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Hey Friends! Well my goodness, since the reveal of our new/old modern farmhouse dining room, I’ve had several questions about the DIY silver tray wreath hanging over the mantel. I kind of thought you’d like it almost as much as I do, but didn’t realize you’d be that enthusiastic! Knowing that puts a big ol’ smile on my face because that’s exactly why I do this blogging thing! 🙂

I saw a wreath made of trays years ago (like 8) in a magazine and have kept it in my mind all these years knowing one day I would make that little beauty. I started collecting trays way back then never paying more than $8.00 for any one of them. Most of them were less than $5.00 because I figured I’d need about 20. I was wrong but glad I have a few left over for some other super fun ideas.

DIY SILVER TRAY WREATH

Anyway, this wreath measures 42 inches tall and it only took 10 silver trays. When collecting the trays for your project, you’ll want to make sure they aren’t too deep and look for trays that are about the same size. That’s if you want the same look as the one I made.

I chose the 5 largest trays for the base and the slightly smaller ones to fill in the gaps for the top ring.

Supplies:

10 Silver Trays

Rubbing Alcohol

Glue Gun

Hot Glue (a butt load of it!)

UPDATE: We decided after we’d used a ton of hot glue that J B Weld Adhesive is not the best choice to keep the trays together. Especially in warm climates).

STEP 1 – Clean the trays

You need to use the rubbing alcohol to clean the trays. I wanted mine tarnished so I only cleaned the areas where the adhesive was going.



Step 2 and 3 – Figure out your circle

2. Lay your silver trays right side up and place them in a circle. You’ll want to use the largest trays for the bottom ring. You could cut out a ring from cardboard if you need a template but I just eyeballed it.

3. Place the second layer around in the gaps. Sitting the top tray where the two bottom trays meet. If you feel it’s wobbly or uneven, choose a different tray for the bottom circle. It’s most likely because the two trays on the bottom don’t meet up well making it uneven.

Steps 4, 5 and 6

4. Take a picture of the wreath. Trust me, this will help!

5. I found this step to be the toughest. Turn the trays over facing down. The top set of trays that filled in the gaps, is now your bottom ring.

6. Once you’ve situated that circle, now place your large trays on top of those setting them down like your picture. You could also use painters tape to number them if that would be easier for you.

Step 7

7. Now you gently pick up the top tray trying not to move it and where the two trays come together, load it up with hot glue or the J B Weld. Then push it down and hold for about several seconds. The longer the better. Then move on to the next tray until you’ve hot glued every top ring to the bottom trays. It only took about 20 minutes to do them all.

If you use the J B Weld, leave it overnight or as the package suggests.

Step 8

8. After that is complete go back and hot glue the edges where the trays meet. Anywhere you see two trays meet, glue it. Hot glue is cheap and you can’t really have too much glue on this thing. The Mister said we could have used a soldering iron but we were afraid of discoloration.



Final Steps

9. We then cut about a 6 inch piece from a metal coat hanger and bent it to form a hook so we could hang it on the wall.

10. Then we hot glued that hook to the back of the top tray. We let it sit over night to get a nice tight grip.



11. It’s time to turn it over! You’ll want one or two helpers because it’s the uneven bending that makes the wreath unstable. You’ll hear some popping and cracking and think Oh my word it’s breaking! But if you’ve done the steps above and used that J B Weld or butt load of hot glue like I said, it won’t break!

HANG IT UP AS SOON AS YOU CAN

Once you’ve got it turned over, it’s best to go ahead and hang it as soon as possible – like immediately when you turn it over. It’s a lot less stress on the wreath when the weight is hanging from the top tray. Don’t ask me how. I don’t understand physics. That’s just what the Mister says.

That’s it! There’s really not much to it and it looks difficult but it isn’t.

I may add a bow to the top but for now, I’m super happy with nothing on it.

Send a photo if you DIY a Silver Tray Wreath! I’d love to see it!

Another Update: If you’d like to see the Christmas tour, click here!





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