My nephew (age 3) and niece (20 months) from New York love to eat their meals off dinner trays. These kids are so adorable, I could not resist making them trays with pictures of their favorite things. I wish you could hear my phone conversation with them and their Mommy when they told me what colors and pictures they’d like on their trays. Too cute!
Check out these photos from yesterday when they received their gifts, and scroll down to read about how to make them.
The box of trays and new dinner sets arrives from Aunt Debbie
Let’s see what we got!
I can’t wait to eat off of my tray!
A new sled!
Supplies
- Wooden tray
- Wooden cutouts – thin (letters, numbers and shapes)
- Craft (acrylic paint)
- Foam paint brush
- Watercolor paint brushes
- Watercolor paints and or pencils
- Watercolor Paper
- Spray sealer for watercolors
- Wood Glue
- Mod Podge Matte Finish
Go to your local craft store and buy the supplies you don’t already have. I was lucky enough to find these already painted white wooden trays at Michael’s Arts and Crafts, but you can also buy an unfinished tray and paint it. I found the wood cutouts there as well.
Start by drawing small, simple pictures of the things the child loves. I drew 10 for each tray plus 3 numbers and 3 letters on watercolor paper. For inspiration, use coloring books or clip art. You don’t have to be a trained artist to do this. I painted with watercolors in saturated colors, just like I did for my Lilly Badilly book. I used a combination of watercolor pencils (which you turn into paint with a little water on a brush) and pan watercolors. But you can just use the pan ones also. After you paint the pictures and backgrounds (they dry quickly) cut them out into rectangles, squares or whatever shape you like, and flatten them out a bit by putting them under heavy books. I used Sharpie pens to draw thick black borders around the paintings before I cut them out.
Choose a color scheme for the tray based on the colors the child loves best. For my niece I used pink, red and white and for my nephew I used blue, purple and pink. Paint bright designs on all the wooden cutouts with the acrylic craft paint. You may need to do 2 coats to make it look best. Remember to paint the thin sides of the cutouts as well, because they will show when you glue them to the tray. The craft paint will take longer to dry than the watercolors.
Use the wood glue to glue the painted cutouts on the tray. I made their names and birth dates for the inside sides of the trays. Be careful not to use too much glue. I did, and it oozed out the sides. Don’t glue any cutouts on the bottom, because that is where the watercolor pictures will be. You want to keep a flat surface to be able to put dishes on the tray.
Paint the bottom of the tray with one of the coordinating colors to match the cutouts. You’ll need 2 coats. Let dry completely. Be sure to spray the watercolor sealer on the watercolor paintings before securing them to the tray. If not, your colors will run and you will be using 4-letter words that are not nice, because you will be very frustrated that you ruined your work and wasted your time.
Decoupage the sealed pictures on the tray using Mod Podge on the back first. The pictures may curl up, but use the foam brush to gently push the edges down until they no longer curl up. (I actually put the small bottles of craft paint on the edges for a minute and it did the trick). Put a thin coat of Mod Podge on the top of the pictures. Wait for the coat to dry. It dries quickly. I put about 8 coats on my trays so they will be well sealed and can take the punishment of constant washings. I also sealed the rest of the tray with 3 coats with Mod Podge – even the top of the wood cutouts.
If you give the tray away as a gift, tell the recipient’s Mommy not to submerge the tray in water to clean it. Rather, just wipe it out.
Have fun with your project! It will be well worth the work when you see the smile on the kid’s face who gets it as a gift from you!
