I bought a letterpress tray from a car boot sale last spring, with a mind to cleaning it up and hanging it on a wall, filled with colourful curios.
When I first starting cleaning the tray, I thought I was in for a very long afternoon of scrubbing and rinsing, and scrubbing and rinsing ad nauseam to get rid on the thick layers of grim at the back of the tray. As soon as I got a closer look, I realised that... the grime is paper!
Sweet, sweet, weird and slightly disgusting paper. This came out with the help of a craft knife and a flat head screwdriver to lift up the pieces.
Below you can see the pile of paper left from cutting and peeling the paper backing out. The paper underneath the wood was still cream coloured. The paper on display was dirty grey. A resounding eww.
So, having gotten rid of the paper back, I've given the wood a good scrub down, and it's looking good.
I'm not quite sure where to hang the tray yet; although having seem the below image on Pinterest, I'm thinking the landing would be a good spot.
Image via Pinterest
I just need to find more trays now!
Thanks for having a look, and hope you enjoy!
