Hi friends!  Hope everyone is having a great week!

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, I am finishing up my gifts for all the moms on my list!  I started thinking about this next project, and thought what a great gift it would make for so many moms out there!

Here is what I made…

It is a tray that carries and serves a standard 9×13″ baking dish!  Perfect for you casserole cookin’ Mamas like myself ;-)!  And the best part?? I made it for $8!

This is super easy to make!  Start with your wood.  I used 2 1×4″ furring strips from Lowe’s.  These are under $2 a piece.

Here are my cuts…

And for my bottom slats…

Build your box first…

I attached mine using Gorilla Wood Glue and finish nails.

Now add your bottom slats like this…

I gave the whole tray a coat of my very favorite…

While that was drying, I worked on my handles!  I found these great pulls at Hobby Lobby for $1.50 a pop!  You can buy them online HERE if you don’t have a Hobby Lobby close!  Woohoo! Wait for a sale though!

I gave them a coat of my other fav…

So cute! I sanded them just a bit to make them a bit more “shanty” ;-)!

My final step was attaching them!  I drilled some small holes and attached them with the screws.  I also added a few felt circles to the bottom to protect my table.

That’s it!  Pretty easy, right??  What do you think?   I love that it doubles as a carrying tray and a trivet!

And did I mention?? $8!

If I don’t decide to keep this for myself it will be going to one of my special ladies!

I would love for you to share it and Pin it below guys!! Thanks so much! Let me know if you have any questions!!

~Whitney

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42 Comments

  1. I love this carrier, much more stable than the cloth carriers. I was thinking of using a thin sheet of plywood as a cover to help insulate it a little more (with a knob or hole cut out for lifting). Any ideas to make that work? Thanks for sharing your great design!

    1. Could you possibly add hinges to one side? Then add a knob on top on the side it opens from? You might have to measure and play around a bit, but in theory it sounds like it could work…

  2. Just a quick question – did you use 1 x 4 furring strips or 1 x 3 furring strips? Neither my Lowes or my other big box hardware store carry 1 x 4’s only 1 x 3’s…. My lowes carries 10 ft. top grade appearance 1×4’s for 99c. But I’m wanting to make sure that I’m buying the correct thing! Thanks!

  3. This is just beautiful! I love that it’s something we all NEED from time to time but it doesn’t look like “your mother’s casserole carrier”!

  4. Love it, I will be making for myself lol. These handles are my favorite, I’ve used them on an old dresser w/shelves that was my boys, I got it when the oldest was 2; he is now 23. The handles at HL are ALWAYS 50% off, btw!!

  5. I don’t even bother looking at the directions when I see you built something. I e-mail it to myself and open it to pin it. I already know it’s gonna be awesome without even looking at it! Thanks for the great ideas!

  6. I saw my life (with this project) flash before my eyes! I saw them not only on the table, but replacing my cardboard boxes I tote food in the car, but that is not all, oh, no, that is not all! I plan to upgrade my tote trays from the garage to hanging on my dining room wall! They can hold salt and pepper shakers, napkins, and various other stuff that have here-to-fore sat on my counter. And they also solve my never ending What-to-Give-Crafty-Women-in-My-Life problem for this year!

  7. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! What do you buy someone that has everything, but goes to potlucks on a regular basis? THIS!!!! I’m on it!

  8. Pinned! This is totally cute, I’m definitely going to be making one of these! I agree with Debbie, this would be a perfect gift paired with a few things… As maybe a house warming gift for newlyweds or something:)

  9. Love it,, what a great idea.. and it could be paired with a casserole dish and some ingredients, and a reciipe to make a perfect gift.

  10. Awesome idea! It would make a great Mother’s Day gift. Many Thanks for sharing your terrific project! 🙂

  11. What an amazing idea! MUCH better than the cardboard box I usually end up using to take a hot casserole somewhere! (<—-hanging head in shame)

  12. Absolutely freakin love this!! Gonna make a few for gifts and two for myself! I can’t wait for the day I can give you girls a hug…in person!