I love to make things for the people in my life. My friend Janice has a beautiful home filled with amazing furniture. She is also a do it yourself as well so making her something isn’t an easy task. I thought about it for a long while and one thing came to mind. I made myself a tray once out of a mix and match of things and she seem to love it. Trays are great because you don’t have to use them just for serving out of the kitchen. They are great for your entry way to put mail, in your bathroom to sit your bottles of potions on, a tray on an ottoman turns it into a table to sit things on or at the end of a guest bed for your guest to use.
Anyone can have a plain wood tray that s stained and sealed but a tray with personality is what I’m going for with this gift. I gathered up my supplies a tray, paint, resin, paper, Mod Podge and some wood accents including a black letter R. The R is for her last name but it’s special because Ethan our grandson painted the letter for my project. I started first by painting the tray out in primitive gray. I lined the bottom of the tray with different papers by tearing them into smaller pieces and over lapping them. I used Mod Podge on the back only to secure it to the bottom of the tray. I let that dry for about an hour so I knew the paper was good and secured.
Once everything was all dry I laid out the wood pieces and the letter R where I wanted them to be. I used hot glue to secure them down so when I used the resin they wouldn’t float and move out-of-place. The Resin sets fast so you need to be ready to finish the tray out once you mix the 2 part solutions together. You pour it even, over the top until it is just over the top of the wood designs and letter. Once it dries it will make the tray have a smooth even surface that you can sit things on. It’s hard to see the resin in the picture put it is even and gives it a finished look.
This tray is full of personality and fun. It is ready for Janice to use in many ways and places of her home. I hope that Janice loves it as much as I loved making it for her. It’s Thursday the eve of most people’s favorite day Friday. I hope your day is Blue Happy and dry!!
