DIY Ouija Board Serving Tray

As far as the seven deadly sins go, I know I’ve mentioned more than once on this site that sloth and gluttony are two of my favorites, and when I can combine both into an easy DIY project, I like to count that as a win.  Take this DIY Ouija board serving tray for example.  While the project does take a bit of work, the end results mean I can now lay in bed and pig out on my favorite treats without the risk of getting crumbs everywhere!

The inspiration for this project came from three distinct places.  A while back I came across an ouija board serving tray that I loved online, but was unable to find anywhere at a price that I considered reasonable.  Then, I stumbled across this brilliant serving tray tutorial on my friend’s website, Me and Annabel Lee (go check out her site…you’ll thank me later!).  Finally, while haunting my favorite thrift shop, I came across this ugly, yet serviceable (and more importantly, affordable) serving tray.

The fates aligned and at that moment, I realized if I really wanted my own Ouija board inspired serving tray, it was going to be up to me to get it done from start to finish.

I scooped up the tray for about $6 and then stopped by the craft store to get the necessary supplies. And of course, before we go any further, I’m letting you know that this post contains affiliate links.  You can read my whole disclosure here.

Let’s get crafting!

For this project you will need:

• 1 wooden serving tray
• Spray adhesive/glue
• paper or plastic disposable cups
• wooden stir sticks
• Scissors
• Black semi-gloss spray paint
• Clear wood seal spray paint
• 2-part tabletop resin
• Painter’s tape
• Screwdriver (may be optional)
• Heat gun or hair dryer
• Graphics of your choice

The first thing you want to do is take your serving tray apart and give it a good cleaning.  It was clear from the sticky residue on mine that it had been used pretty heavily before ending up on the discount shelf at the shop.  A little soap and water not only got rid of that sticky goo but also took off the price stickers.

Next, I gave it a good going over with two coats of semi-gloss black spray paint to make sure the original graphic was well covered.  This was followed by a coat of clear sealer to help protect my tray from future hard use (because I plan on using this all the time!)

Graphic design time

Leaving it all black like that would have been fine, but I wanted the full Ouija board effect!  For this part, you can easily download a pre-made Ouija graphic from a quick online search, but I wanted something original that went with my entire site and aesthetic, so I opened up Photoshop and designed my own!

(Don’t feel like making your own and want to use my design instead?  I have it for sale in my Etsy shop here.)

I first measured the size of the serving tray and decided that a 11X17″ graphic would be the perfect fit.  I drafted the design and had it professionally printed out at Kinko’s which cost me a whopping $1.50 per print on glossy, professional weight paper!  Originally I had them print three copies (just in case I messed one up) and two turned out with small flaws.  The guy at Kinko’s re-printed those, leaving me with 5 copies for less than $5!

Rather than destroy the flawed prints, I had them laminated and we turned them into food bowl mats for Lucifur!  Perfect!

Once I got the prints home and my tray was dry, I trimmed the white edges off my print and used my spray adhesive to glue it to the base of my serving tray and then reassembled the entire thing.

Now it was time to give it a good coat of the two-part resin to help protect the image and give it a slick and glass-like surface.

Working with Resin

The first thing I did was tape up the bottom and sides of the tray wherever I thought the resin might leak out.  Trust me on this, when in doubt, tape it all!  Resin leakage not only makes a huge mess but can potentially glue your project to whatever surface you have it resting on while it cures.  Make sure you’re using painter’s tape.  This tape will keep the resin from oozing out, but won’t stick to it.  You should be able to easily peel it all off when your resin is cured without damaging either the paint on your tray or having it stick to any resin that might have dripped out and cured.

The resin I used for this project is a two-part resin specifically made for things like table tops and bars and is food safe (very important for a serving tray!).  When mixing, you combine equal amounts of the resin and equal amounts of the hardener in your disposable cups and follow the directions to ensure you are mixing it properly.  Make sure you read the directions exactly as each resin company has their own way of doing things and improperly mixed resins can result in cloudy projects, or even projects that never cure, leaving you with a tray filled with a sludge that stays soft and sticky for forever (ugh…that’s just tragic.)

Before you pour your resin, make sure to give the surface of your graphic a quick going over to make sure there are no stray bits of dust, hair, or other impurities that you don’t want to be trapped in resin forever!

With my graphic wiped down and clean, I carefully poured my resin over the entire Ouija board graphic and then tilted it back and forth until it was evenly covered, making sure the whole thing had a layer roughly 1/8 inch thick.

I don’t know if you can see in this photo, but there are small bubbles in the resin.  This is a normal result caused by the mixing you have to do to ensure your resin and hardener are well combined…but you definitely don’t want to leave them in there.

To get rid of any bubbles, use your heat gun or hairdryer to warm the surface of your resin.  The heat will loosen up the material even more and the bubbles will quickly rise to the surface and pop.

Now is also the time to look carefully for any stray bits of lint or hairs or any other impurities that may have blown in or drifted down onto your resin as you’ve been working on it.  Carefully scoop these out and then go over the resin with your heat gun/hair dryer again to help smooth any ripples that might result.

Cure your resin overnight by leaving it on a level surface.  I like to cover my projects with a protective layer to help make sure no bits of dust drift onto it as it cures.  For this project, I just repurposed Luci’s new food mats to cover the tray while the resin cured.

Enjoy all your hard work!

The next morning I removed the mats and revealed my tray in all its glossy glassy glory!  The resin cured absolutely beautifully, embedding my Ouija board graphic under a 1/8 inch thick protective layer!  If you feel your project needs additional resin, or you notice any flaws you want to cover including ripples or gouges, you could absolutely add an additional 1/8 inch layer of resin, but I wouldn’t go much thicker as it does add substantial weight to the final project.

And now we get to why this post is a day late.  The resin cured so beautifully, and created such an absolutely perfectly smooth, mirror-like surface, that it was almost impossible to photograph clearly!  I spent an entire day trying to photograph it without accidentally catching myself (or anything else) in the reflection!

I will say, however, looking at these photos as well as the final tray itself, that the trouble was worth it!  I now have my very own 100% custom Ouija board serving tray and can’t wait for a long rainy weekend when I can lounge around all morning in bed, eating bits of disgustingly delicious breakfast treats (like these oubliette donut holes or my dread pudding!) off of it while reading trashy novels and snuggling with the hellhounds!

Bone appetite!

For even more fun DIY projects, why not check out my Skull Tabletop Firepit or my Easy paper Bat Lantern?