DIY Faux Lacquer Tray

I've been working on my sewing room lately, and I've come across many things that I just don't need.  It feels good to get rid of them and open up space for things that I love.  Sometimes, however, I discover something that can be re-purposed into one of those things that I love.  

Such was the case with this little wooden tray.

Originally, it held wooden lacing beads that I bought for Katie a while back, but those live in the "Beads & Lacing" bucket in the school room now.  If you don't have an empty tray laying around, you can find unfinished wood trays on Amazon or Etsy, or in your local craft stores.

I decided to find a fabric and some coordinating paint and give it a makeover.

This was the print I ended up going with.  I considered kitties with pink paint, or a couple of other prints.  That's the fun thing about this project:  so many possibilities!  You could coordinate it with any room decor.

I used black acrylic paint to paint the whole tray.  I used 2-3 coats to get it nice and even.

Remember my amazing Mod Podge win?  I got out the fabric podge and painted the back of my fabric.

When it was dry, this made the fabric super easy to handle and trim.  After I was happy with the paint on the tray, I Mod Podge-ed the whole thing a couple of times.  It got nice and shiny, giving it a lacquer like appearance.  You could also use Mod Podge Matte, for a non-shiny look, if you're creating a more subtle project.

Finally, I put a layer of Mod Podge on the inside of the tray, and carefully laid down the trimmed fabric, smoothing out any bubbles.  After it was dry, I added a couple of layers of Mod Podge over the top of the fabric, to give it a protective coating and glossy shine.

So now I've got this finished tray.  What do I do with it?  Well, some people could use it to display perfumes.

Or it could be used to keep hair bows or gumball necklaces in.  Or you could fill it with essential oils.  I haven't really decided what I'm going to do with mine yet, but I'm very happy with how it turned out.  What would you use it for?


This post may be linked up at these linky parties.

Thanks for clicking for us!