DIY Wedding

How to Decoupage a Tray

comments (12) February 16th, 2009

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Jeffery Rudell, contributor

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The final Katazome-covered tray is bold and beautiful and allows me to bring a beautiful piece of paper out of a drawer and into my daily life.

An inexpensive plastic tray from Ikea (on sale, $5.99) provides the foundation for this project.

Once the front of the tray is dry, turn it over on your work surface and continue gluing each piece, only this time onto the convex surface of the tray lip.

The final Katazome-covered tray is bold and beautiful and allows me to bring a beautiful piece of paper out of a drawer and into my daily life.

Photo: Jeff Rudell

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Glue each piece of "fringe" in place. Note: As you affix each strip of paper to the inside lip of the tray, it will overlap its neighbor slightly. Gently burnish all edges and concavities periodically with your thumb and allow all areas to dry completely before proceeding to the reverse side of the tray.

Once the front of the tray is dry, turn it over on your work surface and continue gluing each piece of "fringe", only this time onto the convex surface of the tray.

A picture of the rear of the tray showing all of the strips of paper glued in place.

Using your tray as a template, draw another circle the same size as the first one you drew, above. This circle has NO fringe and should be carefully cut out using a craft knife or a scissors. Glue this final piece into place, being sure to overlap slightly the paper that wraps around from the front of the tray.

Finish the piece by coating it with Modge Podge or a similar decoupage sealer. The final tray is bold and beautiful and allows me to bring an extraordinary piece of paper out of a drawer and into my daily life. This has quickly become one of my most favored and frequently used trays.

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Comments (12)

jamsiepaine writes: I love this project!! I would like to make this with decorative paper but put a photo in the middle. Do you suppose this would work if the picture was printed on regular paper, not photographic paper? Thanks for any info you can provide!
Posted: 12:58 pm on April 10th

Jeff_Rudell writes: Dear Cyd88: The best way to prevent strokes appearing in your Mod Podge is to use a very fine haired brush to apply it (avoid coarse "craft" brushes and large acrylic brushes made for painting moldings and trim). If you are still seeing evidence of strokes even with a better brush, you might try thinning your Mod Podge with a little water before applying it. As a last resort, you might give your piece a light sanding with a fine gauge steelwool between coats. This should even out the surface and give you a nice flat finish.
Posted: 2:16 pm on March 15th

Cyd88 writes: Hi Jeff! Love everything that you do! I would like to know if you have some hints on getting the Mod Podge on without brush or "sponge" strokes. Thanks. Namaste, A
Posted: 1:20 pm on February 19th

KittyF writes: I think I might try this with some of my favorite fabrics.
Posted: 6:04 pm on February 17th

Jeff_Rudell writes: Dear deandebbie: I'm unsure how best to answer your question. I used two products on my tray, Mod Podge, the label of which claims it is Non Toxic, and Varathane, the website of which claims is a water-based, low odor, eco-friendly product. I would hesitate to eat food off either of these finishes but, once they are dry, I believe they are both inert. For my part, I would be comfortable placing fruit (in its skin) or perhaps a dinner roll on this tray but, no, I probably would not serve food out of it. If you can find a finish that is safe for use with food, you could probably substitute that finish for either of the two I used and still get the same adhesion results with you decoupage. Good luck.
Posted: 10:45 am on March 30th

deandebbie writes: Very cool. Can it have food on it?? Debbie
Posted: 8:13 pm on March 22nd

taja writes: Nice! definitely not ugly anymore and has more value than $9.99!! great way to showcase that beautiful paper! Those of you who admire beautiful paper,like myself, come up with some of the most prettiest and functional ideas to bring art into everyday life! love it!
Posted: 4:12 pm on March 1st

AndCalliope writes: Wow, what a clear technique for such a clean finish! So impressed (as usual). Now to find some beautiful paper...
Posted: 8:39 am on February 19th

mhtaylor writes: I've been looking for a decoupage project that would give me a chance to do exactly what you've described---bring beautiful papers out of my storage drawers and into my life. Thank you for posting this and inspiring me!
Posted: 1:03 pm on February 16th

DudeCraft writes: Jeffery,

You really hit another one out of the park with this project! Gorgeous! As usual, I have linked to it on DudeCraft.com.

Cheers,

Paul
Posted: 12:54 pm on February 16th

kaytet writes: lovely!
i just bought some of that really great snakeskin paper from kate's paperie to do something very similar in my living room!
Posted: 2:10 am on February 16th