I'm a sucker for all kinds of scalloped decor -- whether it be trays, baskets or lamp shades, you name it -- I'm a fan! I'm just not a fan of the high price tags.  

To the contrary, I've come up with a way to circumvent some of those exorbitant prices -- with my DIY high end scalloped trinket tray.  

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Dollar Tree never ceases to amaze me. For the DIY-er who is not afraid to tackle a project head-on, Dollar Tree is a treasure trove of ideas and inspiration. Many of my DIY projects are evidence of this, and this project is no exception.  

Scalloped decor is and has been popular for longer than I can say, although it seems to be having a resurgence lately. It's only been in the past year that I've become enamored of the style, and have had my eye out for potential inexpensive DIYs.

Enter my recent Dollar Tree find: scalloped wooden trinket trays. I absolutely could not believe my eyes when I found them in the craft aisle. 

I saw nothing but blank slates in these glorious trays, so of course I bought two of them. I had a transformative idea in mind. 

Anyone who knows me and my aesthetic knows I'm a chinoiserie kind of girl. So why not create a scalloped chinoiserie trinket tray?

 

 

SUPPLIES FOR DIY SCALLOPED CHINOISERIE TRAY

1. Caspari chinoiserie cocktail napkins (or any cocktail napkins of your choice)

2. Dollar Tree scalloped trinket tray (the closest I found on Amazon is

a pack of 6 unfinished trinket trays)

3. Matte Mod Podge

4. gold acrylic paint

5. white acrylic paint

6. paint brushes 

7. wooden craft beads (mine were from Michael's)    

8. wooden skewers (Dollar Tree)

9. old cardboard box

10. sandpaper (if necessary)

11. Rub 'N Buff in Gold Leaf

12. pencil

13. E-6000 Clear Glue 

14. detail scissors 

 

I happen to love these Caspari chinoiserie print cocktail napkins. I use them for all my DIY chinoiserie projects. 

Before we get started I have to say that I've shared my DIY napkin decoupage method in no less than FOUR different blog posts already. I've shared SO MANY general tips and tricks throughout those posts that I urge you to check them out before starting this DIY High End Decoupaged Chinoiserie Scalloped Trinket Tray:   

How To Make Chinoiserie Pumpkins DIY Decoupage

DIY Chinoiserie Vase 

How To Make Chinoiserie Easter Eggs With Cocktail Napkins and Mod Podge 

How To Make Chinoiserie Christmas Ornaments

HOW TO MAKE CHINOISERIE SCALLOPED TRINKET TRAY  

  I threaded the wooden craft beads onto a wooden skewer which I then placed diagonally across an old cardboard box between two corners. This allowed me to paint the beads with gold acrylic paint as the beads sat on the skewer. 

I did use my fingers a bit to rotate the beads as I painted, but it was a pretty quick and simple process and you can easily wash the acrylic paint off your hands if necessary.  

I then left the beads on the skewers to dry and here is the end result.

NOTE: If there are any rough edges on the trays, now is the time to sand those edges down before you start painting. 

Then be sure to brush the sawdust off of your tray before doing any painting.   

While the beads were drying, I painted the scalloped wooden trays with white acrylic paint as a base coat, before starting the decoupage.

 

I was sure to leave the top edges of the scallops "naked," knowing that I would be adding Rub 'n Buff to them later.  

Now that the beads (feet) have been painted and the trays themselves have been painted a base coat of white, it's time for the actual decoupage portion of this DIY.

For full basic instructions please see How to Make Chinoiserie Christmas Ornaments. 

My scalloped tray project-specific tips are as follows:

1. Since decoupaging scalloped shapes are a bit more detailed than your average decoupage project (and due to the fact that the tips of the scallops have to be left "naked" so that they can be embellished with gold later), I started with those specific sections of the tray.

To decoupage the scalloped sections of the tray, I laid the tray side down on the edge of a long strip of napkin and traced the scallops onto the napkin with a pencil, section by section (four in total = all four sides of the tray). Then I carefully cut out the napkin scallops to align with the tray.    

Holding the napkin strip onto the edge of the tray, I applied Mod Podged to the strip and then let that section dry before tackling the other three scalloped sections.

2. Once the scalloped sections dried, I added more napkins pieces to cover the entire tray.

3. Once all the Mod Podge dried I applied Rub 'N Buff in gold leaf to the tips of all the scalloped sections with a paint brush, all the way around the tray. 

4. Lastly, I used E-6000 clear glue to attach one gold bead to each corner on the bottom of the tray, creating feet.

The feet are a much brighter gold in person. It's just hard to capture that in the photos.

The chinoiserie trinket tray holds my pearls as well as some of my handmade vintage charm bracelets.

Seeing my old handiwork makes me want to start jewelry making again! (Stay tuned on that front.)

The scalloped tray currently has a place of honor on my tall boy dresser where I can see it every day. It honestly makes me smile inside whenever I see it (said the blue and white loving girl)!

I still have the second scalloped tray, painted white at this point. I'm not sure how I'm going to embellish it, but I do know I'll be using the same gold paint for the scalloped edges and Rub 'N Buff for the ball feet. I do  think the gold accents add an air of sophistication to it.

 

Who would have thought that I could transform a Dollar Tree craft aisle wooden box into something that looks so high end?

While I'm using my scalloped tray to hold jewelry, you can definitely use it to corral other things like keys, spare change, a cell phone or even -- wait for it -- cocktail napkins! I swear, a pack of square cocktail napkins fits perfectly inside it.

If you don't feel like making a scalloped trinket tray from scratch there are other scalloped trays out there depending on your taste:

Scalloped round footed metal tray

Customizable scalloped acrylic tray

Scalloped tray with bronze handles

Scalloped white marble bowl  

Round scalloped woven rattan tray

YOU CAN ALSO FIND MY FAVORITE  SCALLOPED RATTAN TRAY ON MY  WAL-MART STOREFRONT

  Well, that's it for today, friends!

I hope you've enjoyed reading about my

DIY Decoupaged Chinoiserie

Scalloped Trinket Tray

and that I've inspired you in some way.