farmhouse serving tray close up view. Letter J Monogram

A common decor item with farmhouse style is a wood serving tray. Trays are an easy way to add style and function. This DIY Farmhouse Style Serving Tray with handles is so easy to create, I can’t wait to show you how it’s done!

DIY Farmhouse Industrial Serving TrayDIY Farmhouse Style Serving Tray

Hi there! Chelsea here from Making Manzanita, where it’s all about making your house a home! I’m so excited to be with you today. I love renovating and incorporating farmhouse style decor into our home. One of the easiest ways to decorate is with a serving tray. You can set it on a coffee table to protect surfaces from drinks, use it to style with a plant and a candle, or use it for serving!

Let’s get busy making this super easy DIY Farmhouse Style Serving Tray!

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Instructions:

Step 1: Paint edges of wood

Using a foam brush, paint the edges of your wood with black acrylic craft paint. You may be wondering why this is the first step. I didn’t love the freshly cut raw edges of the wood I used. To give the serving tray a distressed industrial farmhouse feel, I painted the cut ends and corners with black paint.

painting wood slats with black paint

Step 2: Emphasize the texture of the wood to add character

If the wood you use for your farmhouse wood tray has a raised wood grain, dip your paintbrush into the black paint and lightly run over the top for a rustic look. This step enhances the rustic texture of the wood.

foam dry brushing black onto wood siding

If your wood has a smooth surface, you can get a similar look by using a dry brush technique with a bristle brush. This works best if you use an old, ratty-looking bristle paintbrush. You put a little bit of paint on the brush and then wipe most of it off on a rag or paper towels, so the brush is essentially dry. Then lightly run the paintbrush over the top of the wood. The result is an enhanced grain pattern and a distressed farmhouse look!

Step 3: Assemble farmhouse wood tray

Once the paint has dried, it’s time to assemble your farmhouse wood tray. Start by laying out the three larger pieces of wood horizontally. Next lay the smaller pieces of wood on top vertically at each edge. Allow about 1 inch from the edge of the tray.

brad nail gun laying on top of assembled wood tray

Before you start nailing, make sure everything is square. Use a nail gun to nail the smaller pieces of wood into the larger from the top of the tray with a couple of nails into each board.

Step 4: Add handles

Measure the center of the vertical pieces and lay painter’s tape on top of them. Measure the width of your cabinet pull and mark where the holes should be drilled on top of the tape. The painter’s tape helps you see the marks on darker wood.

mark handle sides centered on tray

Line up your drill bit (match the diameter of the bit to the handle screws) on the marks and drill holes through both pieces of wood on your serving tray.

To get a flat surface on the bottom of the farmhouse wood tray, use a countersink bit on the underside of the tray. (If you don’t have a countersink bit, use a larger drill bit to create a recess for the screw heads to sink into. This helps protect any surfaces you set the wood tray on from getting scratched.

Countersink drilled into wood tray bottom

Flip the tray over and admire your new farmhouse style industrial serving tray.

rustic gray painted wood farmhouse tray

You can stop here, but to add a monogram, keep reading.

Step 5: Cut stencil

Using a vinyl cutting machine, design your monogram and cut your stencil.

Budget Tip: Use contact paper from the Dollar Tree as a cheap one-time-use stencil material.

adhesive shelf paper for vinyl stencil

To recreate a monogram like mine with an industrial farmhouse style, here are the details:

  • Font: Baskerville Old Face
  • Font Size: 489
  • Circles were created by drawing two circles with the shape tool around the letter

Step 6. Apply stencil

Cut and apply transfer tape to fit over your stencil. (Using transfer tape will help keep everything lined up and centered as you’ve designed it.)

weed excess vinyl from letter J stencil

Peel the stencil and transfer tape off the backing and remove the part of the design that you would like painted (in my case, this is the circle border and the letter).

remove transfer paper from adhesive stencil

Measure the center of your serving tray and press down your stencil. Carefully peel the transfer tape away from the stencil. (I found that the ghost wood I was using didn’t really “grab” the stencil very well, so this part was kind of tricky for me. If you’re using a smoother wood, it should be a little easier.)

center adhesive stencil on tray

Step 7: Seal stencil

There’s a magic step that I use for all of my wood signs and stencil projects that prevent stencils from bleeding. Before painting the stencil, seal it with Mod Podge. Rub a little Mod Podge over the stencil edges once it’s adhered to your wood. Wait for it to dry to the touch before painting (usually about 15-20 minutes).

seal edges of stencil with mod podge

You can read more here about this awesome hack for how to stencil on wood. (I did find that this rough ghost wood required more Mod Podge than normal because of the grooves in the wood and the stencil not sticking as well as it normally does.)

