Acrylic trays are all the rage right now and can really help elevate the mood of any room by adding that modern touch. As soon as we found out that we would be hosting a cupcake tasting bridal shower, we knew personal acrylic trays would be the perfect fit. Not only do they hold more food than a traditional plate – which was perfect since we would be taste testing quite a few cupcakes! But, they also help add an elegance to the party. We quickly discovered our best option would be to create a DIY acrylic tray. Luckily for us, we were able to find some very affordable acrylic picture frames to transform into trays!
Open the acrylic picture frame and remove all the paper/cardboard inserts.
Turn the picture frame right side up. Use the craft paints to paint a design on the picture frame. We were going for a very modern style, so we decided to create gold paint brush dots with a mint background.
Once your design has completely dried, paint completely over the picture frame with your background color. We ended up doing two coats of the background color to get the coverage we wanted. Depending on the color of paint, you might only need one coat, or you might need more.
Once the picture frames have dried overnight, you can turn them over and use them as trays! We didn’t worry too much about the trays not being food safe since we were only serving cupcakes that where in their cupcake wrappers. But, if you need your trays to be food safe, simply glue down a layer of wax paper to the bottom of the tray with a clear glue stick.
To see more take a look at my Bridal Shower Cake Tasting Event, my recipe for one cupcake 5 ways, and my tutorial on floral arrangement.