If you love upcycling like we love upcycling – grab an old cabinet door and some handles and let’s make a decorative tray!
WE LOVE JUNKING. Thrifting. Whatever we’re calling it these days. Nothing makes us happier than spending a weekend together discovering old treasures and giving them new life by turning them into something really cool. Except having bacon and then going junking. Or having bacon WHILE junking. That might make us happier.
MAKE A DECORATIVE TRAY WITH THE CRICUT EXPLORE
Having a Cricut Explore in our lives has made creating new projects even MORE fun (and about 10,000 times easier) so today I wanted to share one of our favorite projects with you. We bought the cabinet door for $6 and the cabinet handles for $1 each at our local Habitat ReStore (aka Habitat for Humanity ReStore). If you have one near you and love DIY get yourself over there right now! They usually have tons of interesting items ranging from mason jars to old doors.
What tickles me is in the video I talk about working on projects while we are watching TV together. That is EXACTLY how this project came to be! We bought the cabinets and I knew I wanted to make a serving tray but I had no idea what I wanted to put on it. So I sat with my ipad on the couch and picked out the phrase and the font and the sizing and such while we were watching a movie together. I LOVE that.
REPURPOSE CABINET DOORS TIPS:
Before I show you how easy it is to turn a cabinet door into a serving tray, I wanted to briefly talk about where you can buy cabinet doors and the best type to use for this project!
As I mentioned before, I found my cabinet door for this project at my Habitat for Humanity ReStore. However, if you don’t have a Habitat ReStore in your area, don’t worry because you can usually find old cabinets or cabinet doors almost anywhere. I would suggest looking at thrift stores, antique shops, or even a local yard sale.
When it comes to the cabinet door itself you can use any size or shape that you want! Since I wanted to make a large serving tray to place in the middle of our table, I chose a long rectangle-shaped cabinet door. BUT you could easily make a ”charcuterie board size” serving tray by using smaller doors – how cute would that be?!
The only thing I would recommend staying away from (in regards to creating a serving tray) are cabinet doors which have tons of ”3D details”. This is because you want your serving tray to have a flat surface and essentially be a blank canvas. Plus, this will reduce the amount of prep work you need to do! FTC Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post and contains affiliate links. So I might make a few pennies if you buy something!}
SUPPLY LIST:
- Cricut Explore Air (but this could be created with any of the Explore or Maker machines)
- Cricut 12×24 Standard Grip Mat
- Cricut Basic Tools Set
- Cricut Vinyl
- Cricut Transfer Tape
- cabinet door
- wood putty and putty knife (you could also use wood filler)
- sandpaper
- screwdriver
- drill and drill bit
- spray paint
- two drawer pulls/handles
- clear varnish and brush (optional)
Ordering from cricut.com? Use code CRICUTCREATORS10 for 10% off and FREE shipping on any order over $50. Includes sale and clearance prices, does not include machines (anything with a plug). Cricut items can also be found at HSN, Amazon, and JOANN stores.
Ordering from amazon.com? Then check out my Cricut Tools and Accessories page!
Project Notes:
If you can’t find old kitchen cabinet doors for this project, you can also use a cupboard door!
TUTORIAL: HOW TO CREATE A CUSTOM DECORATIVE TRAY
PREPPING, PAINTING AND DRILLING:
1. Remove old hardware from the cabinet door with a screwdriver and fill holes with wood putty. Allow to dry, then use sandpaper to smooth.
NOTE: If your cabinet door has old paint on it, you may want to do some additional sanding before you add a fresh coat of paint.
2. Spray paint the entire door with your choice of paint color. Allow to dry. (Excuse me while I weep…this is the house we just left in Washington State. This was our side yard. Heaven I tell you!)
3. Drill holes on the short sides of the door and attach drawer pulls/handles.
CREATING DESIGN IN CRICUT:
4. Want to create this exact project? Head on over to Cricut Design Space and select Upcycled Serving Tray.*
5. Measure the “inside” (flat) portion of the cabinet door. The image in Design Space is 11.5″ x 23.5″ – so if your flat surface is smaller select the Customize button to resize before cutting, otherwise select the Make It Now button.
6. Follow the instructions in Design Space to cut the phrase from the vinyl on your 12×24 mat. Remember to set your SmartSet Dial to vinyl!
*Want to create your own phrase/image? That is easy to do in Design Space!
