Tag: cure

Craft Projects

GLITTER TRAY!

Jessica Smith

Have you ever thought of mixing epoxy with glitter and making magnificent things with it? I hadn’t until recently! I was trying to figure out how to spruce up a boring and shallow silver tray. It wasn’t deep enough to inset many cool objects in it, so I thought, why not mix in my favorite color of glitter?

Winning!

Yes, yes…. I chose an aqua glitter. You wouldn’t have been able to guess, right?

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So for this project you need a tray, epoxy and glitter. Mix your two parts of epoxy together really well, then add glitter.

Once your concoction is thoroughly mixed, pour it into your tray.

**Important Tip: Your tray needs to be on a level surface, or your epoxy will dry with an angle to it. Bad news bears, huh?

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The hardest part is waiting. Wait 72 hours for the epoxy to cure completely. It’s important for your project to cure in a warmer area, and covered up. I stuck mine under an aluminum tray for baking. It will keep dust, dog hair, etc., from sticking into your project.

Once your tray is dry, you are ready to use it. I clean mine with Clorox wipes when it gets messy — they hold up great.

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Check out some of the other cool trays I have made in the past:

Look out for my next craft post — I made the CUTEST gift for my sister’s wedding, which is on Sunday 🙂

Craft Projects

Marble Tray

Jessica Smith

Marble Tray

Months ago I was at my momma’s house and we stumbled upon a huge jar of marbles that used to be my step dad’s. I knew he loved the marbles, but I didn’t know why he was keeping them in the closet and not out somewhere in the house so people could see how cool they are. I asked if I could take them to make them into something cool, which is what I did for his Christmas gift.

Enter the Christmas tray from the thrift store. This bad boy was uglyyyyyy. So ugly. But, it was the perfect size to make a cool tray for John.

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I took the tray outside and spray painted it black.

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When it was all dry I filled the bottom of the tray with marbles and started to prepare the epoxy resin  to fill in the tray.

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For this tray I used Parks Super Glaze.

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To use the epoxy you mix equal parts of the hardener and the epoxy together. I like to mix mine in disposable cups so I can just toss them when I am finished. Mix everything together really well then pour it onto your project. It will level itself out, so just make sure you place it on a level surface.

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Here’s the tricky part — you have to let it sit in a dust-free zone for three whole days. Rough, I know. You also need to keep your project in a warm area. The epoxy will not cure if it dries in the cold. I learned this the hard way.

And because I learned it the hard way, there was one tricky spot on my tray I couldn’t get to cure. So I solved the problem by painting a label onto the tray in chalkboard paint so I could write “John’s marbles” on it. I accented with gold paint and the tray was complete.

My parents have an antique room in their house, so that’s where John put it after I gave it to him on Christmas.

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This project was long in the works, but I know my step dad really loved it.

I love using the epoxy and am definitely learning new stuff each time I use it. It is such a cool finish on projects and I will definitely be using it again in the future.

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