Italian Alphabet Tray

 

I am having fun with Citrasolv projects again this week!  I found this neat Italian alphabet graphic at The Graphics Fairy.

 

I flipped the image in Picnik by going to the Rotate Tab.

 

Did you notice that there is not a "J" or a "W" in this?  Hmmm....  :)

I used Citrasolv (purchased at Whole Foods). I put gloves on and did the project in the garage so it wouldn't smell up the house.

I taped the graphic to a pine board my husband had glued up for me.

Because this wood was very smooth, the graphic went onto the wood without any problems by just using a paper towel to apply the Citrasolv to the paper.  I still used the plastic tool to rub it, but almost didn't need to. The right side looks really smudged in these pictures, but doesn't look that bad in person.

 

I let the piece dry for a couple of hours so the graphic would be set in the wood.

I then applied Puritan Pine stain with a foam brush.  I wanted to stain it before assembling it so I wouldn't have any missed spots. 

 

You can see where the stain looks a little different in some spots.  I was ok with that because I wanted some 'character' on this piece.  With soft woods like this pine, to get an even application, you should first use a wood conditioner.  

 I stained the edges before they had the final cuts.  The one really long piece was cut to size once we put the piece together.

Some wood glue, a finish nailer and this framing contraption got it all into place.  If you don't have a framing contraption, you will be fine! 

I used a foam brush and applied this clear satin polyurethane to the whole piece. 

I let it dry for a couple of hours then attached the handles on the sides.

And here's the finished product:

Thanks so much for coming by.

Pam

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