How to Decoupage, Paint & Bedazzle a Decorative Tray
In this special live tutorial filmed from a Florida beach house with 11 Sisterhood members crafting alongside her, Debbie from Studio Mdaz takes you through a complete, start-to-finish masterclass on transforming decorative trays — and she covers more techniques in one session than most tutorials cover in five.
You'll start with the essentials: why Clear Bonding Boss primer is critical before painting any metal tray, how to apply Folk Art Chalk Paint in Cottage White as your base coat, and the right way to lay down a large decorative art paper without a single wrinkle — including the plastic bag trick that makes it foolproof. Debbie uses stunning papers from Deborah Booker Designs featuring vintage steampunk ladies, old London newspaper prints, and whimsical illustrated characters, and walks you through how to cut, position, and adhere them perfectly with Pentart Decoupage Varnish & Glue.
From there the tutorial goes deeper than most. You'll learn how to use an emery board or sanding block to feather the edges of paper that doesn't quite fill your tray, then how to color-match paint to your paper's tones using a pouncing technique with a stencil brush — blending burnt umber, teal, antique gold, greens, and creams directly into the paper's edge until the line completely disappears. This paint-blending skill alone is worth the watch and applies to trays, purses, bags, canvases, and more.
Then comes the finishing magic: applying dark antiquing wax for an aged, vintage look, bedazzling with 3mm rhinestones and a picker pen around decorative details like clock faces and eyeglasses, and using UV resin with a UV flashlight lamp to coat and cure small detail areas so rhinestones sit perfectly flat and look like glass. Debbie also shares two genius alternatives to full resin pours — having glass cut to size at Ace Hardware for a permanent food-safe surface, or simply laying a piece of cut glass over the finished tray.
Whether you're working with a round silver tray, a large rectangular resin tray, or a metal bowl, every technique in this tutorial applies. This is one of the most comprehensive mixed-media decorative tray tutorials Debbie has ever filmed, and the results from the group prove that even first-timers can walk away with a tray that looks like it came from a boutique
🛒 Supply List
The Tray
Any metal, wood, plastic, or resin tray (round or rectangular)
Silver trays, round trays, or bowls from thrift stores, Amazon, or your own stash
Primer & Base Paint
Dixie Belle Clear Bonding Boss (also available through Deborah Booker Designs)
Folk Art Chalk Paint — Cottage White
Paintbrushes (soft, wide brush for base coat)
Decoupage Papers
Deborah Booker Designs art papers (use code SISTERHOOD for 10% off)
Steampunk Lady series
Old London Newspaper series
Illustrated character/animal series
Pentart Decoupage Varnish & Glue (available at vintageretailtherapy.com)
Soft paintbrush for decoupage application
Ziploc or plastic bag (for smoothing paper without wrinkles)
Paint & Color Matching
Acrylic paint in colors to match your paper (Debbie used: burnt umber, teddy bear brown, antique gold, teal, light green, dark green, cream, orange, pink/rose tones)
Stencil brush (for pouncing/blending technique)
Palette or paper plate
Paper towels
Antiquing
Bare Dark Wax (Home Depot or Lowe's)
Slightly damp cloth or baby wipes (for blending wax)
Bedazzling
3mm rhinestones (Amazon or Totally Dazzled — use code SISTERHOOD)
Rhinestone picker pen
B7000 or T8000 clear adhesive
Precision tip applicator bottles
Resin Finishing
UV Resin (Amazon)
UV flashlight/lamp (Amazon, ~$6.99) — or cure outdoors in direct sun 10–20 minutes
Small mixing tools
Alternatives to Resin
Custom-cut glass from Ace Hardware (bring your tray for sizing)
Edge Finishing
Emery board or fine sanding block (for feathering paper edges)
Gold rub & buff (for raised decorative trim details)
Bling trim or rhinestone border strips (optional)
