I’ve mentioned before, I am a big fan of trays. I use them in almost every room of our house. When I saw this photo tray in Goodwill for $2 I knew I could use it some way, some how.
Actually, the shape of it reminded me of these trays from West Elm, so I decided my tray should also sport a pretty, metallic finish. I used my Mona Lisa gold leaf kit to achieve the look. While it was a straightforward process, gold leafing something that’s not the size of a small coaster, as I did recently here, takes much longer.
- Applied adhesive and allowed time to become tacky
- Layered gold leaf across tacky area and smoothed
- Using a small paint brush, applied sealer over gold leafed area and allowed to dry
I worked in sections. I first applied the adhesive as seen below, and then the gold leaf, to one tray wall at a time. Overall, it took about three hours but I spread that time out over a few days.
And voila! Here it is with some photos from past travels.
I decided to use a piece of the handmade wrapping paper I found at Cost Plus awhile back to change the look altogether. The pink flowers are outlined in gold so it’s a great fit.
The great thing about the tray already having glass and matting is that it’s easily customizable. You can display anything you’d like. And if you don’t happen to find this kind of ‘frame’ tray at a thrift store as I did, it’s pretty easy to make one! You can use a regular picture frame and add cabinet handles to it, or you can have a piece of glass or acrylic cut to fit the bottom of a tray you already have. (See how Kelly did it at View Along the Way.)
I am loving metallic finishes lately. How about you?
-J
That looks fantastic – great idea!
Thanks, I want to use gold leaf everywhere!
This is genius! Love it…..Love it.
So many ideas going through my silly little brain!!!
Thanks
Haha – what are you going to gold leaf next?!
Have no clue…will find “something”!
Oh my! I am truly in love with this tray!!! I saw a similar tray at goodwill not too long ago, but it was $10 and I passed it by. I wish I would have scooped it up now! I am going to be on the lookout! Thanks for sharing this, I am pinning for future reference.
I might’ve passed it by for $10 too. But hey West Elm’s trays are $24 so I guess you’d still come out better!
So beautiful…and posh! I love it with the wrapping paper…just gorgeous! Looks like a million bucks!
Loving that amazing wrapping paper and that gorgeous gold tray! Thanks for the link, my friend! 🙂
Looooove…..it. I too am on a gold spree now. Looks fab. Gonna try gold leafing.
Thanks for linking up to the party, Jae!
LOVE your tray! I have 2 trays I have picked up but they are just basic wood trays and I was thinking about getting some acrylic cut for the bottom of one so I can add some fun paper or pictures and change it up.
great gold leafing. Pretty and glamourous end result!!
Ooh, so pretty! The gold leaf is gorgeous, and I love that paper with it. 🙂
Thanks Sheila!
Wow, what a transformation!!! I love everything about this project–the gold leaf finish on the tray is so glamourous & the photos you chose are just perfect. The entire vignette is stunning!
very pretty! I love how it looks in gold! much, much better; with the pictures and with the paper! 🙂