes I’m a nerd when it comes to Excel… LOL)
Jen, Girl in the Garage says
Thanks so much, Larissa! xo
Jennifer says
Can’t believe how timely this is! In December I visited a quilt shop in Michigan. The owner’s husband has a sign business, and they make barn quilt signs for homes and barns. I started thinking that I’d really like one for my own house, as I am also a quilter. Now, I can try painting my own. Thank you, Jen.
Jen, Girl in the Garage says
Oh that’s so cool! I’d love to see how yours turns out Jennifer! 🙂
Lisa says
Hi Jen, this turned out great!! Love the concept, using the tray, the pattern and the colors! I’m more of a beginning DIYer but I do think is something I could take on (fingers crossed).
Once really quick question. When you say “Protect it with clear wax or any other non-yellowing topcoat.” could you possibly recommend a specific brand like you did with the paint? I’ll get there but just need a little more information on this one aspect and product, like is it a spray on, wipe on, paint on wax or top coat and what is your favorite to use for a project like this one?
Thanks again for sharing and great job!!
Jen, Girl in the Garage says
Thank you Lisa!
I usually use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint for my projects, and then also use Annie’s clear wax as a topcoat. You can apply it with a lint-free cloth for smaller projects (like this tray) or a wax brush (also from Annie Sloan) for bigger furniture pieces. Here’s an older post I wrote about using wax: https://girlinthegarage.net/2013/08/vanity-makeover-annie-sloan-chalk-paint-review I don’t use cheap chip brushes anymore because the bristles always came out easily and drove me crazy. Also – Annie Sloan now has 4 “colors” of soft wax available: clear, dark (brown), white, and black. The tinted ones can add a lot of dimension and a totally different look to your finish. If you’re interested in Annie Sloan products I recommend finding an approved retailer near you (they’re all trained very well and also teach classes) or there are tons of videos on YouTube. 🙂 Hope that helps!
Harjith says
Love the project. Just checking , Annie Sloan paints are supposed to be food safe. Why did you state that the tray isn’t food safe?
Jen, Girl in the Garage says
Hi Harjith,
You’re correct – once wax has completely cured, it is food safe. However I didn’t end up waxing my tray as I’m just using it as decor.