The Blogger DIY Challenge task was to make a footed tray and decorate it for the holidays. Using scrap wood, I created a DIY wood footed tray.
This post contains affiliate links which help to support this blog when you purchase items through these links.
A couple of years ago my husband and I renovated our first rental house. We gutted the tiny little kitchen during the renovations. Since the house is so small, a kitchen table will not fit in the home. Instead, I designed a custom island on castors for the small kitchen that my husband built.
The top of the custom island is made of wood planks with a beveled edge. This was the first time my husband had created a beveled edge and so he practiced on several pieces of wood. Of course I didn’t throw out these boards once he was done. They went in to a scrap pile until I could figure out what to make with them.
When the DIY Bloggers Challenge was created, I finally knew I had found the purpose for these blocks of wood.
Finding small wooden pieces in the right size for the feet of the tray was a bit of a challenge.
Finding something to use to make the feet of the tray turned out to be a bit more challenging than I expected. I didn’t want something too large or clunky but also didn’t want them so small, like a cabinet knob, that would just disappear underneath the board.
My first choice was to go to Home Depot and buy premade cut wood feet. They ended up being too big and chunky for the tray I wanted to create.
A trip to Lowe’s proved to have the same problem, the precut wood feet are made for larger furniture projects.
A few days later, I went to Michaels™ craft store for Cricut™ Vinyl for a design project I was working on for the children’s department for my church. On a whim I decided to walk through the wood craft section to see if they had any options for my footed tray.
And I found this wood turning log.
Not sure exactly what it is for – and there was only one of them available – but it was perfect to cut apart to make the four feet I needed for my footed tray.
Which is exactly what I did. I borrowed my husband’s hand saw and cut the turned log apart in four equal sections for the feet for my footed tray.
Using 220 grit sandpaper, I gave both sides of the wood board and the edges of the newly cut feet a light sanding.
In my craft room stash, I have several cans of stain to chose from so I decided to use the MinWax PolyShades in Honey Satin. This is the line of stain that has the Polyurethane top coat already in the stain. But first I treated the feet and the scrap board to a coat of MinWax Wood Pre-Stain Conditioner.
I gave the board and the feet two coats of stain, lighting sanding them down between the first and second coat.
To make sure the wood feet were in the same location on the bottom of the board, I measured half an inch in from both edges of each corner to find the exact placement for each foot.
A dap of wood glue on the bottom of each foot attached the feet to the bottom of the board. I allowed this to dry overnight.
I wanted to give the design of the wood footed tray a modern touch, so I painted a gray stripe lengthwise down the center of the board. This also helped to cover some imperfections in the scrap wood board.
Using the same ruler, I measured for the center of the board and spaced out a four inch stripe down the length of the board.
Once again I went to my craft paint stash for ideas and selected a small sample size of gray paint from another project.
The color is Behr Natural Gray.
The last step for my version of a DIY footed tray was to add cork to the bottom of the legs for stability.
Since it is just a few weeks until Thanksgiving and my Fall decor is on display, I decided to decorate my DIY footed tray with pumpkins and some fresh flowers.
My Christmas decorations have already been pulled out and I have plans for how I am going to use this footed tray as a riser on my mantel. So expect to see this footed tray again.
When it is not the holiday season, I usually just dress up my footed tray with simple items like a small plant and some fun salt and pepper shakers.
There are so many talented bloggers who Are participatING in the Blogger DIY Challenge and I would love if you would visit their projects too.
Thank you for visiting!
Hugs,
Proverbs 17:22 “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.”
You always have the best scrap wood ideas, Donna!
I would love for you to join me over at the Creative Crafts Linky Party every Wednesday through Sunday https://creativelybeth.com/creative-crafts-linky-party-25/
Have a great week,
Creatively, Beth
Thanks for the invite. I just linked up.
Donna,
This is adorable!! I love this idea as i can think of so many uses for something like this!! Thanks so much for the inspiration and thanks for stopping by!!
Hugs,
Deb
Thanks Debbie. It was so easy to make and you will probably see it show up more often in the next year. Thanks for visiting.
This is a cute tray! And looks so easy to put together. I actually have one of those wooden plaques, and it’s been sitting in my stash for YEARS! Maybe I will need to find something for it to sit on, and create one of these. Thanks for the inspiration!
Good luck if you decide to make it. And please share if you do.
Great job! I love the stripe down the middle. And the wood glue for the feet–Genius! I can’t wait to see what you do with it for Christmas!
Thanks Leslie.
Donna, we made the same trek to Home Depot and Lowe’s and ultimately made the same decision. I love what you found at Michael’s. So smart and pretty. The striping work is perfect and I can’t wait to see how you use this for Christmas!
Thanks Allison. It is already on the mantel waiting for me to style it.
It turned out great. Super idea…it could be used a variety of ways…great for may occasions.
Thanks Jodie.
Don’t you just love the accidental solutions you can find wandering the aisles of Michael’s or Home Depot? Your tray ended up beautiful.
Thanks Sharon. I agree, I was excited to find it especially considering it seemed to be the only one in the store.
I love what you used for the legs for your pedestal and that white down the middle, so pretty. It was fun being part of this challenge with you.
Thanks Sonya.
What a great wood footed tray! The foot part just works SO well with the rest of the tray!!!! Love it!
Thanks Renee!
This came out great!! I love how you DIY’d the feet!! That was the hardest thing for me…trying to figure out what I wanted to use. The stripe looks so nice too.
I agree. The feet were the hardest part to figure out. Thanks so much for visiting.
This came out so cute! I love the size, and those legs are perfect!
Thanks Danielle
This looks amazing! Way to repurpose your stash into something timeless. I also love the design of the feet. Can’t wait to see how you style it for Christmas!
Thanks Kim. I have already moved it to the mantel to start working on Christmas.
I love the stripe! And the legs are adorable! Great find!
Thanks Jennifer.
Donna I love all of the little details on your sweet riser! And I love that you used stain as well. It is the perfect neutral. This was such a fun challenge. Nice job. Can’t wait to see the Christmas mantle!
Thanks for visiting Sue. Glad you liked it.
This is so cute. I love how you made the legs.
Thanks. I am sure I will be using this footed tray a lot.
Your tray is so pretty! The gray stripe makes it so unique. I love what you used for the feet! Great vision to cut the wood log apart!
Thanks Linda. I only found one of them so I doubt I could repeat the project the same again.
Oh, I love your feet! In my post for this challenge, I gave my readers lost of inspo for making feet if they couldn’t find some ready-made. A wooden turning log was not one of them 😉 Just goes to show, anything is possible if you keep your eyes open and have a little imagination. I absolutely love how your footed tray turned out and am already looking forward to seeing it styled for Christmas!
Thank you. I was thrilled when I found it on the shelf because it was the right size to use. Thanks so much for visiting.
Donna, your tray is so awesome! I love how you have it styled! Thank you for sharing it with us and for being part of the Challenge!
Thanks Kim
Donna,
This tray is gorgeous! Love the white stripe. So happy to be doing this challenge with you today.
Rachel
Thank you for visiting Rachel. Glad you liked it.
I love how you made the feet! Perfect solution and they turned out so cute!
Thank you. I really like it too. More than I thought I would.