Easy DIY Resin Tray Makeover Tutorial

Make beautiful resin trays with this DIY Resin Tray Makeover Tutorial.

I’ve had crafting with resin on my to-do list for such a long time. But I have to admit, I was kinda scared. Mixing liquids together that magically harden into awesomeness had to be complicated, right? Wrong, it was easy. Here’s the DIY Resin Tray Makeover Tutorial and Video Guide.

For this project, I used Envirotex Lite Resin and carefully followed the mixing directions. They were pretty simple really. The hardest part is knowing what you want to do beforehand and following that plan.

I love Ebru Marbling patterns on paper. You might remember them from old books. Seems like they were always on the inside covers when I was a kid. Ebru Marbling on paper uses different materials and steps.

We won’t go into that now. We’re just using some of those techniques to create a really cool pattern with resin. Don’t worry, you can see exactly what I did by watching my YouTube video below.

When you watch the DIY Resin Tray Makeover Tutorial and Video, you’ll see that I dragged lines about a 1″ apart from bottom to top in the resin. Then went from top to bottom between those lines. Then I did the same thing starting from left to right 1″ apart. And between those from right to left.

DIY Tip: Make sure you have multiple colors mixed around the tray to give the best result. And you want the resin to be thick enough. Mine is probably between 1/8 and 1/4″ deep.

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Cost for this Makeover

You’ll spend less than $10, for the amount of resin and acrylic you’ll use. It’s a great, low cost way to update an old tray.

Time for this DIY Project

You’ll need about 30 minutes for all of the mixing, pouring, designing, and blowing out bubbles.

Materials Needed

• Envirotex Lite Pour On Resin
• 4 to 6 colors of acrylic paints, I used these acrylics
• 3 plastic cups (I used SOLO cups) for mixing the resin and 1 additional cup for each acrylic color
• craft Popsicle sticks or other clean items to stir with
• Straw or butane torch to blow out bubbles
• And a tray, of course

Watch the full 4 Minute DIY Video to See How

DIY Resin Tray Makeover Tutorial Directions

Step One

Get all of your materials ready and set up BEFORE ever opening the resin. Once you start mixing, they’ll be no time to find something or put drop cloths down. Also, have your straw and/or butane torch ready.

Step Two

You may need to put a thin coat of resin on your wood or tray before starting to prevent bubbles. See resin directions for more info. When in doubt, do that thin coating and allow to dry before starting this ebru marbling technique.

Step Three

I put about 1 tsp of each color of acrylic into it’s own cup before mixing the resin. I also had 1 clean stick ready for each cup, for mixing.

I always test color ideas on scrap wood to make sure they look good together.

Step Four

For this DIY Resin Tray Makeover Tutorial, follow the exact directions on your resin to mix the resin. Envirotex Lite strongly states that the product should be mixed in a 50/50 ratio, exactly how they say to do it. That’s what I did. I did use the lines in my Solo cups as measuring lines to make sure each cup had the same amount.

Step Five

After mixing the resin exactly as the directions say, pour some resin into each cup with the teaspoon of acrylic in it. Now mix each cup with it’s own clean stick. Work quickly, but make sure to mix the acrylic into the resin completely.

Step Six

Pour the cup into a random pattern on the tray. You want a little bit of each color everywhere. I spread the white around in the video, but that’s not necessary. You could also just pour or drop circles of color around.

Step Seven

Once you have poured out all of the resin, tilt the tray slightly to make sure the entire bottom of the tray is covered.

Step Eight

Set the tray on a level surface and follow the dragging pattern above (shown in video), to create this ebru marbling design.

Step Nine

Once you have finished the pattern, use your straw to lightly blow on any tiny bubbles that may come to the surface for the next 10 minutes. You can also use a butane torch to lightly blow out the bubbles. Don’t use a blow dryer, the heat will cause more bubbles. I had a butane torch that I couldn’t get to work when I was ready to blow out the bubbles. So, I recommend having a straw on hand, just in case.

Step Ten

Once the resin stops bubbling, let it harden on that flat, level surface for the next 8 – 12 hours. It should fully cure in 72 hours.

The finished tray from this DIY Resin Tray Makeover Tutorial

That’s it for this tutorial. But, if you’re a fan of acrylic pours, I have 2 videos you might like. Don’t forget to follow me on YouTube for more DIY Ideas. 🙂

Looking for more awesome DIY Home Decor? Try this Acrylic Paint Pour Art Project.

Or this tutorial full of DIY Patina Metal Looks with Chalk Paint.

Loving the way this looks already. 🙂

I love this beautiful DIY Acrylic Paint Pouring Wall Art tutorial.

Feeling inspired? Follow this DIY Resin Tray Makeover Tutorial and Video. Have fun and let me know if you have questions. Or post pictures of your work and tag Abbotts At Home on FB, I’d love to see it!