Do you have a bunch of adult coloring pages laying around and aren’t sure what to do with them? Decorate a tray! It’s easy and makes a great gift idea.
Are you into coloring? I’ve completely jumped on the coloring trend and have a ton of adult coloring posts over at DIY Candy (including instructional and recommendations for books and pencils!).
My most recent project with coloring pages is a name plaque. I’ve also shown you ways to use adult coloring pages on this blog – and as you’ve probably gleaned, Mod Podge is a fabulous compliment to adult coloring. You can actually pull those pages out of the book when you’re done and do something with them!
This month for my Michaels Makers challenge, we were tasked with making gifts that mom with love. Mother’s Day is right around the corner, and there’s nothing that mom loves better than something YOU made.
The funny thing is that when I wrote this post I realized something. When you’re a child, you probably drew something for your mother and handed it to her, right?
Well, this painted tray project is an extension of that, and just slightly more advanced – you’re just doing it many years later! Learn how to make this wood craft below.
Adult Coloring Pages on a Tray
Gather These Supplies
- Wood tray
- Mod Podge Satin
- Mod Podge Dimensional Magic
- Acrylic paint – color of your choice to basecoat tray
- Coloring pages – to cover the inside of the tray
- Paper cutter or craft knife and mat
- Ruler
- Paintbrush
- Mod Podge brayer (optional)
- Seed beads (optional)
Color to your heart’s desire! Make sure you have plenty of coloring pages to cover your tray, that you’re going to want to cut up. Because you’ll be doing some tiling of the pages. If you are wondering which kinds of markers/pencils you’ll be able to use, this article will help.
You’ll be able to use most markers and pencils on your adult coloring pages and then Mod Podge them – the key will be allowing them to dry (let the pages at least dry overnight). Crayons will work just fine.
Paint your tray – completely basecoat using an acrylic paint color of your choice. Let dry for several hours.
While your tray is drying, cut up your adult coloring pages into strips. Our strips are 3″ x 3″ and 3″ x 6″ – use a variety of strips or any size of square you like.
Begin in the center of the tray. Add Mod Podge to the back of a coloring page piece, then place down on the tray and smooth (the Mod Podge brayer helps here tremendously). Continue with your pages, adding and making a pretty tile pattern.
When you get to the edges, use your ruler and craft knife to help you score the pages and remove the excess. Continue until the entire tray is covered with coloring pages, then let dry for 15 – 20 minutes. Put a top coat over the top of the coloring pages (you can coat the entire tray with Mod Podge if you like).
AND THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!
Let dry for at least 24 hours! You want to make sure the Mod Podge is completely dry and there are no (even slightly) wet areas for the next step.
Add the Dimensional Magic to the tray. This is why the Mod Podge underneath must be completely dry – if it’s not, there will be cloudiness underneath the DM. Obviously you don’t want that!
Place seed beads into the Dimensional Magic if you like!
Another fun twist; use Mod Podge Dimensional Magic with glitter! I’ll leave that up to you. Let your tray dry for 24 hours, and not under a fan – you don’t want the DM to crack.
Isn’t the tray beautiful??
You can see the adult coloring pages look amazing under the glitter. And if some of the inks bleed a little bit, well – it adds to the character. At least in my humble opinion!
Are you ready to make a tray like this? Don’t forget that Michaels has everything you need to craft the perfect handmade gift that will make Mom’s day.
Decorate a Tray
Do you have a bunch of adult coloring pages laying around and aren't sure what to do with them? Decorate a tray! It's easy and makes a great gift idea.
Materials
- Wood tray
- Mod Podge Satin
- Mod Podge Dimensional Magic
- Acrylic paint - color of your choice to basecoat tray
- Coloring pages (completed)
- Seed beads (optional)
Tools
- Paper cutter or craft knife and mat
- Ruler
- Paintbrush
- Mod Podge brayer (optional)
Instructions
- Color several adult coloring pages with colored pencils or bleed proof markers.
- Paint your tray - completely basecoat using an acrylic paint color of your choice. Let dry for several hours.
- While the tray is drying, cut the adult coloring pages into strips. Our strips are 3" x 3" and 3" x 6" - use a variety of strips or any size of square you like.
- Begin in the center of the tray. Add Mod Podge to the back of a coloring page piece, then place down on the tray and smooth (the Mod Podge brayer helps here tremendously). Continue with the pages, adding and making a pretty tile pattern.
- At the edges, use the ruler and craft knife to help you score the pages and remove the excess.
- Continue until the entire tray is covered with coloring pages, then let dry for 15 - 20 minutes. Put a top coat of Mod Podge over the top of the coloring pages. Let dry for 24 hours.
- Add the Dimensional Magic to the tray. Place seed beads into the Dimensional Magic if you like.
- Let dry for 24 hours before using.
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Did you enjoy this colorful project? If so, leave me a comment! I’d also love for you to check out the following posts:
Rachel A Hyde
Thursday 7th of April 2016
I love this! I too am a colorist and wonder what to do with my creations but live in the UK where there are no Michaels stores...not seen any quality blank trays like this to decorate unless you know of anwhere that ships overseas or has a branch over here?
Dee Karnia
Wednesday 6th of April 2016
Beautiful. Where did you get the tray. The trays I see are flimsy.
Amy
Wednesday 6th of April 2016
Dee, the tray was from Michaels. They had two sizes - a larger and smaller. This the larger. It's definitely solid and not flimsy!