Outdoor Tray/Table with Envirotex Lite

I promised I’d tell you today what the painted peacock scrolls are on – an outdoor tray table.

Can you ever have too many tables for outdoor entertaining? Nah.

And you know I have a bit of a thing for serving trays.

I love that this serves both purposes, as a table and a tray. But the fact that it’s now incredibly durable is just icing on the cake.

I used EnviroTex Lite – a high gloss resin finish – for durability. Awesome, awesome stuff.

Let me show you how easy it was to make this outdoor tray/table.

For the base I used this plain ol’ plant stand. Four bucks at BigLots. I already had turquoise spray paint from all my other turquoise projects.

I also found this bamboo serving tray at Big Lots. They had smaller trays but I wanted to be able to carry a bunch of stuff outside – and then back into the kitchen – so I got the 20” size.

And since I can’t seem to leave any surface plain, I had to paint scrolls, which turned into peacocks, which turned into a blobs, which turned into feathers . . . eventually.

I could have sealed it with a clear coat, or painted a couple coats of polyurethane. But I wanted a really high-gloss, durable finish. Something that’ll last year after year after year.

I’ve been wanting to try EnviroTex Lite for years, ever since I first saw it when I worked in a craft store.

This was the perfect project.

But not the perfect time. Who knew it’d be under 70 degrees in June in California?

With rain threatening?

I had read the instructions carefully {shock!} and it clearly stated “for best results, coat at temperatures between 70  and 80 degrees.”

For best results . . .

It didn’t say “Under no circumstances, don’t ever, ever pour when it’s 61 degrees and getting ready to rain.”

So I gathered my supplies: the resin & the hardener, mixing cups with smooth sides and bottoms, stir sticks and foam brushes.

I taped off the handles so I wouldn’t have to deal with resin drips.

Then I laid my now-turquoise dropcloth down and put the tray on top of a box so it was waist high.

You pour equal parts resin and hardener so these plastic cups with the measurements were perfect. Then stir the two together for one minute – vigorously. Then pour the mixture into a second container and stir for another full minute.

The directions said there’d be bubbles, and there were, so I figured I was on the right track.

I started pouring and spreading the resin with the foam brush, working from the center to the edges.

I wanted to coat the sides too and wasn’t quite sure how this was going to work, but it was really pretty easy.

I started removing drips with the foam brush because I wasn’t sure if those drips would harden permanently. Then I switched to the wooden stir stick, which was a lot easier.

After 5 minutes, I went around the bottom again, removing drips. Then again after 15 minutes.

Now – the directions also say you’ll need a blow torch to remove bubbles.

Whaaa???

Well, gee. I just didn’t happen to have a blow torch handy. So I blew on the bubbles. (That was in the instructions too.) Worked great. But, you know, there really weren’t that many bubbles.

Maybe because it was only 61 degrees, ha!

Then I did the hardest part – I let it sit there overnight. No touching. No moving. Okay, I did peek at it from time to time, but I swear I didn’t touch it. And I wanted to. It was soooo shiny! But I resisted. Until this morning.

I carefully lifted it from underneath and moved it inside to get some warmth. Just before the rain hit.

Whew!

And just look at that shine!

Even the sides . . . Shiny!!!

But since it was raining, I wanted to give it a chance to fully cure, so I didn’t take it out to the garden. I just took pictures on the front porch.

So here’s my new tray/table . . .

As a tray . . .

and as a table. Cool, huh?

I’m already looking around for something else to use EnviroTex Lite on. I might even get a blow torch in case there are bubbles – because this time I’ll wait until it’s over 70 degrees.

ETI sent me this product to try out. You won’t believe all that you can do with this product.  Envirotex Lite was created by Environmental Technologies Inc. (ETI), which is the home for many resin and mold making products.

The use of resin in jewelry making, mixed media and paper arts continues to grow in popularity. Today, artists are using ETI’s products in many crafty ways and they will be showcasing these works of art on their new blog "Resin Crafts".
Check them out on:
Resin Crafts Blog
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Check out these other tutorials using Envirotex Lite: