Painted Mosaic Tray

With just a square of sponge and some paint, a plain surface can be made to look like an expensive mosaic. The treatment is so easy and such fun to do, and it creates that updated, popular mosaic look--without the expense, mess, weight, or bulk of ceramic tile. The design is great for today's retro look, reminiscent of the kitchens from the 1950s.

Materials:

11" x 15" wooden serving tray
2 oz. bottles of acrylic craft paint:
- white
- clay bisque (sandy color)
- black
- cobalt
- yellow light
- pure orange
gloss acrylic sealer
medium- and fine-grade sandpaper
cellulose kitchen sponges
pencil
brown paper bag
disposable palette
sponge brush
paper towels

1. Sand wood until smooth using medium-grade sandpaper first and finish with fine sandpaper.

2. Paint tray with several coats of white paint until thoroughly covered. Allow to dry between coats, and sand between each coat with fine sandpaper.

3. Paint inside bottom surface of tray with clay bisque to look like a sandy-grout base color. Allow to dry. Rub surface with a brown paper bag to smooth.

4. Sketch two daisy-like flowers on the tray surface. You may wish to draw your design on tracing paper first and then transfer to your tray (figure A). Patterns are also available in painting books.

5. Cut dry cellulose sponges into 1/2-inch squares--one for each color you are using (figure B).

6. Cut three more 1/2-inch squares, and cut each of these in half, creating two triangles. Save remaining pieces of sponge--they can be used later to cut into smaller pieces to fill gaps.

7. Dampen all sponge pieces.

8. Begin with the blue border. Pour a puddle of blue paint onto the palette and dip a sponge square into the puddle to load it with paint. Lightly press sponge on a clean spot on palette to distribute paint evenly in sponge. Then press the sponge square on the four corners of the tray using a stamping motion. Sponge a blue border around the edge of the tray, reloading sponge as needed. Allow a 1/8- to 1/16-inch space between each square as you stamp (figure C). Try to keep the same amount of space between each square. Rinse sponge when finished.

9. Using a fresh new square sponge, fill in the space around the flower outline with stamped white squares, working from the outside in. Use the triangle sponge if needed to fill areas.

10. Fill in the petals of one flower with yellow paint squares (figure D). Use triangles where needed to complete the design. Use smaller pieces of sponge if needed to fill in any gaps.

11. Fill in the petals of the other flower with orange paint squares. Again, use triangles where needed to complete design, and use smaller pieces of sponge if needed to fill in any gaps.

12. Fill in the center of each flower with black paint squares, using triangles where needed (figure E).

13. Allow to dry for 24 or more hours. Then apply a gloss finish to the tray. Allow to dry 48 hours before using.