DIY Faux Malachite Tray (For Less than $10)

Lately, I’ve been lusting.

Lusting after this malachite fabric.

I’ve kind of been dreaming and scheming to make that fabric into curtains for the living room.

But I just can’t bite the bullet yet.

But I do love malachite. 

And as I was walking through the craft store the other day, plotting to make a pink and white marbled tray, I changed my mind.

Which happens often. 

I would make a faux malachite tray. 

And I did.

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The best part?

It will cost you $10 or less.

If you are like me and tend to have some gold spray paint lying around, its only going to set you back about $6.

Boom.

How to Make a Faux Malachite Tray

Materials & Supplies Needed:

• Acrylic Photo Frame in your choice of size. (Wait till they are on sale at Michael’s or use your coupon!)
• Gold Spray Paint 
• Green Acyrlic Paints (I ended up using only three of the ones pictured – Americana Green Beret, Americana Holly Green, and Americana Kelly Green.)
• Toothpick
• Satin Mod-Podge
• Paintbrush

Steps

Step 1: 

Spray paint your picture frame gold.

Step 2:

Starting with the darkest color of green, squeeze out a line into the bottom of the tray. On both sides of the darkest green, squeeze out lines of the next darkest, and finally on both sides of those lines, squeeze out lines of the lightest green. It will eventually look like this:

You will see that you kind of start to curve your lines as you work your way out. Don’t worry about that.

Stop every once in a while and tap your tray against a level solid surface to kind of spread the paint out, but still maintain the pattern. Once you’ve got most of the tray covered with paint, you can move the tray around to get in any corners.

Step 3:

Run a toothpick back and forth and all around throughout the paint while it is still wet.

Just go crazy with it until you have a pattern you like. You really can’t mess this up.

Step 4: 

Let the paint fully cure. This is a lot of paint, so its going to take a while. I let mine sit untouched for three days to let it fully dry.

After its dry, you may have some green paint where you don’t want it on your gold, or maybe I’m the only hot mess crafter around. To cover those spots, I laid a few sheets of plain white printer paper in the tray and pressed it down with my hand while spray painting over the spots.

Yes, your hands will get spray paint on them. Wear gloves if you aren’t down with that.

Step 5: 

After the spray paint dries, give your faux malachite a coat of satin Mod Podge and allow it to dry.

This is totally one of my new favorite trays. I know – I’m kind of a tray whore.

I love the way the gold snake bowl looks against the faux malachite.

Are you a tray whore too? 

Here are more tray makeovers you might like then…

DIY Bathtub Tray – a simple build and functional!

DIY Monogrammed Tray – makes a great gift!

 DIY Lucite Trays for less than $5 – so easy to make.

You know you don’t wanna miss any of this crazy.

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