Drinks Tray using the “FLUKE” Luxe Decoupage Paper and Aussie WONDERFOIL - By Siobhan Ellwood

Fluke Drinks Tray - By Siobhan Ellwood

Items I used: 

Wooden drinks tray 

Aussie Décor Transfers Fluke Luxe Decoupage paper 

Aussie Décor Transfers Blue Applicator tool 

Aussie Décor Transfers Chain of hearts Stencil and applicator sponges 

Aussie Décor Transfers Mother’s Pearls Wonderfoil and Wonderfoil Size  

Aussie Deco Transfers Black Tool 

220 sand paper 

Old Ceramic tile (or other paint mixing area) 

Cutting mat 

Sharp exacto/craft knife or similar 

Diluted PVA glue 

Spritz bottle 

Small artist brushes 

Dixie Belle Paints in Bunker Hill Blue, Peacock, Mint Julep and Fluff. 

Fusions Mineral Paint in Coal 

Fusions Tough coat water based sealer 

Method: 

I started by cleaning the tray and removing the handles. I followed this with a quick scuff sand and wiped down again.

 I then used Dixie Belle chalk paints to create an ombre effect.

I like to use an old ceramic tile to lay out my paints as it is easy to mix on and it cleans up really easily afterwards. I wanted the finished tray to look like the mermaid tail was swishing around in the water as if it was ascending, so went from a light shade through dark to light again. I created an arch effect so that the lines were not straight, helping to give it a bit of depth.  

I used DB Fluff at the top, then added DB Peacock. I then used a clean brush to blend these two areas together brushing across the paint from left to right whilst moving also up and down so that the paint would start to mix and blend together. 

I then added some of the DB Bunker Hill Blue and again with another clean brush blended the Peacock and the Bunker Hill Blue. 

I then went back to the Fluff, but with a bit of DB Mint Julep added for further depth and interest. I blended in the same way as above.  

Tip: Don’t worry if your first go at this does not look too great. It will need a second coat. Just leave your first to dry, don’t try to fix it while it is wet. 

Once the second coat was dry, I used the Aussie Decor Transfers "Chain of Hearts" stencil to create ‘bubbles’ in the water. I used a mix of my paint colours to achieve different coloured bubbles. I used the Aussie Decor Transfers "Sponge Applicators" to apply the paint, remembering to remove most of the paint from the sponge before applying it to the stencil so that the paint would not bleed. Once I was happy with the shapes and colours, I let it dry.

I removed the hardware and then painted the ‘walls’ of the tray in Fusions’ Coal Black. I painted the sides after the centre as I knew that the ombre in the middle would be a bit messy and could cover the edges up with the black paint. These all also needed 2 coats. Once completely dry I gave it a coat of Water based sealer – in this case the Tough Coat from Fusion.  

Now was the time to prep the Aussie Decor Transfer "Fluke" Luxe decoupage paper. I took a cutting mat and my knife and cut around the image of the tail. Once the background to the Luxe was removed it was ready to apply. 

Using a brush, I added watered down PVA to the tray where I thought the Luxe paper would be placed. I spritzed the back of the Luxe with water using my Aussie Decor Transfers gorgeous Metallic Mist sprayer. Using the Aussie Decor Transfer Blue Applicator tool, I pushed out any air bubbles and removed any creases moving from the middle of the image to the outside. I used a small artist brush to add more glue where needed on the finer smaller areas of the tail and used the blue applicator tool again to remove any excess glue, air and bubbles.   

I next used the Aussie Wonderfoil Size (glue) to a few areas of the bubbles. (Follow the instructions on the bottle on how to mix). So that I knew where I had placed the glue as it dried, I took a picture of the area and edited the picture on my phone with red lines. 

I left the Size overnight. The next day, I used 3 different patterns from the Mother’s Pearls Aussie Wonderfoil to add some extra detail to the bubbles.

I simply placed the Foil down on the areas where the size has been added, then I used the Aussie black applicator tool to rub over the area until the image started to release from the foil. I kept moving and replacing the foils to add more to different areas.

Once I was happy with the amount of foil, I then added a further 2 coats of Fusions Tough Coat as this is a drinks tray I need it to be water resistant.  

I cleaned the hardware including the screws and put the tray back together. 

Viola! A unique drinks tray and a talking point when I'm serving out the gin!