Step 8: Paint over stencil

Once the Mod Podge is dry, paint over the stencil with acrylic craft paint using a foam paintbrush. Blotting the paintbrush up and down many times rather than brushing across the stencil will prevent the paint from bleeding under the stencil.

painted letter j on tray

Step 9: Remove stencil

When you’re done painting, you can peel up the stencil immediately except in areas where there are small intricate details that may smudge. In those cases, wait until the paint is dry to the touch before removing the stencil entirely.

remove stencil

Look at those nice crisp paint lines! So pretty!

finished rustic wood serving tray with J monogram in circle

Step 10: Seal serving tray

To protect your serving tray, seal it before use with 2-3 coats of a spray sealer.

J Monogram Rustic wood serving tray

There you have it! A DIY Farmhouse Style Serving Tray with handles that adds style and function to your decor!

Industrial pipe handles on serving tray

I love the industrial vibes that the handles and the gray textured wood bring to this serving tray.

The best part about this wood farmhouse tray is that no one else will have one exactly like it (just one of the many reasons I love making my own home decor).

farmhouse serving tray close up view. Letter J Monogram

Next time a friend comes over for a cup of coffee, you can grab this serving tray with handles to serve up coffee and snacks.

Farmhouse rustic wood serving tray on couch

She’ll surely ask where you got such a cute wood tray. You’ll answer proudly that you made it yourself!

rustic wood serving tray on black couch, pillows in background

Thanks for joining me today while I showed you how to make this DIY Farmhouse Style Serving Tray.

Chelsea - Making Manzanita

My name is Chelsea and I am the founder of Making Manzanita (www.MakingManzanita.com). I’ve found that many women don’t know how to start decorating or updating their homes, which is why my passion is helping others make their house a home they love. At my blog, Making Manzanita, my readers enjoy decor inspiration, craft & DIY tutorials written in plain English and simple homemaking advice to run their homes more efficiently. One of the things my readers love most is my perspective of working with what you have because your house doesn’t have to be perfect to feel like home.

I’m mama to the most adorable little man (with a little baby girl coming soon!) and wife to my DIY partner. We love our life in the beautiful Central Oregon as we continue our journey to renovate our 2nd fixer upper. We love to inspire others with budget-friendly renovation projects, like our faux shiplap wall and wood air conditioner cover made with pallets.

You can connect with me on Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest.

What a great tutorial! If you like this DIY farmhouse tray, I know you’ll also love these other DIY trays:

How to Build a Quick DIY Tray & Gift Box | Pretty Handy Girl

DIY Wood Slat Tray and Gift Box

 

DIY Scrap Moulding Trays | Pretty Handy Girl

DIY Scrap Moulding Tray

 

Rustic Pallet Serving Tray

Rustic Pallet Serving Tray

It’s spring-time and the perfect time to start a garden. Build this raised garden bed with or without a cucumber trellis and start gardening tomorrow!

Raised planter bed and cucumber trellisHow to Build a Raised Garden Bed with a Cucumber Trellis

Is there anything better than vegetables grown in your garden? They are hard to top! Cucumbers are very easy to grow, but do best if you give them a little extra care. When we decided to build a second raised vegetable garden, we decided to plan in advance to make it a strategic cucumber garden with a raised wooden trellis. We’re excited to show you how to build a DIY raised cucumber garden.

Hey y’all! We are Morgan & Sean McBride, and we blog at CharlestonCrafted.com where we are crafting our first home into our dream home and empowering you to try DIY. We share with our readers a variety of projects aimed at helping new homeowners make their homes their own. Some highlights include: our completely DIY coastal kitchen makeover; our tropical hammock oasis; and our budget laundry room refresh! Our most recent big project was our DIY concrete stone-look patio, which we are obsessed with. I’m likely to be found sharing behind the scenes and lots of laughs over on Instagram Stories, so pop over and say hey!

How to select a location for your cucumber garden:

The number one thing to remember when selecting a location for your cucumber garden is to make sure it receives plenty of light. At least five hours of morning sun is ideal, and afternoon sun on top of that is good too. You also need to be prepared to water your cucumber garden a lot because they need a lot of water, plus they are growing in the summer, when it is hard to keep these things hydrated.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Instructions:
Build your garden upside down. Start by cutting your 4″x4″ into four equal pieces one foot long each using a miter saw.

Cut your 8-foot-long 2″x8″ in half with a circular saw or miter saw.

