How to Decorate a Serving Tray

Serving trays are easily customized.

Serving trays hold drinks and appetizers. Hosts can pile them with food and drink and set them aside for guests to help themselves. They can be passed among guests or carried by waiters. Serving trays are shaped like rectangles, circles or squares and made of wood, metal or plastic. Their bottoms are flat and the edges are curved or straight. There are tons of ways to dress up a serving tray.

Things You'll Need

• Serving tray
• Doily
• Placemat
• Wallpaper
• Pinking shears
• Hot glue
• Fabric
• Flower vase
• Fresh cut flowers
• Ferns
• Ribbons
• Paint
• Stencils

Instructions

1. Use a temporary adornment. Add a doily to the bottom of the serving tray, or an individual placemat. A bamboo placemat is an especially attractive choice. You could also spread out an attractive cloth napkin on the bottom of the serving tray.

2. Add a decorative protector. Cut out a piece of wallpaper to fit the bottom of the tray. Use pinking shears to create an attractive edge. Hot glue the wallpaper to the bottom of the tray. Use dress or upholstery fabric in the same way.

3. Dress up the serving tray with flowers and ribbons. Add a small flower vase or bud vase to the tray. Fill it with water and add an attractive selection of fresh cut flowers. Alternatively, lay fresh cut flowers down directly on the tray without the vase. A few ferns can be pretty too. Some serving trays have handles, to which you can attach ribbons or bows.

4. Paint the serving tray another color or even a trio of different colors like the Italian or French flags. Let your creativity run wild; let the serving tray be your canvas and create a painting on it. Create a mural. If your artistic skills aren't up to snuff, however, stencils are a better choice. Flower or fleur de lis patterns make good decorations for a serving tray, but your local craft store will have a wide selection of stencils to choose from. You can also hot glue accessories onto the serving tray, such as small gems and stones, or circles of fabric or cork.

References

• Martha Stewart: Tray Protector
• Martha Stewart: Punched-Cork Serving Tray