silver tray – A Smith of All Trades

GLITTER TRAY!

September 5, 2013September 5, 2013 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?

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?

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.

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 🙂

Thrift Store Finds

Thrift Store Quick Fix: Silver plates and trays

February 20, 2012February 20, 2012 Jessica Smith

I’ve been toying with decorating ideas and am really getting into rooms with silver accents. I was at the thrift store last week and I found these wonderful silver plates. I’ve seen a lot of neat ideas on Pinterest using these plates. Here are a few of my favorites:

Silver plates on wall — Silver plates mounted as wall decor.

Silver plate with chalkboard plate — Silver plate with chalkboard paint.

Anyway, I picked up these four plates from the thrift store for about $10 — what a steal! The only downside was that the plates were filthy. You can’t quite see it in the first photo, but every single plate was tarnished. I had silver jewelry wipes, so I wiped down the frames a bit. That helped, but it didn’t quite do the trick. So, I bought silver polish at Target and scrubbed away. This stuff is very easy to use. Squirt it directly onto a silver surface or into a paper towel, then rub until the tarnish comes off. Take a clean paper towel and remove excess polish.

Check out the difference: After I buffed the polish off, I washed the trays with dish soap and hot water. Wipe the water off, and the tray is as good as new. Here’s the tray all cleaned up: