Zentangle Tray with Walnut Hollow

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I love the decorative serving trays I’ve seen around. Every once in awhile I find one in a store that I think I might love enough to bring home, but the price tags are always a deterrence. I often think to myself while holding those trays in my hand “I could make this!” So today, I did! I really love how this wood burned zentangle serving tray turned out, and doing it myself cut the cost in half. I’m excited to show you how I did it!

*This is a sponsored post from Walnut Hollow. Even though I was compensated for my work here, all of my opinions are 100% my own.*

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own zentangle woodburned serving tray:

Walnut Hollow serving tray
Creative Versa-Tool® wood burner
Sand paper
Wood stain (I used a light oak color)
Decoart dazzling metallics -copper paint
Decoart Triple Thick Gloss Glaze
Paint brushes
Painters tape

This is my favorite wood burning tool ever. Seriously. If you’ve never used a wood burner before you should really give it a try it’s so much easier than it might look! Here are some things you should know about wood burning:

All wood burners have handles that get warm as you use them. Some get warmer than others. Some can be downright uncomfortable to hold after awhile. I love this one because it stays comfortable enough to use for long periods of time.
light steady pressure is the way to go. Just like if you’re writing with a pencil. If you push too hard, the pencil lead will break. With a wood burner, if you push too hard you get uneven lines.
Please don’t touch the hot tip. I know that should go without saying, but even an accidental brush will hurt, a lot. These tools get very hot!
Draw your design with a pencil first. Once it’s burned in the wood, it’s permanent. Only a large amount of sanding could remove it, and on a wood piece like this where the tray bottom is already thin by design, there isn’t a lot of room to sand out a burned line.
You will be surprised how easy it is to use, and you will LOVE the result!

The first step with any wood project is to give it a light sanding. Luckily, I’ve found I need to do very little of this first step with most of the Walnut Hollow wood pieces I’ve worked with! They come pretty much ready to go, which is nice and saves some time.

Next, draw your design in pencil. Pencil, unlike burned lines, can be erased. My favorite thing about a zentangle design is that it’s just like doodling. It does not have to look a certain way, just draw until you’ve filled up as much of the space as you want. There are some great guides out there if you feel you want more information on the art of zentangle. Just do a pinterest search for it and you’ll find all kinds of great inspiration and designs. I really like floral designs.

Choose which point you want to use on your wood burner. Most burners come with a few. The Versa-Tool has 11 different points (a point is the metal piece you attach to the tip of your wood burning tool) I find that the “Flow Point” is my favorite. It’s a nice rounded point and it flows very smoothly over all the curves and circles in my zentangle flowers.

Just trace over your pencil design slowly with the wood burner. That’s it! This part takes some time. If you go too fast you don’t get a very good burn in the wood, which is nice for shading, but not solid lines. Take your time for nice evenly burned lines.

When you’ve finished with the burning, you can seal the raw wood, and just leave it as is, or you can stain (or even paint!) over your design. I used a light wood stain. Rub it softly over the entire tray bottom. Stain is really difficult to get off your skin and I hate doing it so I always wear gloves while staining.

I decided to paint the sides of the tray in a metallic copper paint. I love little touches of metallic in my decor. I was a little unsure how “coppery” it would really be, but you will love the result! Use painters tape around the inside bottom of your tray to keep the copper paint off your burned design. You may need two coats of paint on the inside if you got a lot of your stain on the tray walls like I did. No big deal, the paint covers it just fine!

Now time to seal your work. I wanted my tray to be sealed in a way that I could actually use it as a serving tray. I also wanted it to be very glossy to help the copper paint stand out and really shine. This was the first time I’ve ever used Triple Thick gloss glaze. It was a little bit difficult to spread, but the end result was fantastic and exactly what I was looking for! It really shines! Use a paintbrush or soft cloth to wipe your sealer over the whole tray. Let it dry for a few hours before touching it or you will get fingerprints in your glossy sealer.

Seriously, look at that shine! You can see the reflection of the flower in the side! It’s definitely glossy! I am so in love with how it turned out!

I love the unique design the wood burner allowed. It’s permanent, so the design will never fade or chip away.

The large 15″ x 11″ serving tray is the perfect size. It is sturdy and will be around for years and years. If you’ve never tried wood burning before, this is the perfect project to try. You’ll be just as hooked as I am! I can’t help but look at wood items these days and wonder what I can burn into it. Head over to Walnut Hollow today and grab your amazing Versa-Tool® and wood serving tray and make your very own Zentangle serving tray.