Vintage Resin Tray

This coffee tray project is a great introduction to resin craft projects and shows you how to use resin for craft.

What you need

Small wood coffee tray
Vintage objects (keys, velvet or Crochet flowers, watches parts, toys parts,
Casting Resin
Measuring Tools
Disposable Mixing bowl or cup
Disposable tools
Suitable mold
Cooking Spray
Straw
Items for Embedding

Instructions

Step 1

Protect your table with newspaper or an old tablecloth.

Step 2 –

Sand the wood tray to leave its surface smooth and ready to be painted *Tip: sand bars are easier to use and work better on corners.

Step 3

Paint with chosen color -light green, lavender or blue work all well with a vintage look- and let it dry for a few minutes. *Tip: for an aged look, use walnut ink after the paint has dried. This ink may be use pure or dissolved with cleaner solvent for a lighter result. Apply quickly with a flat brush, and clean the exceeding ink with a clean cloth, before drying.

Step 4

Collage all the vintage items to the bottom of the tray, with rubber cement. This will prevent the items from moving around when covering them with resin.

Step 5

Put the gloves, the glasses and the mask on. Remember that resin is a toxic product, and that you must work in a well ventilated area.

Step 6

Prepare the resin by adding its catalyzer drop by drop and stir. The product usually comes with instructions regarding exact proportions. Be sure to stir the mix very slowly, or you will create air bubbles. *Tip: do not prepare too much resin until you are familiar with the product, or it will harden unused.

Step 7

Drop the resin on the tray, all above the glued objects, until you cover them up. *Tip: if you do not prepare enough product to cover all the items, you may wait until this first hand starts to harden before pouring a second one.

Step 8

Let it dry on a ventilated area for at least 2 hrs. *Tip: when resin dries, it shrinks a little (Fig. 1); if it does, prepare a little more resin and cover the hollow spaces.

Step 9

Varnish the tray to protect the paint. You do not need to varnish the resin too. *Tip: using varnish spray will make the process easier.

Step 10

Delight your guests with it! To later clean the tray, use non abrasive soap and warm water.

Step 11

Resin and its solvent is acetone. You may use it to clean resin from tablecloth or hands, if you worked without gloves.

Final tips: Instead of found objects, go for a walk and pick nature ones. Examples: seeds of all kinds, fresh or dried leaves, dried fruits and flowers, sea glasses, sea shells, etc. Maybe you can try to use some fabrics or vintage paper maps. Remember that when using very thin and fresh items, they will change their color lightly as the resin hardens, due to the chemical reaction.

Learn how to cast resin via our tutorial.