Have you seen all of the patriotic tiered tray pins on Pinterest? When I caught sight of this white enamel-tiered tray at the craft store, the temptation was too much. A few inexpensive flags and a stars and stripes hand towel also made their way into the basket.
Brainstorming, I remembered a few small items stored away in the 4th of July bin. Unfortunately, we just don’t have a lot of small items for this project. A quick trip to the Dollar Tree netted a few more items and the blocks for the patriotic blocks.
The vintage blocks turned out so cute! I love them! You can find the step-by-step directions ◄ here.
The Hanging Sign Transformation
The hanging sign I found at the dollar store has three separate cardboard pieces held together with ribbons. It is easy to remove the ribbon. What is left behind is not so pretty!
When you put these in a tray, from the backside, that ugly back will show. Decorative paper or cardstock will cover up the ugly and your tray will look perfect all the way around.
So, some leftover patriotic paper will remedy that.
These plaques have a wavy design. (If yours doesn’t, it will even be easier to do this!) To make sure the decorative paper will fit nicely, and match the wavy design, place the little plaque, right-side up, on top of the backside of the cardboard to trace.
Lay the plaque face down. Apply glue close to the edges. Then, add extra glue lines across the surface. You don’t have to completely cover the cardboard. See the picture above. Press the glued paper onto the cardboard back. By spreading the glue in a narrow line about an eighth of an inch from the edge, you won’t have a lot of glue oozing out the edges. Yet, the glue will spread to the edge.
Then, lay a couple of heavy books on top and allow the glue to dry for a few minutes.
Patriotic Hobby Lobby Finds
Little 4th of July salt and pepper shakers are a great addition to the tray. The little red truck and the stars and stripes trailer will nestle in among the other items easily.
Hobby Lobby also has these little white buckets filled with red and blue felt star picks. I added a few American flags picks to this one.
This star cardholder caught my eye. By adding a small patriotic graphic, it will be perfect in the tray. The backside is not all that pretty. A little bit of patriotic paper glued to the back fixes that.
Styling The Items In The Tray
The Flags
The first step is securing the flags to the center pole adding height.
You can see a rubber band and a clear twist tie hold the wooden sticks holding the flags. The flags should not all be at the same height. Pull some up so they are taller than others. It makes it more interesting to have a variation in height.
The Top Tray
Next, place one of the plaques in the top tray against the center pole. Remember, the back is covered in pretty patriotic paper. So, it doesn’t matter if it shows on the backside.
In front of the plaque, place a couple of items. The trailer coordinates nicely with the sign plaque. You may recognize the patriotic Oui jar I made last year. It seems perfect in this position.
Patriotic Oui Jar
How To Make Inexpensive Elegant Patriotic Votives
My plan to pick up some red and white carnations at the grocery was a bust. Wouldn’t you think they would have a bunch of red and white flowers the day before the 4th? Well, they had a lot of mixed bouquets but not much red and white in them.
Disappointed, I remembered these silk sunflowers and opted to add them.
Now, to the backside. You can see the blue and white star print on the backside of the plaque. I picked up the little drummer boy and the metal bicycle at Hobby Lobby, too. These didn’t need any embellishment.
Another sunflower nestles next to the drummer and the red truck salt shaker lifts slightly with another piece of Styrofoam.
The Larger Bottom Tray
The first element to go into the tray is one of the plaques. Then, the last plaque is placed backing the Stars and Stripes plaque. You can see the decorative paper on the backs. It looks much better, doesn’t it?
The Stars and Stripes towel lays on the bottom of the tray, draped over the front side. The towel placed like this kind of leads your eye into the tray.
Then, add a few more items to the tray. The glittered red star candle, the stacked vintage blocks, and a red Fiesta cup fill the tray on one side. Another sunflower sits in the cup. You can’t see it, but I cut a piece of Styrofom to help support the sunflower. It kept slipping down into the cup.
Then, on the backside, the little pail of patriotic picks sits on the left. The star cardholder holds a vintage graphic. I printed out two of thesec cut them out, and glued them to a piece of cardstock. This is one of my favorite vintage graphics.
If you look closely, you can see another piece of Styrofoam under the little bucket. With all of the bright red, white, and blue, and the bright yellow sunflower, you don’t notice the white Styrofoam!
This patriotic tiered tray decorates the kitchen island this year. It looks pretty good from all angles, and that was my orignal intent…
Hopefully, this inspires you to create your own tiered tray display! With just a few elements, you can have a striking display!
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