Lay out your 10′ boards with your now-4′ boards on either end and place your 4″x4″ pieces in the corner. (It helps to lay a small piece of scrap wood in each corner to keep the 2″x8″s raised a half inch or so, but make sure the posts stay on the ground.)

Attach your four posts to the inside of each board keeping corners flush using the decking screws.

Dig four post holes in your garden location and install your flipped over, constructed raised bed by placing the long ends of the posts in the holes.

How to build a cucumber trellis:

Materials:

  • Three- 2″x2″x8′ boards
  • One- 2’x8′ lattice
  • Brad nailer
  • 1″ brad nails
  • Circular saw

Instructions:
A cucumber trellis is super easy to build. First, build the frame by cutting two 4-foot-long pieces out of one of the boards and three 3-foot-long boards out of the other two.

Use your nailer to attach the three foot boards to the inside of the four foot boards with two lining up on the outside edges and one exactly in the center.

Next, lay your lattice down on the frame and cut it along the edge with your circular saw. It should be 3 feet, 3 inches. Do that again with the excess to create a second piece for the other side.

Lay the two pieces of lattice down on the frame, marrying them next to each other in center. Use your nailer to go around and nail down the lattice to the frame.

Now, cut two 2-foot-long boards with a 45 degree angle from the remains of the 2″x2″ to serve as your legs.
Finally, position the two legs on the back of the frame and nail the frame down to the legs.

Add garden soil to fill your raised bed about 3/4 of the way full and then add the cucumber trellis on one side. You want to pick a spot that is accessible from the side so that you can easily reach under the trellis.

We are so excited to plant cucumbers in this garden this spring. The trellis will keep them off the ground and give the cucumber plants the support that they need to grow successfully. As a bonus, we also plan to plant lettuce under the shade of the cucumber trellis, where they should thrive out of the direct summer sun.

Thanks for having us and be sure to come visit us at CharlestonCrafted.com.

You can also connect with us on facebook, instagram, pinterest, youtube, twitter, and etsy.

A Note from Pretty Handy Girl:

I love this project that Morgan and Sean built, especially with spring right around the corner. It’s definitely time to start preparing your garden for the growing season.

You may have noticed that the lumber used for the raised planter bed and trellis is pressure-treated lumber. You should know that there is some debate over whether it is safe to use pressure treated lumber for an edible garden. Personally I like to use Cedar or other naturally rot-resistant materials to prevent the chemicals from leaching into your food. You can also choose to prime or line the inside of the bed. I’ll leave the decision up to you.

You may also like this tutorial for building a rot resistant raised planter bed:

How to Build a Rot-Resistant Raised Planter Bed | Pretty Handy Girl

 

Need a quick gift using scrap wood? A Creative Block Desk & Art Utensil Holder is an easy and fun gift to make and certainly a project that you can customize to meet your needs. Best of all, the kids can help with the painting step!

create_art_block_holders_sm

Creative Block Desk & Art Utensil Holder

Mother’s Day is this coming weekend! Have you decided how to show her your appreciation and love?! I did! My mother is a professional artist. She creates amazing paintings that inspire others and brightens their homes. For Mother’s Day I wanted to brighten her studio with these art utensil holders. I call them “Creative Blocks.”

Go ahead and raid your scrap pile and join us as we make these colorful and fun Creative Block Desk & Art Utensil Holders.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

materials_wood_blocks_sm

Instructions:

1. Block assembly: Select two 2×4″ scraps cut to the same length. Spread glue on one board and sandwich them together.

glue_blocks_together_sm

Clamp the wood together and drill two small holes to countersink the heads of the screws. Drive two screws into the bottom of the wood to hold the pieces together.

drill_blocks_together_sm

Use a band saw, jigsaw, or table saw to trim off the rounded edges of the wood so you have a square block of wood with straight corners.

square_off_2x4s_bandsaw_sm

Putty any cracks or holes. Sand until smooth.

putty_and_sand_blocks_sm

2. Creating the mask:

If you have a craft cutter (Silhouette or Cricut) you can create a mask in vinyl easily. But, if you don’t you can use the computer to print out your words. Lay the print out on top of a strip of Painter’s Tape. Use a few pieces of tape to secure the corners.

create_art_printout

Trace around the words with the X-acto knife (be sure to have a few fresh blades on hand.) Transfer the resulting cut-out tape onto the block of wood. Press the edges of the tape mask to secure the tape.

add_scotch_blue_tape_letters

3. Painting the block: Paint a base color onto the block. Then use a brush and/or palette knife to dab thick paint over the block (minus the base.) Use the X-acto knife to gently peel off the tape mask. Let the paint dry thoroughly overnight.

lift_tape_up

4. Drilling Holes:  After the paint has dried completely, mark the location of the utensil holes with a pencil. Put a piece of painter’s tape on the drill bit to mark the depth of your holes. Clamp the block and drill holes at each pencil mark.

drill_holes

Dump sawdust out of the holes.

