Transform A Wood Tray Into This Leather-Wrapped Beauty

By  Carrie Waller
Leather-wrapped tray with plant and vases Carrie Waller

The faux ceramic painting hack (originally created by Geneva Vanderzeil, of Collective Gen) has taken the crafting world by storm — and for good reason. Vanderzeil's simple combo of baking powder and paint allows creatives to make their own chalky-finish paint in seconds, and gives craft projects a ceramic-looking finish that feels authentically aged. Feeling inspired, we used this technique (plus some leather cording) to transform a plain wood tray into an eye-catching decor piece.

Learn how to make your own ceramic-look tray with wrapped leather detailing.Carrie Waller

Things Needed

Here's what you'll need to make your DIY leather-wrapped tray.Carrie Waller

Step 1

Press painter's tape around the top edge of the wooden tray on both the inside and outside of the tray rim.

Cover the rim of the tray on both the inside and outside with painter's tape.Carrie Waller

Step 2

Use a ruler to draw a straight, level line on the painter's tape about half an inch below the rim of the tray. Do this all the way around the tray. Then, make pencil marks along that line every inch around the top edge of the wooden tray.

Tip

If your tray has handle inserts (like the tray used in this DIY), mark your holes so that they fall in line with the handles, that way the cording wraps evenly all the way around the tray rim.

Measure and mark the painter's tape where you plan to drill holes.Carrie Waller

Step 3

Drill all the way through the pencil marks on the wood tray using a 1/4-inch drill bit.

Drill holes through the painter's tape and rim of the tray.Carrie Waller

Step 4

Remove the painter's tape. Sand any rough edges around the holes, if needed.

Sand the drilled holes smooth using a sanding sponge.Carrie Waller

Step 5

Combine the baking powder and paint in a bowl. To achieve the soft beige color you see pictured in this tutorial, we combined white acrylic paint with light brown paint. Add roughly one tablespoon of baking powder for each cup of paint you use. Stir until the paint takes on a fluffy, mousse-like texture. Don't worry if it starts to bubble up — this is just the baking powder reacting to the paint. It'll stop after you stir it a little more. You'll want a smooth yet light consistency, almost like whipped cream. If your paint feels ​too​ smooth, add a little more baking powder to give it a rougher texture when painted on.

Mix acrylic paint with baking powder to create a faux ceramic texture paint.Carrie Waller
You'll want a smooth yet light consistency almost like whipped cream.Carrie Waller

Step 6

Use a foam paint brush to coat the wood tray with the paint mixture. Do as many layers as needed to achieve a textural, matte finish that looks like ceramic or plaster. Rough is okay! Feel free to add a few darker and lighter areas of paint to your tray to make it look like natural ceramic.

Cover the tray with layers of the ceramic texture paint.Carrie Waller

Step 7

Allow the paint to fully dry, then loop leather cording up and around the top of the tray rim and through the holes you drilled earlier. This will create an angular pattern around the tray edge. Finish by tying the leather cord in a knot at the end, or super glue it in place. Do this on the inside of the tray edge so it's largely hidden. Trim off the excess, if needed, then you're done!

Let the paint dry and then wrap leather cording through the holes.Carrie Waller
Style your ceramic-look tray with things like vintage ceramics and potted plants.Carrie Waller

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