How to Make a Chalkboard ~ Serving Tray

Hey guys!  It’s almost summer and all I can think about is how excited I am to have friends and family over for cook-outs!  I love fun and easy ways to dress-up any plain ‘ol get-together and I’m so excited to show you what I’ve come up with this week! A Chalkboard Serving Tray! It was so fun, so easy and it’s just so darn cute!  Here’s how you can make your own! I purchased a 2×12 @8ft. board.  It was about $13 and I was able to make 3 trays!  I used my 10″ sliding compound miter saw to cut these.  If you don’t have a saw, you can have your hardware store make these cuts for you!  If you would like to learn our tips for how to use a saw check out our video! I cut one board @ 2ft. and 2 boards @ 3 ft.  You can make them any size you prefer but keep in mind that if they are much longer than 3 ft., they will be difficult to move around;) I went with my favorite stain color (at the moment) Early American! Using a foam brush, I wiped one-coat of stain on the tops and sides of the boards.  Just wait 5-10 minutes and wipe the stain away with a clean cloth. Next, tape off the edges with painters tape.  I used 1 1/2″ tape and put it about 3/4″ around the board.  I also covered the sides to protect them from over-spray! Now just spray away!  I sprayed 2-coats of  Chalkboard Spray Paint.  This stuff ROCKS!!! After the paint dried, I used my Corner Cat to distress all of the edges.  This is my FAVORITE sander that I have ever owned!  I like the edges pretty distressed but just eyeball it to your preference:) Now for the pulls!  I purchased these cuties for about $5 but you can get pulls way cheaper if you are trying to keep the cost down.  I just LOVED these;)  So, here’s the shocker!  I used this AWESOME Gorilla Glue Super Glue GEL to attach them!  That’s right, it’s a gel!  It is clear like super glue but it is very thick and it’s super strong!  (using a 2x board, it is difficult to find knob screws that will fit so this super glue gel was the perfect solution!) I just applied a generous amount to the bottoms of the pulls and flipped them over and placed them on each end of the board.  I’m not exaggerating when I say this glue is awesome!   I have carried this big board, with bowls and food on it, all around and I’ve even carried it by one handle!  They don’t budge!  If you can’t tell I’m slightly impressed;) That was it! I’m lovin’ it!!  With the $5 pulls, I was able to make 2 – 3ft. trays and 1 – 2ft. tray for about $15 each!  We get questions about what kind of chalk pens we use on our chalkboard projects so I added a link to the ones we use below! If you love my Chalkboard Serving Tray, I would love your pins! Thanks for stopping by! ~Ashley