Wrap up the blocks in gift wrap and enjoy the look of joy as your Mom opens her Creative Block Mother’s Day gift!

create_pencil_holder_sm

art_brush_holder

You know, as an artist myself, I almost loved these too much to give them away. But, my Mom is worth it. (And I can make another set if I want ;-).)

create_art_block_holders_sm

For more last-minute Mother’s Day gift ideas and many other creative projects, check out the Gift Ideas section here on the blog.

PHGFancySignIf you liked this project, you’ll love these floating picture frames using more 2×4 scrap wood.

wood-block-picture-frames

Many of you have suddenly found yourselves transitioning to a home office during this period of social distancing and feeling overwhelmed. No matter how much or how little space you have to work with, I’m here to help you create a cheerful and practical work space with these DIY Ideas for Setting Up a Home Office.

13 DIY Projects for Setting Up A Home Office
DIY Ideas for Setting Up A Home Office

I have been working out of a home office for quite a while now, so I thought I would share some of my most valuable ideas for getting organized to work at home. For inspiration, here are 13 easy, inexpensive, and practical projects to get you started.  Who knows, after you get set up, you may not want to return to your corporate office.

Wall-Mounted Desk Tutorial | Pretty Handy Girl

The great thing about this Wall-Mounted Desk is it can be small or large and it won’t take up any floor space!

 

Folding Laptop Writing Desk | Pretty Handy Girl

This Folding Laptop Writing Desk is the perfect height, and can fold up and store away when you’re not using it.

 

Build a Wood Plank Desktop for about $40

Here’s how you can create a simple (and most importantly, inexpensive) Wood Plank Desktop for about $40!

 

Magazine File Box Facelift | Pretty Handy Girl

Tired of your boring home office decor? Within minutes you could give a Magazine File Box a Facelift (or a storage box)!
I saved a lot of money reusing the old. Put ‘er there fellow savers!

 

DIY Wood Wall Organizer

If you’ve seen these cute Wall Organizers and thought: “I could totally make that,” I’m here to tell you, you can!

 

29 hacks to help you get more organized social media image

Here are 29 hacks to help you get more organized and help you transition to a better organized home office!

 

DIY Wall Bookrack

This Bookrack Building Project will have you organized and will free up space in no time.  The shelves are tapered and have plenty of depth for multiple books, files, or magazines.

 

File Cabinet Makeover Using Chalk Paint

Give a boring beige File Cabinet a SUPER cheap and quick makeover using chalk paint! I bet you can score a free file cabinet on your local buy, sell, or trade group. Or look on FreeCycle.org or Craig’s List.

 

12 DIY Home Storage Tutorials | Pretty Handy Girl

I’m taking advantage of these days at home to do a big “clean out”!  You’re sure to find one of these 12 DIY Storage Projects to help you organize your home useful.

 

Wall-Mounted Hutch Tutorial

This charming Cottage Style Desk and hutch is where I keep our lives organized! It takes up otherwise wasted space in the corner of our kitchen.

 

Scrap Wood iPad Tray

If you are accustomed to DIY projects, you probably amassed quite the stockpile of leftover wood. You’ll love this quick, easy, and cheap DIY iPad Holder!

 

rolling storage stool final

What’s better than getting organized with more storage? How about combining it with additional seating! Check out this easy tutorial for how to build a Rolling Storage Seat.

 

Although this wall Storage System was built custom for a mudroom, you can easily adapt it for a home office!

I hope you found some of these DIY Ideas for Setting Up a Home Office helpful. Gotta run and get set up for working tomorrow from home. Good luck to all of you, especially if you have family members who like to interrupt your workflow.

It’s important to have house numbers displayed on your home, especially if emergency crews need to locate your house. Today I’ll show you how to build your own DIY house number planter box.

diy house number planter box pin image

DIY House Number Planter Box

When we moved into our home in the Fall of 2018, I had no idea there were no house numbers on the exterior of it. I was clueless to the fact until a few months ago. A friend came to visit us from out of town and called from our driveway because she was uncertain if she was at the right house. All because we had no numbers on our home!

