Back in January, I wrote about reusing common household items for new storage purposes.
That prompted fellow organizer Audrey Lavine to write to me about old typeset trays; the one shown above belongs to a friend of hers. Audrey suggests they work well for craft supplies - for buttons and beads and such. (She also puts a piece of glass on top and uses them for coffee tables.)
You can see more examples of typeset trays in use over on Sweet and Shabby Jullie's World, Paper & Crazy, and Craft and Chaos.
You can find these printers trays for sale on places like eBay and craigslist, and also through antique dealers. The one above is currently being offered by GoAntiques.com. Another nice-looking tray just got sold in New Zealand.
And Audrey isn't the only one to turn typeset trays into tables.
7 comments:
I've seen these on people's walls with their little collectibles in them and had no idea that they were typeset trays! I thought they were just shabby shadow boxes. The trays history gives it so much more character!
Jenny, I'm glad to have provided that missing bit of information!
it may be wowed by other people, to me it is a too cluttery. be careful about using trays. it may once used by LEAD typesets. I used to work in antiquied printshop.
Anonymous, thanks for the useful caution. And yes, they certainly won't be to everyone's taste - we all have different preferences.
I love them!
They give you that Shabby Chic look.
I'm a packrat by nature who must constantly fight the desire to keep everything and never throw it away.
So I find the "organized clutter" appearance these give very soothing. No when I see typesets for sale in the antique shops...I'll ask about the trays instead!
Heather, I'm glad this post was useful to you!
The variety of responses to this post just illustrates, one more time, that everyone's choice of organizing tools will be different.
We have many old wood typeset trays for sale (have more pics to add) for a very reasonable price. It is the shipping that I just found is more expensive than the 1/2 size tray I just sold at 2 lbs 5 oz parcel post was $9.19 a problem for heavy wood. We have washed & air dried all of ours to get rid of the ink & dust. Keep in mind that each one is slightly different in cubby size due to font type size. Some have been cut into 3rds (3 areas to a large normal size tray), some have 2 cubby sides leaving one tray which is smaller. Love the idea of miniature collections on display & they are so much fun to do - a great keepsake. DAJ
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