Simply Handmade: DIY Wood Tray

Hey Guys! Today's DIY will be a Moroccan Inspired Tray!!

How gorgeous is this?! I was SO excited to make this and I hope you guys enjoy this DIY!

Difficulty: INTERMEDIATE

Materials:

Circle Wood (or whatever kind you prefer!)
Stencil of your choice
Painter's Tape
Pencil
White Paint
Different color paint of your choice
Stippling Brush
Wood Filler
Spatula
Paint Tray
Paint Brushes (Thin, Wide, and Flat)
Paper Towel
Your Choice Cabinet Handles
Clear Acrylic Spray Paint
Sander
Felt Pads

Tools:

Phillips Screwdriver
Drill Bits (large and small)
Drill
Ruler

Instructions:

1) For this project you’ll need a circular piece of wood. When I opened the package, i felt to see if it needed to be sanded and it didn’t!

2) Take some white acrylic paint and painted 2 coats on the surface of the wood - I painted in the same direction as the grain of the wood. Bear in mind whatever color you use as your base will show in the final product.

3) Once the paint is dry, place a stencil of your choice on top and made sure the edges went over the wood slightly. This will help me have clean lines. With painter’s tape, add some tape to the stencil to keep it in place.

4) Pour the paint into individual trays and keep some paper towels handy. With a stippling brush, dip it into your colors of choice and dab it onto the paper towel to create a dry brush. When adding color onto the wood, try to use a stippling motion and avoid gliding it across the stencil - this may create bleed marks.

There’s no real technique to this, but as a rule of thumb i kept similar colors together so I blended the yellows with the peach, the peach with the purple, the purple with the blues and so on. If you notice your colors getting a bit muddy, creating a gray color, wash out your brush, pat it dry with a paper towel and continue painting.

5) Also keep in mind that you should dab paint a little past the stencil so it will be easy to align.

6) When you remove the stencil, you should have something that looks like this.

7) Using the stencil, align the patterns, tape, and keep on painting! PS: Make sure the paint is DRY!

8) When you’ve painted the entire surface, some paint may have bled through the stencil. To fix this, I took a thin paint brush with the same white paint i used for the base and cleaned up the edges. You may be able to use a paint pen if you’re not good with the paint brush.

Here’s a before and after so you see the difference after you clean up the edges.

9) I chose to paint the side of the tray a beautiful turquoise color, but you can leave it white. Feel free to make this project your own!

when the top and sides are dry, flip the tray and paint the bottom as well. Once the wood is completely dry, spray with clear acrylic spray paint in a well ventilated area. This will protect it from any food, and water and will also protect it from fading.

10) Find the center of the tray and draw lines both vertical and horizontal. Take painter’s tape and align it along the edge of the board.

11) Measure the handle and find the center point on the wood. I then marked where the handle should be and also where the hole should be drilled. The hole for my handle was about a quarter inch from the edge on both sides.

I laid the handle down to make sure my measurements were accurate and made adjustments as needed.

Repeat for the other side.

12) Next, find a drill bit the same size as the body of the screw. I also measured the length of the screw and added painter’s tape to the drill bit to let me know when to stop drilling. Repeat that on all four sides.

13) I didn’t want the bottom of the screw showing underneath, but tucked away nice and neat. To do this, find a drill bit the same size as the head of the screw. I marked this drill bit around half the length of the screw. Drill and repeat on the remaining 3 holes.

You should have something that looks like this! Large Hole on top of a smaller hole.

14) Next, screw the screw into the hole and let it peak through the other side just a little. Repeat on the other side for the same handle and once both sides are peaking through, attach the handle. Repeat on the other side.

15) Once you’re happy with the placement of the handle, flip over the tray and add wood filler to the holes you created with a spatula.

16) When the wood filler is dry, sand it smooth, and re-paint the underside of the tray. Once it’s dry, add four felt pads to the bottom and you’re done!