Bathroom Countertop Tray

Hey Friends! I seriously miss you all when I haven't gotten to post! We are finally almost all feeling better at my house. Wahoo! You all know what that means, right? More projects! Yay!

Today's project is actually one that I finished a couple months ago and has been working hard for us ever since! I'm not sure about you, but our bathroom counters tend to get cluttered really quickly. Hair ties, jewelry, hair products I haven't put away yet... You name it, it gets left out on the counter in a rush. I had to stop the madness and get some sort of organization going on!

I've had two little glass vases full of Q-tips and cotton balls out on our counters for years and love them. I think that was literally the very first idea I saw on Pinterest and copied! I wanted to keep those vases, but add a tray to ground them and give me space to set my jewelry and a bottle or two of frequently used products.

I was planning to DIY a little tray, but ended up finding an unfinished wood tray at Michael's for only a couple dollars after using a coupon. Score! I filled any rough spots and wood grain, then sanded it down nice and smooth.

After I got it all prepped, I gave it a couple coats of gray spray paint. Clearly, I'm not a good photographer while spray painting. That, or I really wanted to show you my hand. #notahandmodel

Now comes the blogger fail... I took a picture of the next step, but it has vanished! I can't find it anywhere. Thankfully, it's pretty self explanatory. I cut a piece of gray and white striped wrapping paper to fit the bottom of the tray, brushed some Mod Podge to the bottom of the tray, then working from one side to the other, gently laid the paper down, scoring it with a credit card along the way to get any air bubbles out. After the paper was completely down, I brushed a layer of Mod Podge to the top of the paper to give it a water resistant seal.

To further finish off my tray, I attached two decorative handles to the sides. I knew that I wouldn't be moving the tray except to clean, so I took the easy, lazy way out and glued the handles on. #rulebreaker  If you attach yours the normal, correct way so you can actually use the handles, be sure to sink your screws so that the tray lays flat on the counter.

I love that I have a designated dish for my jewelry when I'm in the shower and having the cotton balls and Q-tips out is super handy! It's also a great spot to leave my facial moisturizer out without it looking messy. Of course, nothing will help my continual cycle of finding a forgotten bobby pin in my hair while shampooing and trying to throw it over the shower wall and make it onto the counter. It always lands in the sink. Ha! Some people never learn...

What are your bathroom organizational tricks and tips?

Product Sources: 

Tray- Michaels

Handles- Lowes

Wrapping Paper- Home Goods

Square Vases- Walmart circa 2009

Jewelry Dish- World Market (only $1.99!)
Flowers- TJ Maxx

Linking up with Savvy Southern Style, Remodelaholic, and many other awesome blogs!