Decorating & Design
Paint Project: DIY Stenciled Tea Tray
Published on March 1, 2021
Features Editor Wendy Jacob shares the step-by-step process of this Annie Sloan paint project.
During the lockdown, many people have been looking for creative projects. Thrift finds can get a fresh look with a coat of paint, and stencils are an easy way to add surface details. Paint maven Annie Sloan created a DIY Indian-inspired stencilled tea tray so media participants could try their hand. Scroll down to see the step-by-step instructions and the final results!
The Big Paint was an international online painting workshop hosted by Annie Sloan and her network of independent stockists in countries all over the world during the first week of February.
This workshop kit containined three 120 mL tins of Chalk Paint®, an exclusive stencil design, a small tin of Clear Chalk Paint® Wax, a Flat Brush and the tray. To buy your own kit, click here.
Start with the base color; I used three coats so the tray was completely saturated. I had a round bristle brush which I used to apply the paint in a stippling motion when it came to stencilling. It’s important to keep the brush really dry. After lowering a round brush into the paint, swipe it across a scrap piece of paper to make sure there are no blobs of paint, which can work their way underneath the stencil and blur the contours.
This stencil fits perfectly inside the tray so it doesn’t shift. To make sure that doesn’t happen, use painter’s tape to secure the stencil in place. There are many ways to use a stencil, you can choose one solid color for the pattern, or mix layers of color for an ombré effect. Dab the accent color directly over the stencil with an almost dry brush to create a stippling effect.
For this tray, the gray was applied first and then accent colors were painted on top after it dried. Layering colors gives a sense of volume and more dimension.
Here are three trays, using the colors supplied in the kit. I was inspired by the Scandinavian Pink tray’s use of stencilling on the top edge of the tray.
To soften the Scandinavian Pink, I mixed it with equal parts Chicago Grey, and the interior is Svenska Blue, with Aubusson Blue for darker highlights. To give the edges the look of a damask, I stencilled the top edge in different colors. The last touch is dabbing on the clear wax with a bristle brush to give it a softer, aged finish and deepen the color of the Chalk Paint®. I embellished the inside of the handles with some gold leaf I unearthed.