For the love of Tray's

I love tray's. So fun, so simple, so versatile. Put one on a shelf, on a bed, on a table, in your bathroom to contain your junk.





I bought a few wooden trays years ago to make into Christmas gifts for the fam. I seriously screwed up this one. I ran out of epoxy so I tried to do a thick layer of Mod-podge to finish it, but it just turned into a gross lumpy mess. But I decided to finally try and redeem it, because I'm about to loose my mind. The kids are out of school and going nuts. And so am I. So I will let them run a muck for a little while while I craft, and maybe bake come cookies while glue is drying. This is a free project for me because I have all of the stuff, but here is a list for you.

*Supplies*
Wooden tray - available at most any craft store
Spray paint
A piece of scrapbook paper that will cover the bottom of the tray. (Mine is about 1/2 inch too short to reach both sides but it worked out anyway.)
Mod-Poge
Brush
Envirotex Lite High gloss finish (epoxy) - available at Roberts and Hobby Lobby - use your coupon because it's expensive.
Paper cup and plastic spoon

Spray paint your tray. I used  "Ivory" by krylon. Then I rubbed it with some Minwax wood stain to give it an aged look.

Cut the scrapbook paper to the size of the bottom of your tray. This is me trying to decide which paper to use :-) I love scrapbook paper... even though I don't scrapbook.

Glue your paper to the bottom of the tray with Mod-Podge. Follow the directions on the back of the bottle. I spread glue on the surface and then a thin layer on the back of the paper, and then stick them together. You should let it dry for a few minutes here, but I'm not that patient and I go ahead and spread a layer of glue on top of it now too. Be sure to seal your edges of the paper because if you don't epoxy will run underneath it and discolor your finished project. You can see how lumpy the bottom of the tray was here, and that it also used to be black.... it was first brown, then black and now white. (Sorta sounds like a recently deceased singer/songwriter we all know and love haha.)

Once your mod-podge has dried for a little while, an hour maybe. Mix up your epoxy finish according to package directions. You can buy fancy measuring cups for this, but I just used a paper cup. I poured 1/4 cup of water in it and marked it with a sharpie, then I added another 1/4 cup of water and marked it again to get an accurate measurement. I find that a plastic spoon does the best at mixing it up. Pour it on and tilt the tray so epoxy covers the whole bottom. Then "breathe" on it to remove the air bubbles (it explains this on the package directions.) 

I put some plastic wrap over it to keep dust off and I put it in a level spot to dry. Unfortunately My husband moved... er, it was moved to a not so level spot a few hours later so it dried a little lumpy. I have successfully made this before (without the lumps) and it looks like a glass finish on the bottom of the tray. But I am happy with the way this turned out. Here it is looking very cute on my old cedar chest in my bedroom.

Thanks - RM