Holiday Hosting Made Easy with Amazon

Thanks to Amazon for sponsoring today’s post as part of a campaign with Forward Influence; all opinions are my own.

One of my favorite things to do during the holidays is open our home and host gatherings for our family and friends. I love to decorate the house from top to bottom, making it feel festive and magical for our guests. This year, I wanted to add a few things to the mix in our dining room, like a new tablecloth and a few personal serving pieces that I can use for our special get-togethers.

I’m not a fan of crowded stores this time of year, so I turned to Amazon for what I needed and shopped from the comfort of home in my pajamas. The low prices and deals, huge selection, and delivery right to my doorstep with free shipping made it easy to focus on celebrating the holidays instead of stressing about them. I easily found just what I was looking for, and ordered two Rivet Modern Stone and Wood Trays along with a pretty silver snowflake tablecloth. Everything arrived quickly, and it was time to get to work personalizing the trays by doing what I do best, hand lettering. Here’s how I did it and you can too!

You’ll need:

Rivet Modern Stone and Wood Tray: Small or Medium

White Paint Pen

Pencil and Eraser

As you can see, the trays are pretty pieces of decor as is, I just can’t resist lettering on just about every blank surface I can find! The medium tray with rounded edges seemed to call for a simple design, so I chose to focus on just one word, “believe.”

Step 1: Lightly pencil the word onto the surface of the tray.

I used Faux Calligraphy to get that pretty hand lettered look. All you have to do is write your word, leaving a little extra space between letters, then draw a second line everywhere your pencil was moving in a downward motion {for example, the stem and right side of the “b,” the left side of the “e,” and so on.

Step 2: Trace your pencil marks with a white paint pen and color in between your double lines.

This makes some of your strokes {the downstrokes} look thicker than the rest, which creates that hand lettered look we all love. I like to use a fine tip pen so I have as much control as possible. For more tips and instruction on how to do this, check out my basic hand lettering tutorial.

Step 3: Once the paint is dry, erase any visible pencil marks.

Of course, you’ll want to keep in mind not to place any food directly on the tray, because while the paint pens are non-toxic, they aren’t food safe. Instead, I plan to place food in small bowls or plates which will then go on top of the tray. You can also cover the tray with a piece of parchment paper, then place your food on top.

For the small tray, I went with something more in the style of subway art. The process is exactly the same as what I did on the medium tray, it’s just a different, more complex design.

First, I lettered, “peace on earth, goodwill to men” in the center in a mixture of Faux Calligraphy and print. Then, I used a variety of lettering styles to fill the rest of the surface with the words for “peace” in other languages, including French, German, Italian, Spanish, Latin, Chinese, Hebrew, and more. To finish the design, I added a few snowflakes and swirls anywhere there were empty spaces.

I absolutely love how both of my serving trays turned out and I can’t wait to use them for our upcoming events. They look beautiful against the Benson Mills Twinkle Snowflake Metallic Tablecloth, and all of it coordinates perfectly with the rest of my holiday home decor.

What about you? Are you looking for things to help decorate your home or take your hosting to the next level this season? Maybe you’re looking for the perfect gift ideas. Either way, Amazon helps customers deliver smiles to their friends and family this season, transforming them into holiday heroes. Find the perfect gift that will deliver a smile to that special someone by visiting amazon.com/gifts. Did you know that everyone gets free shipping on hundreds of millions of items that will arrive in time for the Christmas holiday? Plus, Amazon Prime members can get free same-day delivery and one-day shipping in 8,000 cities and towns on three million items! Amazon is committed to #DeliveringSmiles this holiday season through a variety of ways – stay tuned to discover how by following along on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. You might even find yourself receiving a little holiday surprise!

Don’t forget, if you like this idea, then you oughta put a Pin on it.

Hand Lettered Holiday Trays

For more inspiration and tips on how Amazon can help this holiday season become stress-free, check out these posts:

Last-Minute Holiday Hosting Made Easy With Amazon – 365 Atlanta Traveler

Five Reasons Why My Family Loves Amazon During the Holidays – LouLou Girls

Enjoy a Stress-Free Holiday Season With Amazon – Deliciously Savvy

Planning a Cocoa Party – Guide4Moms

Last Minute Gifts & Decor – Moments With Mandi

 

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21 Comments

  1. Wow! I love this idea so much! I have been thinking of learning how to do hand lettering for a while now, but I wasn’t sure if I would find a useful way to use it and this is just a clever way to do it! I am definitely looking for those trays on Amazon. They have this modern-rustic style that would go great with my house decoration.

    Thanks for the idea of “intervening” the trays. It is a great way to actually make them more personal without fuss.

  2. How fun are these trays?! Your handwriting is beautiful and I love how it looks on the serving tray!
    Stopping by from the Forward Influence campaign 🙂

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