My Drab to Fab Tray!

 

I was at our local thrift store the other day when I came across this really boring wooden tray. It was only $1 so I knew I could make some use of it somehow! There was definitely some potential there! :) Of course I forgot to take a before picture but I wanted to share the end results with you!

First I primed and painted the tray white. I just used Anita's All Purpose Acrylic Craft Paint to do this. Easy peasy! :)

To add a little extra touch I painted the word faith on the tray using a crackle technique. To do this I used this "Faith" stencil that I picked up at Hobby Lobby.

To start, you will need to tape down the stencil so it doesn't move. I just used regular scotch tape and taped all four sides.

In order to get the crackle look, you will need to use a crackle medium. You could also use glue but that will have to be a tutorial for another day! :) The crackle medium that I choose to use is FolkArt Crackle Medium. I find that this medium works great!

To apply the crackle medium you will need a sponge brush of some sort. You want to make sure that you don't go over the same area more than once because the crackle won't look quite right. I used a sponge dauber to pounce the medium onto the stencil but you could use any type of sponge brush. After you have covered your entire area, let the medium completely before moving on to the next step.

After your medium is dry, you are ready to apply the top coat of paint. For my tray I used FolkArt Acrylic Paint in the color Basil Green.

 

Again, you can use any type of foam brush but I choose to use a sponge dauber so that I could easily pounce on the paint. I found that this technique is the easiest because it doesn't cause the stencil to move around so the paint can't get underneath it. As with the medium, do not go over an area more than once or the crackle will not look good.

 

Let the paint dry, and VOILA! 

I love the finished product but I am trying to decide if I should give it a more distressed look by sanding down the edges. What do you think? Do you like the clean look or should it have more of an aged feel?

Now it sits in the middle of my coffee table. If I have a magazine that I am currently reading, it sits in my tray.

 

But for the most part, my tray sits there empty so that I can see the word "Faith". 

My faith in God means a lot to me so I wanted to be able to show that. Of course a tray can't show my faith for me but it can definitely serve as a reminder!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to share them with me!

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