I was reading Design Sponge for my daily droolfest and ran across this great idea on how to create beautiful serving/display trays out of old picture frames. You probably already have old frames lying around that need re-purposing, but if not, you can find them at garage sales and thrift stores in abundance. Don’t worry what they look like. All that matters is that the glass is intact and that the frame is strong enough to screw handles into. They will also need a back but if you find a frame with the back missing, you can easily create one out of thick cardboard. If they’re ugly, simply sand them down, give them a fresh coat of paint and embellish in any manner you see fit.

Once you’ve made the frames visually appealing, follow the link to the tutorial at the end of this article to learn how to turn them into your new display trays. If you’re currently not implementing trays in your craft show and market displays, here are a few reasons why you should:

1. Trays help you sort and create groupings of your products. The tray creates a visual boundary separating one grouping from another.

2. Trays make setup easy. You can create your groupings at home before you box them up. When you get to the show, pull out the trays and set them on your table. DONE! They also make it easy to move your products from one end of the table to another.

3. I often see vendors roaming around with trays full of free samples. If you select a frame with a “lip” for this purpose, your samples will be less likely to slide off of the tray.

4. The trays can add real beauty to your display for little to no money.

Beautiful, functional and inexpensive. How sweet is that? If you decide to give them a go, you can find general instructions on how to make them on the Ashley Ann Photography Blog. It’s a great blog. Go for the trays, but stay for the photography.