Easy to Make Patriotic Serving Tray! Wooden Serving Trays for the home are all the rage. You can repurpose or purchase wood trays to be painted and stenciled. Add some patriotic decor to your home.

Happy Day Sweet Friends! Serving Trays are a necessity in every home. Not only to serve your family and friends goodies, but you can also hang them on the wall or set them on a shelf as art work.

Easy To Make Patriotic Serving Tray!
And now, it is time for another Creative Craft Blog Hop! A BIG Thanks to Chloe from Celebrate and Decorate and Andrea from Design Morsels for being gracious hosts.
If you are stopping by from Carol at Bluesky at Home a big welcome to you. Don’t forget to check out all my Blogger friends projects. The links are at the end of the post.

This month has been all about Patriotic Decorations. In the month of June I started creating Patriotic Decorations. I set an outdoor lunch for my parents and used a flag as a tablecloth. Check out my Tips on Hosting an Outdoor Luncheon.

Then I created a Patriotic Wreath with Wood Stars and an Embroidery Hoop. I love all the bright colors on this wreath.
Next, I showed off some Patriotic Decorations – 4th of July Art that I created on Galvanized boards last year. On this project I used some paint and stencils, similar to the stencils I used on the wood serving tray.

I set up another Patriotic Tablescape outdoors with bandanas and sunflowers and showed how you can decorate for the patriotic season using Dollar Store items.

Today for the Creative Craft Blog Hop i’m creating a Patriotic Serving Tray for my home. This project was super simple and took me about 30 minutes. I used a water based paint and wax and a blow dryer to dry the paint so that I could finish up the project within 30 minutes.
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MATERIALS NEEDED TO CREATE A PATRIOTIC SERVING TRAY!
- Wood Serving Tray
- Paint and Wax
- Stencils
- Paint Brush
- Stencil Brush
DIRECTIONS FOR CREATING A PATRIOTIC SERVING TRAY!
STEP ONE:
Paint your tray. I used white paint – DIY Paint Bead Board with a paint brush – DIY Paint Blending Brush.

Tip: I wanted the grains in the wood to show through so I only painted one coat. For full coverage paint two coats.

STEP TWO:
Pick your stencils. I used Essential Stencils in the Patriotic pattern.

STEP THREE:
Choose your paint colors. I chose a variety of blues and one red color. On this project all of the paints are Debi’s Design Diary DIY Paint.

Tip: When painting indoors choose a water based paint with no VOC’s.

STEP FOUR:
Place your stencils on the tray to determine your design. Use painters tape to hold the stencils in place.

STEP FIVE:
Use a Stencil Brush to apply the paint to the project. I used a swirling and pouncing method when stenciling.

Tip: When stenciling it is best to use a small amount of paint, in fact a dry brush is best. If you’d prefer your design to be darker, then add multiple coats.

STEP SIX:
For this project, I painted the back and sides of the tray with a dark blue color. Once the paint has completely dried, apply a coat of White Wax.

STEP SEVEN:
Enjoy your wood serving tray. Use it as wall art or to serve goodies to your loved ones.

This project took me about 30 minutes because I used a blow dryer to dry the paint. It was a super fun project and if you’d like to recreate the project, you can watch my video tutorial as well.
Creative Craft Blog Hop!
Celebrate And Decorate | Design Morsels | Calypso in the Country
Zucchini Sisters | My Hubbard Home | Birdz of a Feather
Decorate & More with Tip | Our Crafty Mom | The Painted Apron
Home Is Where The Boat Is | Purple Hues And Me | Sustain My Craft Habit
Chas’ Crazy Creations | Bluesky At Home | Create With Cynthia |
B4 and Afters | My Thrift Store Addiction

I hope I’ve inspired you to go out there and Create Something!
Cynthia



I love the faded look you achieved with the white wax Cynthia! Great idea to use a blow dryer between paint steps!
Thanks Sara!
Your tray looks so pretty, I am a fool for trays. I have so many stored away. I never thought about styling one for the red, white and blue holidays. Great idea.
What a fun tray and great for an entire season (always a favorite of mine). Looks amazing, great tutorial, thanks for sharing, and wonderful crafting with you friend.
Thanks Sweet Friend!
What a cute tray, it looks vintage! Thanks for sharing all the links too, I never dreamed Amazon would have so much crafting stuff, but they do seem to have everything! Thanks for sharing your steps and tips!
Jenna
Thanks Jenna, Yes Amazon really does make it easy so that you don’t have to go to the store.
What a lovely tray, and I love the colors you used! Blessings, Cecilia @My Thrift Store Addiction
Thanks Cecilia!
Such a lovely idea and beautiful to display. So happy to be in this craft hop with you.
Thanks Sweet Friend!
Cool tray. You are so creative and the video is really great. Glad you could hop along this month.
Andrea, Thanks for your support! I appreciate all your coordinating efforts.
Cynthia, the paint combo and finish of the tray is so pretty. I like the way you centered the star burst in the middle then worked around them. Good hopping with you!
Rachelle
Thanks Rachelle!
What an awesome patriotic tray you’ve made, Cynthia! Using it or just having it on display, is a great way to help celebrate all things red white and blue!
Thanks Gail!
This is so pretty and looks like a fun project too! Love the colors!
Shelley
Thanks Shelley!
The tray turned out so great, love the look of the distressed paint. Nice hopping with you!
Thanks!
I love the vintage look to your tray! I still haven’t mastered stenciling, but I have not given up on it either!! Thanks for hopping with us friend!
Thanks Chloe!
Very cute project, Cynthia. Trays are awesome to decorate and use.
Thanks Carol!
Cynthia, I love the vintage and distressed look of your tray! It’s so much fun to upcycle old trays…I stenciled one today with a nautical motif for my antique booth. Your patriotic themed tray is perfect for summer entertaining. It was fun to hop with you again!
Cynthia, Your tray came out beautiful. I also love crafting and this season of red, white and blue is my all time favorite. I enjoy following your blog. Thanks for inspiring me every day.
I love the tray that you created. The red, white and blue really is beautiful. Thanks for all your ideas.
What a great idea. I love your project and can’t wait to try it myself.
Great project and so nice to “meet” you on craft schooling Sunday, hope to see you every week with more great DIYs!
That turned out so cute!