The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. Growing up we went to the golf cart parade and then watched the fireworks  over the lake at a family friend’s house.  Once I was in college it usually meant a day in the sun on the beach or dock and then watching fireworks over the beach and listening to a great live band.

I’ve always wanted to make my own tray by finding a cool piece of wood and adding handles to it, so I decided to get patriotic and make a stencil of fireworks to paint on top!

DIY Stenciled Tray

What you’ll need:

• Wooden craft sign
• 2 5 3/4″ Cabinet handles
• 4 Screws (come with handles)
• Drill
• 1/4″ drill bit
• Cricut Explore Air 2
• Scrap vinyl
• Weeder tool
• Scissors
• Red, white & blue acrylic paint
• Stencil paint brush

When I was returning some extra packing materials at Wal-Mart I wandered down the craft aisle and found the perfect gray wooden piece that they intended for a sign and I thought would be great for a tray. I grabbed some festive paint, a stencil brush and was in business!

First, we’ll make the tray by screwing the cabinet handles into the wood.  I measured the side of the tray and made 2 marks where the handles would be screwed in with equal space on both sides.

I used my drill bit to make pilot holes in the wood on the marks first.

Next, screw the handles into the wood, through the pilot holes.Now you have a functioning tray!  If you want a basic tray, congrats – you’re done!  Otherwise keep reading to add some American flair. Now it’s time to make the stencil.  I wanted to stencil some red, while and blue fireworks on the tray, but needed a picture of fireworks to use.  When searching for ‘4th of July’ I found a fireworks graphic that I liked and inserted it in Design Space.

When the stencil design was the right width (~10″), I was ready to cut it on some scrap vinyl with the Cricut.

So.. I may have a stock pile of different vinyls, but knew I wouldn’t use this 12″x12″ piece because the pattern was too large to do something with, so it became my stencil!
After the design was cut, I weeded it, and then placed the vinyl on the tray between the handles. Stencil time!  I put some red, white, and blue acrylic paint in my paint tray and then dabbed the paint on the stencil, and went to town.

I let the paint dry some (so it wouldn’t run) and then lifted the vinyl off the tray.  I had to touch up some of the white lines with paint, but overall it turned out well and looks festive! Now I’ve got a patriotic tray to use for all the American holidays!  And it serves beverages quite well.  We have even been using it this weekend to hold the fresh fruit! This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.