DIY Gold Bar Acrylic Tray

Hold the phone, kids! We found a new favorite material for projects and I am prrrrretty excited about it. Have you ever worked with acrylic?! It’s such an interesting material. I love that it comes in so many colors, both opaque and translucent. For a long time I was daydreaming of laser cut projects, but who among us has a laser cutter in their craft room? Not I. So we’re dreaming up some awesome acrylic projects that you can make with the tools you have at home, starting with this DIY gold bar acrylic tray!

Materials

• 12″ x 12″ acrylic sheet
• 9″ or 10″ bar drawer pulls (we used these!)
• drill
• screws
• optional: gold spray paint
• painter’s tape
• wood block
• ruler
• pencil
• craft knife
• tweezers

Make Time: 2 Hours (Plus Drying Time)

Step 1: Start by measuring where you’d like your bars along the edge of the tray. It will depend on how long your bars are. These are 9 5/8″, and we placed them about 1/2″ in from the edges of the sides. Leaving the protective paper cover on the acrylic, use a pencil and ruler to measure and mark where the holes are on your handles and where you’ll need to drill on the acrylic.

Step 2: At this point, if you’re not spray painting your bars, remove the protective covering. If you plan on painting them, leave the covering in place. Place the acrylic sheet over a wood block on a work bench. Pushing straight downward, drill through the acrylic on each marked point with a drill bit just large enough to accommodate your screws.

Step 3: Using screws that are just long enough to screw through your handles and the acrylic without any excess length, attach all four bar pulls through the drilled holes.

Step 4: Optional: Mask any exposed acrylic with painter’s tape. If you’d like to change the colors of your bars, mist with a light coat of spray paint. We painted our silver ones gold. Repeat with light coats until you have your desired coverage; we used about 4 coats. Tip: Be careful not to spray from too close or with too heavy a hand, or the paint may pool and drip. 

Step 5: If your protective covering is still in place, remove the masking and the covering from the tray. You may need to use a craft knife and tweezers to remove any remaining bits around the base of the handles.

Fill that baby up with anything you like! Right now it’s housing a bunch of my office supplies, but it would look equally fun on a coffee table, or in a bathroom filled with girly goodies. I could see it eventually landing in my bedroom to organize jewelry or trinkets, too! Where would you put yours?! xoxo