patchwork tray

Well, you know how much I love color and how much I adore quilts. Here is a fun project I'd been wanting to do for some time, that gave a blah old wooden tray a lot of fun color with a patchwork look to it. I love how it turned out!

Here is the tray in original form. It was all right, but I felt like it needed some cheering up!

I spray painted it a bright white. This is just the first coat - I did 3 coats total.

I wasn't worried about coating the inside of the tray because I knew it would be covered with decorative paper, but I took special care to make sure the sides and edges and inside the cut-away handles were coated properly.
I chose all the paper that I wanted to use (6 sheets was plenty), and gathered my materials - Mod Podge, a brush, and scissors. Later I used a pencil to trace the cut-away handles and a damp paper towel to wipe Mod Podge off the tips of my fingers! Oh - and don't forget your diet Coke! LOL!
After that I just had a good time snipping and fitting and playing around with all the paper. I started with the sides and then filled in the bottom. I would lay one piece of paper down at a time, painting the surface with Mod Podge first.
As soon as all the pieces of paper were finally in place, I painted the entire surface of the tray with a few coats of Mod Podge, letting the first coat dry in between. I could have wet-sanded also but I'm much too lazy for that!
Since this tray will more than likely come in contact with drips and drops of liquid here and there, I will make sure to spray it with an acrylic before putting it into heavy duty service! (aren't you so proud of me Amy? lol)

So colorful & fun! It needs some Ruffles & diet Coke on it! :)