Gold Leaf Serving Tray

Level:Intermediate

Time:Active-1 hour, Total-24hours

Cost: Around $20 (with lots of supplies left over for more projects!)

We are so excited to share this awesome DIY project with you today! We love Pinterest (who doesn't) and we're always pinning ideas we like (who doesn't) even if that means we may never get around to making all of said awesome projects (who does?!) but today we totally rocked a pin! Thanks to http://www.homeonhiddenoaks.com we turned an old rusted cookie sheet into an adorable gold leafed serving tray!

What You'll Need:

Cookie sheet-(We used an old one which had been left outside and had rusted, but you can also use a new one if you'd like)

Composition Gold Leaf- We used Speedball Mona Lisa for our metal leaf stuff. Smile.amazon.com

Metal Leaf Adhesive

Metal Leaf Sealer

Paint Brush

Foam Brush

(We have since found you can use regular clear polyacrylic, which comes in a spray can, as a sustitute for the adhesive and sealer if need be)

First things first, really clean your cookie sheet well. Scrub any burnt or rusted spots. And yes, this is what our cookie sheet looks like AFTER being scrubbed:)

Now, gently shake the adhesive and then take your paint brush and brush on a light coat of adhesive, making sure you cover the entire surface of the cookie sheet including the sides and edges.

You will notice the adhesive is a milky color, in about 10-15 minutes it will start to turn clear and that means you are ready to place your gold leaf sheets.

You will need to decide if you want a full coverage, mostly covered, or sparsely covered cookie sheet before placing your gold leaf. We opted for a mostly covered tray this time around.

Now remember, gold leaf is tricky, it's thin and sticks to almost anything, so make sure your work area and hands are clean and dry before opening your package of metal leaf!

Take your first piece of gold leaf and position it over a corner of the cookie sheet. Allow for the edges and side.

More than likely the sheet of metal leaf will break, but that is perfect, it will give the tray some character when completed!

Use your foam brush to smooth the gold leaf and push it up the sides and on the edges.

Continue with the next sheet of gold leaf, making sure to over lap the edges a little to avoid any straight edges (unless that's the look you're going for, then have at it!).

Feel free to rub roughly against the gold leaf already placed on the cookie sheet to get some bare patches and help blend the look of the gold leaf on the cookie sheet.

Keep placing your gold leaf sheets until you cover the tray. You will likely get to a part where you need to split a gold leaf sheet in half to finish up the sides like we did or cover any areas with straight lines or bare patches you don't want.

We just pulled apart a metal leaf sheet and started placing pieces here and there until we were satisfied with the outcome.

Let the tray dry for an additional 10 minutes (wash your brushes with soap and water while you wait!) then start to brush away any extra or loose gold leaf material.

Now you are ready to seal your tray! Shake that can of sealer as per instructions on the label and then give the tray a thin coat of sealer. Rotate your orientation to the tray and spray again until you get the coverage you desire. Let dry for 24 hours.