Tutorial: Upcycled Cookie Sheet to Message Holder

Confession:  I have ugly pans.
Burnt, stained, tarnished, ugly pans.
But we're just starting out creating our family and our home, so that's totally okay.  Unfortunately, when the finish starts to come off on your food, it's time to get new ones, no matter what stage of life you're in.  No bueno.

What to do with the old pans, though?
I saw an idea on Pinterest but their pan was shiny and new-looking.  Mine was...well, ugly.  There's really no nice way to say it.  So how could I take this basic idea and make it even better, so that my not-so-shiny and new-looking pan would still work?

I do love paint...

So today's tutorial is how to upcycle a cookie sheet into a magnetic message holder.  If you don't need to cover up an ugly cookie sheet, go check out this pin (and while you're there, follow me on Pinterest!), but if you want to find a new use for an ugly old pan, check out my tutorial.

First, get your materials:
-Cookie sheet
-Scrapbook paper
-Spray adhesive
-Spray paint (for a primer)
-Contact paper
-Colored paint (not pictured)
-Painter's tape (not pictured)

 See how ugly my pan is?  It's soooo ready to be upcycled!  The first thing I did was clean my pan using steel wool to make sure the primer will adhere to the pan.  Make sure it's really dry before you paint it, or else your pan may reject the paint.  Then I primed my pan with white spray paint.  Once it dried I sprayed it with spray adhesive and attached my scrapbook paper.  **Make sure you do all of this outside or in a very well-ventilated area--outside is best because the spray adhesive will make everything it lands on very sticky**  I didn't take pics of these steps because they seem pretty self-explanatory.  Here is my pan after it's been primed and papered:

 Next, I used painters tape to tape off the edges--I wanted to do the inside sides one color and the outside edge another to create a double frame.  If you want to do it just one color, you don't really need the tape.  Anyway, I taped off the edges and painted the inside sides deep red (our kitchen is black and white, but our livingroom that connects is red, so I wanted to tie them together).

 I did 2 coats of red paint to make sure it was evenly covered.  Once it was all totally dried, I peeled off the tape and painted the top edge black.  See how pretty it all looks together!

I plan on using my board to hold recipe cards, coupons, grocery lists, etc. and want to hang it above my counter.  We tend to get a little messy, so I thought it would be a good idea to cover the paper with contact paper, that way if it gets splashed with anything it can easily be wiped off without ruining the paper.

Next, measure out the inside of the pan so you can properly cut the contact paper.  You'll want to note if your corners are square or rounded, because you'll need to cut the contact paper to fit the corners.  Carefully smooth on the contact paper so you don't have any bubbles or wrinkles.

 I'm going to use 3M removeable mounts to hang this on the wall, but here it is sitting on the counter.  With a couple magnets, it will hold your recipe cards, coupons, reminders, notes, etc. and it can be done basically free or super cheap (depending on your stock of crafting supplies)

Here's the breakdown: 
Pan = already had it
Paper = $0.50 ($0.25/page x 2 pages to cover my pan)
Spray adhesive = $5.99 (but will be used on a million other projects)
Paints = already had them
Contact paper = already had it
Magnets = already had them

Total cost of a "new" kitchen magnet board: $6.49

Success!  So if you have an old ugly pan or two and a need for more magnetic space in your kitchen, or anywhere in your house really (think: kids room, near the door, office, etc.), go ahead and give this a try!  Let me know how it goes, and feel free to leave some love and feedback on this post!