Sunday, September 25, 2011

Italian Alphabet Tray

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


 

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


I am linking to the following parties:


The Graphics Fairy





37 comments:

  1. Silly me, I thought maybe you had thrifted the tray and then did the graphic on it. That handy hubby of yours is definately a keeper! ; ) Great work, and design, Pam!

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  2. Another awesome project Pam! I wish we had a laser jet printer!:(

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  3. What a great project! Love it. Thanks for sharing.
    Hope to see you on my blog:)

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  4. I keep seeing this technique around the web and I am so going to try it.

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  5. Another great project! You're going to have to start selling them!

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  6. What a great tray and I love the graphic. I have never heard of Citrasol is it like Goo Be Gone?
    I would love more details.
    Traci

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  7. turned out great! Sure looks vintage with a great patina!

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  8. You and your husband make an awesome team Pam!

    Take care,
    Lisa

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  9. I love your tray! I have got to hunt some of that Citrasolv, I have never heard of it.

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  10. Oh I just love your tray. I hope you will add your lovely metamorphosis to my Fall in Love linky party on Wednesday.

    Until then, stop by and see the under $20 makeover I gave an ugly brass light fixture.

    Happy Monday!

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  11. Lovely how it turned out and what an easy project too!

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  12. Pam,

    Always fun and a great read! I LOVE your creativity my friend!
    Hugs,
    Linda

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  13. Girl you are on a roll these these awesome ideas!!! Hop over and see who got featured at NTT.

    Blessings,
    Linda

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  14. Good Heavens! I'm amazed you built the tray! Just gorgeous. I haven't tried the CitraSolv yet. It looks fairly simple though, so I might give it a whirl!

    Dropping by from Met Monday.

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  15. You are doing wonderful projects. Love them all..

    Thank you so much for your prayers.

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  16. Pam, I always learn something from you -- what a pleasure. Never heard of Citrasolv and don't totally understand how it works but figure I'll just keep watching your projects to figure it out! The tray looks fabulous -- most inspirational and it looks so easy, too. Re the italian alphabet, they don't have a J, you're right. They use a G for my name, f.ex. Glad to see you and thanks so much for stopping by. Jane

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  17. Pam, your tray looks great. have you ever thought about opening up an Etsy shop and selling them? I think you should!!!

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  18. Thank you for sharing how you did it! I've been wanting to something like this. Amazing!

    PS I have a $50 cash giveaway going on on my blog right now. Come by when you get a chance! :)

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  19. Wow! This is such a neat idea! I think I have to try this and all credit will go to you. I love how you made the tray from scratch and it looks so pretty with the graphic on it. Thanks for this inspiring post! Have a great week!Hugs~Poppy

    http://withadashofcolor.blogspot.com/

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  20. I absolutely love this....gonna get my tools out....am pinning it because it probably won't happen right away. Thanks for the awesome step by step!

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  21. Wow! what a great job you did! When I first looked at the picture of the tray I thought you were redoing a tray you had purchased! Looks awesome.

    Sammy ~ Renew Redo

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  22. Pam, you did an amazing job on this! I'm Italian and love this graphic! The tray turned out wonderfully~

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  23. I really love this and I'm hoping to do something similar to a tabletop! Thanks for sharing. :)

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  24. How cute, Pam. I really like it! I think it is smart to have the handles on it. I have two wooden trays I really like, but they have not handles, and the other night one was really heavy, and when I placed it on the table, I sort of smashed a finger and spilled some stuff.

    I also wonder about the missing letters. Interesting!

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  25. That is a great idea...turned out wonderful!

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  26. I love your tray! I have used Citra Solv on fabric before but didn't know it would work on wood! I'll have to try it.

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  27. This was an awesome project and came out so beautiful.

    Paula
    ivyandelephants.blogspot.com

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  28. I so love this tray! Thanks for showing the details on how to do it! Turned out fabulous!

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  29. nice post ! that tray is very nice looking...great job

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  30. Looks great, Pam! I didn't know about Citrisolve... that's great info. Love the graphic that you picked for the tray.

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  31. You are just storehouse of terrific projects! Great job on the tray and graphic!

    Thank you for joining the Potpourri Friday Party! I appreciate you, Pam!

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  32. Very clever. I just love this piece.
    Hugs,
    Ellen

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  33. Ciao! The Italian Alphabet tray is super cute! And yes, there is no "w" nor "J" in the Italian alphabet! Actually, there are 5 letters missing in their alphabet =) (I'm married to an Italian and we live in Italy, so I have first hand experience in that considering I have both the W and the J in my name!) Love your crafts! Ciao!

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