Rustic Pallet Serving Tray

I’m in Dallas for a few days with my sister, working on creating a Bali-themed dream deck for Thompson’s WaterSeal. We shopped for a lot of the accessories ahead of time, but had a hard time putting our hands on a perfect Bali-esque tray. Sometimes, you just have to DIY it! This Rustic Pallet Serving Tray was the brainchild of my sister, Caitlin, but I took her idea and ran with it.

Here’s how to make one for yourself.

Materials:
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• Pallet wood or rustic boards
• Thin Birch Plywood
• Piece of paper the diameter of your tray
• Pencil
• Metal ruler
• Scissors
• Gorilla Glue
• Hand weights
• jigsaw (or Band Saw)
• Dremel Multi-Max or Sandpaper
• Work surface or Rockwell JawStand
• Drill
• Drill bits
• 2 Drawer Pulls

Instructions:

Fold a piece of paper into eights. Cut a design along the edge. (I used a simple scallop shape like this “}”.)

When you unfold the paper, you should have a paper template to use for tracing.

Trace the template onto a piece of thin plywood.

Use a jigsaw or band saw to cut out the shape. You might find this tutorial helpful for cutting out intricate shapes.

Lay your plywood shape on top of the rustic boards. Move the boards around until you like the sections that will make up the tray. Mark a square around the shape with a ruler.

Cut the boards down to size using the pencil mark as a guide.

Dry fit the boards together on the plywood shape.

Wet both the plywood shape and the boards with a damp rag.

Apply Gorilla Glue to the plywood shape.

Set the rustic boards into the glue on the plywood shape.

Weigh the boards down with weights or heavy books.

Allow to dry for at least an hour. Remove the weights and clamp the boards on a work surface or Rockwell JawStand. Make sure there is clearance for the jig saw blade. You’ll need to cut half the boards and then turn and re-clamp to cut the entire circumference.

Draw a pencil line 1 inch out from the plywood shape. Cut around the pencil line with a jig saw.

Sand edges and grooves with sandpaper or Dremel Multi-Max.

Measure and mark the location of the handles on the tray.

Pre-drill holes using a bit that is the same size as the handle screws.

Flip the tray over and drill countersink holes with a larger drill bit.

Attach the handles with the screws. The screw heads should sink into the plywood.

If you want a truly rustic look, lightly sand your handles.

If you are going to use your tray for food, use a plate or doily under the food.

What do you think? Do you like this beautiful rustic tray? Think you could make one? I bet you could!

Follow us as we design our Bali-themed deck for Thompson’s WaterSeal by following the #ThompsonsDreamDeck hashtag on Instagram.

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