DIY Beach Inspired Epoxy Resin Tray

Today, I bring you a super cool DIY that will keep on reminding you of summer, even when it's over! 

This beach inspired tray was made with epoxy resin, and it's perfect to help you serve up drinks and snacks all throughout the summer, bringing a little beach vibe to your table or home!

It's the first time I've worked with epoxy resin, and I'm hooked! Check out the DIY video below to show you how you can easily make this pretty summer tray at home!

I found working with epoxy resin to be such a fun and easy craft, where you can get instant, super pretty results without much knowledge or effort whatsoever! 

That's not to say that you don't need to take some precautions! Epoxy resin is dangerous stuff, so be use to follow the manufacturer's instructions for safety, and wear gloves, eye protection, and only work in well ventilated areas.

Apart from these essential safety precautions, you need to protect your surfaces, because the resin will set hard and you won't be able to remove it once it's dry!

So this is NOT a craft for kids, nor a craft that you can do while watching TV or when you have kids or pets around!

Now that you've got all the safety stuff out of the way, you can begin crafting!

Basically, the epoxy resin can be purchased online or at craft stores. Mine came in a kit (they usually do) with the resin itself and the hardener. You have to mix the two substances before using it in a craft project., so you'll also need some disposable paper cups and some wooden stirrers, like Popsicle sticks.

The basic epoxy resin that I used in this project was a clear resin, so I used some acrylic paints to customize my resin and achieve those pretty beach inspired colors. In total I used four colors - a dark blue, a shimmery teal, a gold and a white. All acrylics.

You could also add glitter or fine pigment Mica powders to color your resin, if you wish.

My acrylic paint already came with some shimmer and glitter, so I didn't need to do that. Though I did have a hard time mixing the dark blue glitter and shimmery teal paints with the resin. Maybe next time I'll use less resin to make the mixing easier, then top it up with more resin? 

Anyways, apart form that small issue, the rest is pretty straight forward! You simply mix up your resin mixture, color it, then pour into your tray!

Because I had bought a wooden tray that was unfinished, I painted it white first, in keeping with the beach look that I had in mind. But of course, you could use an old tray instead, or even revamp a thrift store tray too!

In fact, you could use the same technique that I used (pouring the epoxy resin freehand) to create coasters, to decorate table tops or any other support you like!

In fact, I have already bought some coaster molds on Amazon that I plan to use for my next craft project with epoxy resin, so watch this space! 😉

Oh, and to clean your supplies and tools you can use rubbing alcohol or simply leave them overnight on top of a bin bag or parchment paper to dry fully. The resin will set completely hard, and you'll be able to use them again and again!