Dreamy Trays with Blues and Greys

Some of our DIYs are functional, like our tutorial for making a concrete table top, while other projects on the site are purely meant to add an extra dose of pretty to your life, like our crepe paper flowers. Here is a project that mixes the best of both worlds! Our DIY vanity tray tutorial combines the gorgeous look of marbled paper with the irresistible potential to organize your perfumes, jewelry, makeup or nice candles. Making these trays is actually a surprisingly easy process, and it’s an opportunity to dive into the world of handcrafting in a really involved way. Invite some friends to get in on the fun with for an even more memorable afternoon of crafting! 

Tools & Materials

  • Rotary Cutter or X-Acto Knife
  • Sponge Brush
  • Ruler
  • Marbled Paper (handmade or printed)
  • Trays
  • Gold Marker
  • Mod Podge
  • Glass (cut to fit trays)

Steps

  1. Gather the tools and materials listed above.
  2. Cut marbled paper to fit inside your tray using a ruler and rotary cutter (or x-acto). Find our paper marbling tutorial to design your own!
  3. Use gold marker to add detailing to the marbled paper. Follow the swirls within the marbling, varying the thickness of your lines.
  4. Apply Mod Podge to the underside of the paper, coating the surface completely.
  5. Allow trays to dry overnight. We weighted the paper down with stacks of books while drying.
  6. If desired, have glass cut to size at a hardware store. This will protect the paper and keep it flat. 

Tips

The first part of making this marbled DIY vanity tray is making the marbled paper. You can make a trip to your nearest art supply or stationery store to find printed marbled paper, or you can follow our tutorial for making your own. We certainly encourage you to make your own so that you can create the exact color palette that reflects your individual taste! To add gold detailing to our marbling we used a Sharpie oil-based marker, but any fine point gold paint marker should work. You can use any trays for this project, and we found ours at West Elm.

Once you glue in the marbled paper with Mod Podge, you have the option to cover it with glass to protect the paper. This is surprisingly affordable – we had glass cut for both trays at our local hardware store and it only cost $4.50. If you do this, bring the trays to the hardware store so that they can cut the glass to fit perfectly. After you stick the glass into the tray, you can ask an employee if they have any tips for securing the glass, but we just let it rest in the tray. If you have kids, you may want to use plexiglass instead, although this will be more expensive. Make this as a bathroom vanity tray, or as something you place on your dresser to keep your keys and everyday jewelry in one place.

Get Inspired

A pretty DIY vanity tray is a wonderful gift idea, especially for Mother’s Day. For more Mother’s Day gift inspiration, check out our favorite Mother’s Day gifts here. Follow along as we share more marbled paper project ideas that you can use to make DIY home decor and gifts. We would love to admire the marbling projects that you are making, so please share your project photos with our creative community by using #DIYDreamingWithLia! Add project suggestions and feedback to the comments below, or head to our membership page and discover how creativity can empower you. Cheers! ~ Lia & Team 

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