You can't move for brass drinks trolleys in interiors right now. They are all over interior magazines and the blogs. I decided that I would make like Zayn Malik (who apparently has his own pub in his garden) and have a drinks trolley as part of my balcony re-vamp (although, unlike Zayn, this was more to do with having a child and never getting out anymore, as opposed to being a millionaire popstar). I managed to win this gold number on Ebay (top tip: if you are also after a drinks cart, type in 'tea trolley' and you are more likely to get a bargain):

The thing was, when I picked it up, it was definitely more 'shabby' than 'chic'. This was fine, the owner had told me it was decades old, I only paid £5.50 for it and it will live outside on my balcony for the Great British 'Summer'. The main problem was that the trays were a bit lackluster, so I thought I'd try and make the trolly a bit more glitz by using faux-marble effect contact paper.

I'd never heard of contact paper before, it was only recently that I read about it on the internet. Contact paper is basically glossy laminating paper that has one decorative side, and a sticky adhesive on the other. Being the craft and DIY enthusiast that I am, I decided to buy some and try it out.

I brought this contact paper from Amazon by d-c-fix which cost just over a fiver for two metres. On the adhesive side of the paper are instructions and a grid system which help with measurements. I took my tray, placed it on the adhesive side of the paper and drew around it. I then cut the paper to size.

Once ready to stick it to the tray, I peeled off a corner of the adhesive protective film and smoothed the contact paper down, removing more of the film as I went. If it didn't lay flat or if it got big air bubbles, I just lifted the paper off and tried again. Once on, I smoothed the paper down, rubbed out any small air bubbles, then used a sharp knife to score and peel away any areas where there was too much paper.

Ta-da! One marble-effect brass drinking trolley:

And here it is all styled up!

And here it is on my balcony looking beauts ready for summer rooftop drinking!

I have to say using contact paper was ALOT easier than I thought it was going to be. When i first unrolled the paper I thought it was going to be useless - crease, not stick properly and be a nightmare to get smooth. In fact, it was the total opposite. Even though I bent the paper by accident in places it did not crease. The paper stuck firm even if you had to pull it off a couple of times to get the positioning right. As you can see from the photo below shining the tray in the light, air bubbles were easy to smooth away.

I'd definitely use contact paper again. I think it would be great to update cheap plain shelves with, or decorate furniture. You could probably do some great Ikea hacks with this aswell - Just think what could be done with contact paper and a can of spray paint!