Monogram Tray DIY!

Last week, I had the honor of guest posting about my latest DIY project for Inside My Present. I thought I would share that project here for those of you who missed that post...

What I used:

A wooden tray from my closet

Acrylic paint/brush (already had)

A stencil from my craft drawer

Painters tape (already had)

A plastic cup (from my kitchen cabinet :)

 This lady had been sitting in the closet for oh, 5 or so years, and it was time I did something about it.

I decided to paint the inside of the tray to give it an updated look. I wanted to personalize it as a gift to someone, so I dug through my craft collection and got busy.

First, I taped it off and gave it a spray-paint primer coat. Once that was dry, I went back over it with acrylic paint to make sure the old image was gone. 

I love the bamboo look right now, so I decided to paint a bamboo-type pattern in gray, as kind of a tone on tone effect. I didn't want anything too bold for the print. Then I used a plastic cup to trace a circle in the center.

I did all of the painting by hand with no measuring (because I'm impatient) so it's not perfect, but lets just say that adds to the charm, Ok? :) I chose a bold tangerine for the center so that the monogram would pop.

Once everything was dry, I used a stencil that I already had and centered it on the dot. I used the white paint again to really make it stand out.
Tip: Try to remove painters tape when your paint is still a little tacky for nice lines. As for the stencil, I like to remove it immediately for the best results.
Now, for a quick reminder:

And here is the finished product! About an hour and a half total time spent, all with things I had on-hand!

Although I'm giving it as a gift, I thought I would do a little "staging" to give you an idea of how to use this easy and personlized piece!

I can just see some yummy cheeses displayed on it to pair with a nice wine!

 Fresh flowers always make everything better!

I hope you enjoyed my little project today and that it inspired you to get crackin' on some of those things collecting dust in your closet!

If you love tray makeovers, check out the herringbone tray that I painted earlier this year HERE.

Also feel free to grab my button for your blog and stop by often to see more fun projects like this!

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