Make a DIY Wood Tray

6 Materials
$40
1 Hour
Easy


Follow this tutorial, and in just two simple steps you can turn a plain, unfinished wood tray into a beautiful showpiece to show off special decorative items in your home.


Make a DIY tray


Tools and materials:

  • Plain unfinished wood tray
  • Heat gun
  • Two-part epoxy
  • Gold holographic glitter
  • Gloves
  • Stirring stick
Easy DIY tray

Char the wood

Charring will help protect the wood and give it a great color without having to use paint or stain. Use a heat gun on high and hold it close to the wood, but no so close as to create any sparks. Char the tray on all sides, inside and out until it’s a blackish-brown color. Now, use a damp cloth to wipe down the tray all over. You will see that the cloth lifts some black soot from the tray. Caution: always wear gloves when working with a heat gun.

Simple DIY tray

Finish the inside bottom

Use a two-part epoxy adhesive to finish the inside bottom of the tray with resin. You can learn more about two-part epoxy here. Make sure you are wearing gloves and working in a well-ventilated area.

Basic DIY tray

Now, mix equal parts of the resin and the hardener (the two-parts of two-part epoxy.) Add some gold holographic glitter and incorporate it well into the epoxy mix so you have a nice deep gold color.

How to make a DIY tray


Pour the resin mixture into the bottom of your tray and use your stirring stick to spread it around. The resin is self-leveling, but the stick will help you push it right into the corners of the tray.

Let the tray sit undisturbed for 24 hours so the resin can set.

DIY wood tray


That’s it – the tray is ready to use! You can follow the same charring method with different resin colors for other wood items in your home. Thanks for watching this tutorial. See you next time!

Resources for this project:
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Sarah Vanderkooy
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Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
  1 question
  • Penumbra7 Penumbra7 on Jul 31, 2021

    Would like better instructions- how much epoxy to cover the tray bottom? What kind of glitter and how much?

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