Decoupage a Metal Tray Stand - A Thrift Store Find

8 Materials
$8
4 Hours
Easy

One of the fun things about shopping at thrift stores is that you never know what you're going to find that day - like an embossed aluminum tray ($3) and a tumbler ($1) that actually matched - just by luck! The guy at the checkout said the tray looked like a giant soda cap - I guess because of the curved ridges! Too funny!

Anyway, my idea was to combine the two items into a lovely decorative accent piece or accessory using napkins to decoupage onto them. Perfect to hold just about anything you can imagine - like appetizers, baked goods or holiday fillers!

After cleaning the tray and tumbler with a mild dish detergent and drying, separate the design layer of the napkin from the plain white layers. I do this by lightly dipping my finger in mod podge and tap my thumb and finger together, placing the corner of the napkin edge between them to separate the layers.

Next, apply a layer of matte Mod Podge onto the bottom surface. Place napkin on top smoothing out from the center to edges using a soft brush. Apply additional MP while smoothing out wrinkles. I also like to dip my finger in MP to help with the smoothing.

Since the napkin didn't completely cover the bottom, I matched up the pattern with an additional piece of napkin after the first layer dried. And the best part, you can't tell where it was pieced together!

Next, decoupage the tumbler following the same steps, as before.


Seal both the tray and tumbler with additional Mod Podge.

The tumbler edges seemed too narrow for a good seal so I glued the bottom of it onto the center of the tray, using DAP RapidFuse Adhesive to glue together. It sets up in 30 seconds and has a permanent seal.

Don't you just love how the metal shows through the floral napkin - as if the flowers were handpainted on! Too cool!

What a lovely transformation!


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Gail@Purple Hues and Me
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