$42.00
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Some words feel better handwritten. Friends is one of them.
This bent-glass decoupage tray celebrates the kind of connection that needs no ceremony: a long lunch, a kitchen-counter confession, a note left behind after the party ends. The antique script feels intimate and wonderfully unfussy, like something discovered in an old letter and brought forward for daily life.
Handcrafted in our New York City studio using the timeless French decoupage method, each tray is hand-signed by Ben and finished with the hallmarks of Ben’s Garden studio craftsmanship: a luxe felted back, our signature decoupage label, and hand-applied silver-pen edging. These are the details that give each piece its provenance, polish, and unmistakably handcrafted character.
Food safe and easy to wipe clean, it is as practical as it is heartfelt. Style it as a jewelry tray, ring dish, coffee-table accent, hostess gift, friendship gift, desk catchall, or small serving piece. It also displays beautifully on a gallery easel or can be wall-mounted with a plate hanger, making it an easy merchandising story for gift, home, stationery, and tabletop assortments.
Each tray arrives with a folded card explaining the centuries-old decoupage process, a subtle reminder that friendship, like craftsmanship, is worth the extra effort. Every piece is individually made by hand, so slight variation in decoupage placement is part of its artisan character, not a flaw.
Display tip: Add a gallery easel to stand trays upright for shelf, counter, or tabletop presentation.
Merchandising tip: Pair with our friendship-themed crystal paperweights, coasters, and sentiment trays to create a meaningful gift story customers can collect, layer, and give year-round.
Care: Food safe, wipe clean. Origin: Handmade in New York City. Artist: Hand-signed by Ben Busko.
Add a Black Gallery Easel to display your glass tray — click here.
Style No. DPI-104
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The French call it découpage, pronounced day-coo-pahzh. It flourished in the salons of 18th-century France, where paper, patience, and a steady hand turned everyday objects into works of art.
Ben honors the French technique, in reverse. The artwork goes on the underside of the glass, by hand, so you look through the glass to see it. Nothing sits on the surface. The image seems to float, lit from within, the way a pressed flower looks when you hold it up to a window.
Every design starts with something Ben discovered or created. A pattern he drew. A botanical plate or a scrap of antique paper carried home from a market in Europe, chosen because it meant something.
Decoupage is a science of perfection. Each piece is made slowly in our New York studios by a talented team of artists, patient and exacting, who will not settle for less than a perfect result. Each one is backed in felt, so it can rest safely on a cocktail table, and signed by the artist, Ben Busko.
Each tray is decoupaged by hand beneath the glass. A little care keeps the artwork beautiful.
Suitable for hanging with a plate hanger or standing on a gallery easel.
I’ve written reviews for Ben’s Garden before but I’m happy to reiterate . . . Ben’s is my “go to” for gifts, especially unique personalized gifts that express messages that are meaningful. I have given the “Friends” plate to so many people that I feel like I’ve made them part of a club. Then, there’s the wrapping Ben’s provides which is always as big a hit as the gift itself. I feel like Ben’s Garden is actually a personal “friend” of my own!
If you take a look under my account or email, you’ll notice that I have now ordered at lest “ 6 or more” of the “Friends” plate. First, I order it gift wrapped because the wrapping is fabulous. Second, I check a bestie off my friends list of exceptional women who have impacted my life in the past, present and even the future. I write a card to attach and off it goes to UPS. Third, I wait for the call, or text where my friend is beyond words having received a “Friends” plate. Then, the kicker . . . I make sure my friend knows that I have one too (never give gifts that you wouldn’t keep for yourself!), and it sits on my nightstand, so when I look at mine, every night, I hope she’ll do the same and know how she’s present in my life. I have been a Ben’s Garden customer for quite sometime and occasionally will change items I purchase, depending on the need. But the “Friends” plate has hit a home run for me, and my besties. It says it all with just one word.
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