Studio 27 - By Jennifer Adams: Crib Sheets Turned Ice Cream Tray

I'm really excited about today's post because it serves two purposes- First off, I'm going to show you how I took the fabric from a crib sheet and combined it with an old frame to create and ice creamed themed tray/ decorative display piece. Secondly, as I show you examples of how to use this display piece, I'll also be sharing sooooo many fun fake bake crafts that you can make as well.

Check it out:

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Disclosure - This post may contain affiliate links. If a purchase is made through an affiliate link then (at no additional cost to you) I will receive a commission. You can read more about affiliate links here

I started with this framed art that I found for free, a $1 garage sale crib sheet and a can of spray paint.

You might remember the framed art from this treasure hunting post where one of my neighbors had a whole assortment of household decor items for free by the road 😍

Flipping the art over, you can see that it is covered in a paper backing that I easily tore right off. After that I used pliers to remove the staples and took out the foam board, which was also the art.

(You can see that Hobby Lobby $19.99 price tag, right?!?!)

Flipping the art over, I decided to use the plain white side as the front of my piece with the elephant print as the back. This is so the elephant wouldn't show through my ice cream fabric. I then trimmed around the art print leaving enough fabric to fold over the foam board.

After that is was as simple as adding duct tape to secure the fabric in place.

Here you can see the finished foam board neatly covered in the ice cream crib sheet fabric. If you flip it over you can still see the elephant peeking out, but this side is nice and pretty. You can always add another piece of fabric or a sheet card stock if you want a finished look on the back.

Here you can see the frame after I repainted it with the mint green spray paint.

If you do your painting first then you can work on your fabric while the paint is drying 😉

And here the art piece is put back together. Not too bad, huh?

Once finished it can be used as a tray, photo backdrop or even as part of your decor.

Check out these photos:

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-As a tray-

Since my idea from the beginning was to use the frame as a tray, I started there. In this picture I combined the tray with a few of my faux milkshakes and ice creams.

The pink and green milkshakes can be made by following this faux drink tutorial.

The large ice cream bowls I made by filling Dollar Tree desert bowls with spray foam, painting them and then adding joint compound on top for icing (like in this cupcake post).

For the ice cream scoops I used a real ice cream scoop to portion out some joint compound and let it dry on top of parchment paper. Once dry I painted them and placed them into some pretty dishes that I found at the thrift store.

*I bought the fake chocolate milkshake from Dezicakes on Ebay*

Here I used my tray to display another type of faux ice cream.

After my family had eaten a few single serve ice creams I washed and dried the containers before adding joint compound colored with acrylic paint. A couple of the joint compound lumps I took out of the cardboard containers once they were dry and anchored them into some glass dishes with a bit more joint compound that I left plain white. Once all of that was dry I topped them with more of the joint compound and various faux toppings; fruit, cookies, candy bits and sprinkles.

Ya'll didn't think I was done with ice cream trays did you? 😄

For this series I took craft foam balls and coated them with acrylic paint tinted joint compound. Once dry I hot glued them into these thrift store bowls. I was going for more of a sorbet look this time, I think it worked out ok!

And not to be done with anything too soon, here is one more ice cream tray example.

These scoops are made with clay and I'll have a tutorial post soon 😎

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-As a photo backdrop for shop listings-

Have an Etsy shop or other form of online sales? It's always nice to have a pretty background for your shop's items and any bit of upcycled fabric can do the trick.

These dessert bowls were made with the same method as my faux drink tutorial, but instead of adding a pile of spackle/ joint compound to the top, I glued a craft foam ball instead. With the craft ball in place I spread it with plain white spackle and then drizzled on chocolate colored acrylic paint. Last but not least, a faux cherry on top!

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-As part of your display decor-

Framed fabric can serve as layering pieces for your other decorative frames as well.

Here I paired it with one of my ice cream themed prints and a series of faux ice cream cones that I made out of clay.

(The scoop and cone molds can be found on Amazon)

After letting the clay forms dry I painted them with acrylic and in some cases topped with joint compound, faux sprinkles or cherries.

Instant Download Printable Wall Art: $1 Cones All You Can Eat

In this example I used the framed tray with a trio of sundaes and a faux ice cream cake.

The sundaes I made using thrift store found plastic ice cream dishes and the faux drink method.

I bought the Ice Cream Sundae fake cake from Dezicakes on Ebay

You can click here to see more of my personal Dezicakes fake bake purchases,

or here to see the entire Dezicakes Ebay store.

Ok this one I snapped because I just had to share! Can you believe that these giant ice cream cone drink containers are from Dollar Tree?! Yep, just a dollar each!

You can click here to browse Dollar Tree's online selection.

Another series that goes well with framed art and my new ice cream tray is my faux neapolitan collection.

Cupcake tutorial here and milkshake tutorial here.

The faux chocolates were made with hot glue and paint and I have a tutorial here.

The layer cake is simple to do. Just grab some craft foam rounds in the size of your choice and glue together. Then pipe on your spackle in whatever colors/ patterns you wish.

The popsicles are plaster, post coming soon!

And lastly, let me point out the pink serving tray. Once a plain clear glass piece that I found while thrifting, I sprayed it with pink paint to give it a whole new look. You can read this post all about another tray that I redesigned in the same way.

Instant Download Printable Wall Art: Triple Layer Cones

Maybe you aren't in to fake bakes at all, maybe you just want to layer your framed photos and artwork?

Here is an example of how well this project lends itself to that goal as well.

Instant Download Printable Wall Art:

Sprinkles Ice Cream Shop

Ice Cream Cones

And I'm throwing in one more fake bake example because I just want to share these faux ice cream sandwiches! Using this rectangular mold, this circular mold and clay, I formed two 'cookies' for each sandwich and painted them with dark chocolate acrylic. Once dry I applied a layer of joint compound to serve as ice cream and let dry. I love how they turned out!

Instant Download Printable Wall Art:

$1 Cones Vanilla Twist

$1 Cones Rainbow Twist

(The rest of my collection of Sweet Treats instant download

printable wall art and SVG cut files can be viewed here)

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And that's how easy it is to upgrade crib sheets into a decorative tray/ display piece.

I hope you enjoyed this how-to post, thanks for stopping by!

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Want more fake bake fun?

Check out the following links:

Holiday Chocolates