trays

I pick up wood serving trays all the time when I'm out thrifting or hitting garage sales.  They are rarely more than $1.00 and I use them all over my house.  Both of these trays were scratched, ugly, dark stained wood that had seen better days so I decided to redo them for our bedroom we are redecorating(that project will be coming soon).  After giving each tray a good wipe down with a damp cloth,  I mixed up my own chalk paint by adding 2T of plaster of Paris to 1C flat white paint and mixed well.  My plaster was old and I should have sifted it before mixing into the paint, it came out a little lumpy.  I gave each piece two coats of paint and let dry over night.  On the smaller tray I did an antiquing glaze of thinned dark brown acrylic paint and rubbed most of it off.  On the other I stenciled 'always kiss me good night".  After everything was dry I added a coat of Min-wax finishing wax in clear for a little protection.  Now both trays are ready to go in the freshly redecorated room as soon as it gets done.  That's our plan for next weekend.