Instructions

1.  Paint the tray.   (Any craft store will have a wide variety of acrylic paint to choose from.  You can also go to your home improvement store and buy samples of water-based paint to use.  The advantage of purchasing the paint this way is that you can customize the color you want.  The store clerk can tint the paint for you)  Once you have painted the tray, let it dry completely before moving on to the next step. 

2.  Pick out the stamps that you will use to decorate your tray.  My suggestion is that you experiment on a piece of paper to see how much ink is needed to achieve your desired effect.  Also, if you are using more than one color, you have to let each color dry completely before starting another one.  Remember, the bigger the stamp the more ink you need, and in return, if you have small, intricate lines, you will need less ink.  

*This is where you can use markers.  If you are using a stamp with lots of detail, you can color the lines of the stamp with markers, then stamp your tray.  Once the lines have all dried, you can color in between the lines with paint or markers.

3.  When you are completely finished with the paint, let the tray dry overnight.

4.  Now its time to varnish.  Since there are so many products on the market, I always recommend to check the manufactures directions and follow them.

5.  If you are going to embellish your tray by gluing on jewels, buttons or ribbon, now is the time to do it.  

*Embellishments – Depending on the style of your tray, you may want to add a bow, jewels, mosaic tiles or any small trinket around the edge.  If the tray is solely for decoration, you can glue the embellishment intend to use it as a tray, you need to keep the main surface flat.