Ever since this issue was brought to my attention, I’ve been trying to come up with a creative way to add the numbers to our house, but make them stand out a bit. We have wood siding and brick around our front door, so I was also a little cautious about wanting to drill into either. I figured out a solution to all of those things with this DIY house number planter. It’s functional, creative, and I didn’t have to drill any holes into the side of our house.

Finished view of house number planter box, filled with Spring florals
Let me show you how you can build your own house number planter. Don’t be intimidated by the number of materials needed for this project, it’s actually simple to build.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Instructions:

Step 1

Measure and cut a piece of wood to 24” long for the back of the house number planter.

Step 1 measure and cut the wood pieces
If you have more than 3-4 numbers for your street address, you may need to cut the back piece longer.

Cut the wood with a miter saw or circular saw
Cut three pieces of wood to 6 ¾” for the sides and bottom of the planter box, and one piece to 7″ for the front.

Step 2

Using wood glue and a nail gun, attach one 6 ¾” piece to the bottom of the 24” board. This will be the bottom of the house number planter. Place a thin layer of wood glue between the two boards before securing with brad nails.

step 2 attach the planter box pieces together with a nail gun and wood glue
Repeat the step above to attach the other two 6 ¾” pieces to each side of the box, and finally add the 7” piece to the front of the box.

attach sides and front pieces of wood to complete the planter box

Step 3

Fill in the holes left by the nail gun or any imperfections with wood filler using a putty knife. Let it dry completely before moving on to the next step.

Fill in nail holes and imperfections with wood filler

Step 4

Using a palm sander with 150 grit sandpaper, give the entire piece a good sanding (especially where wood filler was used). Follow with 220 grit and 320 grit if needed to achieve a smooth finish. Use a tack cloth to remove any sawdust left behind.

Prepped house number planter and ready for paint

Step 5

If your wood has any knots, prime them first with a strong primer like BIN primer. Otherwise, the knots will start to appear after a year or so. Now give the house number planter 2-3 coats of white (or color of your choice) outdoor paint using either a foam roller or a foam brush. Let the paint dry in between coats. Lightly sand using 320 grit sandpaper when finished for a smooth surface.

Step 6

Attach the house numbers using the hardware provided. It may be necessary to pre-drill holes to avoid splitting the wood.

Drill small pilot holes for the house number screws to avoid splitting the wood

Step 7

If the planter will be hanging on brick, using a brick clip can be a cost-effective way to hang without drilling into the brick or mortar.

Brick hanger placed and ready to use
Attach a large sawtooth hanger to the back of the house number planter. Place the brick clip onto the desired location and simply hang the planter onto the clip. No drilling required! You can also hang the planter on a wood surface by using wood screws. I’d recommend drilling directly through the planter into the wood surface behind using 1 ½” screws. Add a bit of paint to the screw head if necessary to hide them.

Finished exterior view of house number planter

Step 8

Add some flowers or greenery to the planter. I would recommend placing a few already potted plants inside the box, rather than planting directly into it.

close up of fake Spring florals
Now you can have a beautiful planter box that is also functional. You should feel mighty proud you built it yourself! Depending on the season you may like to add different decor to the planter box.

Finished diy house number planter box

It’s still Winter in the Midwest, so fake flowers will have to do for now, but I plan to add some potted succulents to our house number planter for the Summer months. In the Winter you can use some evergreen trimmings, or even fill the box with colored ball ornaments. For Fall wouldn’t it be beautiful with some small mums tucked in there?

I’m Amanda, and I am the creator and voice behind the food and DIY blog, Domestically Creative. What started as a place to share updates with friends and family after we moved from Illinois to Tennessee and then to Texas, turned into a passion for finding creative and frugal ways to feed us and decorate our homes.

I have always had the “make it myself” attitude and I’m not afraid to bust out the power tools or get creative when it comes to decorating our home on a budget. You can usually find me scouring the local thrift stores, garage sales and estate sales looking for my next makeover (like this litter box cabinet), or dreaming up ways to make our new house feel more like home. My most recent project was giving my home office a much needed facelift. Some of the plans included creating a fun inspirational accent wall and adding pegboard to store my craft hoards.

I currently call Missouri home, where I live with my husband, dog, and 2 cats in a pretty dull, late 90’s split level. My husband and I both love to travel the U.S and recently purchased a small travel trailer to tag along in our journeys. In our free time together we can usually be found working together on a home project, exploring a new place, or just lounging with our pup, Delilah.

I’d love for you to connect with me on social media via Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter!

See all of Amanda’s tutorials HERE.