7. Use the weeding tool to weed the negative space – leaving only the bon appetit phrase.
ADDING DESIGN TO CABINET DOOR:
8. Cut a piece of transfer tape that is a little bit bigger than the phrase. Peel off the backing and place the sticky side of the tape on top of the phrase, using the scraper from the Tools Set to smooth.
9. Peel the entire tape/phrase from the vinyl backing. If vinyl is not sticking to the tape use the scraper to burnish until vinyl comes away from backing easily.
10. Place tape/vinyl on top of cabinet door and center the phrase on the flat surface.
11. Use scraper to smooth the transfer tape and help the vinyl attach to the door. Slowly peel away the transfer tape.
Note – I kept the entire phrase together to place it on the tray, but once I’d peeled away the transfer tape from the “bon” I cut it off.
12. Apply clear varnish to the entire surface if you’d like to make the tray water resistant.
And voila! You’ve got a cabinet door tray that is ready for your next party! This cabinet door serving tray would also be the perfect project to customize if you are looking for a unique housewarming or bridal shower gift. Imagine how CUTE it would be to have the last name of the person you are gifting it to on the tray!
MORE REPURPOSED CABINET DOOR IDEAS
Now even though I love the idea of turning cabinet doors into serving trays, you can create all types of fun projects using cabinet doors. For example, we saw the idea below at one of our local stores! This would be such a great kitchen wall decor piece and would be so easy to recreate. All you would need to do is replaced the hardware with some silverware handles and paint the center of the cabinet with some chalkboard paint.
However, if you are looking for even more ideas, then I would suggest using a cabinet door to create the following:
- DIY Cabinet Door Coat Rack – Create your own coat rack by adding hooks to either the bottom or middle of your cabinet door!
- Jewelry Organizer – Decorate the edges with some cute knobs to hold necklaces, add a wire basket to hold bracelets towards the bottom, and finally finish it off by adding a mirror in the middle.
- Bulletin Board – Add some corkboard in the middle, then a pop of color around the edges to create a fun bulletin board/message center.
- Photo Display – Use wood glue to adhere some clothespins to a large cabinet door then display your favorite photos.
- Wall Art – Create your own wall art by using your Cricut machine and some vinyl to cut out your favorite quote, bible verses, or even the names of the people in your family.
And…since I’ve talked about Don and Bizzy Bee every day this week, I might as well throw this in here too! Pretty glamorous photo shoot – no?
Turn an Old Cabinet Door in to a Fabulous Serving Tray!
Materials
- Cricut Explore Air (but this could be created with any of the Explore or Maker machines)
- Cricut 12×24 Standard Grip Mat
- Cricut Basic Tools Set
- Cricut Vinyl
- Cricut Transfer Tape
- cabinet door
- wood putty and putty knife
- sandpaper
- screwdriver
- drill and drill bit
- spray paint
- two drawer pulls/handles
- clear varnish and brush (optional)
Instructions
- Remove handle from cabinet door with screwdriver and fill holes with wood putty. Allow to dry, then use sandpaper to smooth.
- Spray paint all sides of the cabinet door with spray paint. Allow to dry. (Excuse me while I weep…this is the house we just left in Washington State. This was our side yard. Heaven I tell you!)
- Drill holes on the short sides of the door and attach drawer pulls/handles.
- Want to create this exact project? Head on over to Cricut Design Space and select Upcycled Serving Tray.*
- Measure the “inside” (flat) portion of the cabinet door. The image in Design Space is 11.5″ x 23.5″ – so if your flat surface is smaller select the Customize button to resize before cutting, otherwise select the Make It Now button.
- Follow the instructions in Design Space to cut the phrase from the vinyl on your 12×24 mat. Remember to set your SmartSet Dial to vinyl!
- Use the weeding tool to weed the negative space – leaving only the bon appetit phrase.
- Cut a piece of transfer tape that is a little bit bigger than the phrase. Peel off the backing and place the sticky side of the tape on top of the phrase, using the scraper from the Tools Set to smooth.
- Peel the entire tape/phrase from the vinyl backing. If vinyl is not sticking to the tape use the scraper to burnish until vinyl comes away from backing easily.
- Place tape/vinyl on top of cabinet door and center the phrase on the flat surface.
- Use scraper to smooth the transfer tape and help the vinyl attach to the door. Slowly peel away the transfer tape. Note – I kept the entire phrase together to place it on the tray, but once I’d peeled away the transfer tape from the “bon” I cut it off.
- Apply clear varnish to the entire surface if you’d like to make the tray water resistant.
If you love using vinyl, then check out the blog post below!
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Beth Kingston
owner at The Kingston Home
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