French Drinks Tray

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I've been working like crazy this past week and I'll try and show you some things during this week's posts.

One of the items I finished and dropped off at the shop was a drinks tray with a French feeling.
It's portable so is perfect for using on the porch for Spring or Summer get togethers. Instant bar area!

It started out like this.....

A really large tray in very good, paintable condition...

And ended up like this....

Voila! The magic of time lapse!

I started with a coat of CeCe Caldwells Smoky Mountain Gray. I recently had a chance to try some samples. I found this gray to be VERY blue and at first, I thought I might scrap it. But, then I decided to leave it and see if it sells or not. I tend to use grays and whites and all the combinations thereof for the shop as colors seem to just sit there but I was willing to experiment with this one and see.

I used graphite paper to transfer this great "wine and spirits" advert from the Graphics Fairy....

 Graphics Fairy graphic

I enlarged it to fit the tray more fully....
Once traced and painted on, I sanded it back.
Something I haven't mentioned about sanding these painted graphics...you have to be prepared for how they darken everything around the words. The dust from the black paint gets into the base paint and does that....so it will always give an aged appearance...

If you don't want that look, then you have to choose a color paint that is something you won't sand. In other words, if I didn't want an aged look on this piece, I may have chosen a gray tone so it was more faint to begin with....eliminating the need to soften it with sanding. You can "distress" a bit while the paint is wet using tape or just a rag to remove some of the lettering.
But, I wanted the aged look here so I was fine with my usual method.

I also decided to use a poly finish on the inside of the tray so it could actually hold up if someone did use it for drinks. I use Deft brush on poly usually. It will resist alcohol. To reduce the shine some, I sanded it back a little. I waxed the rest of the tray after using some dark wax. Poly CANNOT be used over wax, so make sure you decide what you want to do before you add wax!

I'm pleased with it, let's see how this color sells.....

What do you think of the color?

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