Two Crafty Girls: Rustic Serving Tray

To celebrate my birthday this year I hosted a Garden Tea Party.

And of course, every Two Crafty Girls party includes a crafting project!

This year we made Rustic Serving Trays.

I had prepared the wood before the party. Using 2 x 12 I cut 2 foot lengths for each tray. We gathered stains, paints, and brushes and met in my backyard to get creative.

First we sanded the wood to remove any rough bits and then used hammers and nails and whatever else looked dangerous to bang up the wood and make it appear a bit more rustic.

Everyone took their own approach....some painted first then stained, others stained first then added some paint, some painted then stained and then painted again. The thing to remember is that you can't really mess this up. If you don't like it, you can add something else or sand it down. It's supposed to be rustic and uneven and a bit worn looking. Just try it, you can't get it wrong.

After the first coat of stain or paint had been applied, we took a break to let everything dry.

We had some tea, and finger sandwiches, and scones, and sweets.

A lovely Tea Party for the ladies!

Ok, back to work!

Now that the first layer was dry we were able to dry brush on the next layer(s). Some added a touch of white over the paint to make it look aged.

Then sanded it again to make it smooth, and to blend the colours a bit. This is optional, of course, and some people liked the look with out a final sanding.

(Her little baby girl arrived a few days after the party - healthy and no doubt happy to have some handmade pink decor in her nursery!)

Everybody wanted to check out each other's work!

All that's left is to add on the handles. These are just hammered black drawers pulls. They come with the screws, and we just drilled them on. Some liked the off-set look, and others placed them square.