Tutorial - Chalkboard serving tray

Did you see my chalkboard serving tray I made for the kitchen challenge over at SYTYC?  It won first place that week! Today I am sharing the tutorial for how I made it with you!  

This tray is perfect for entertaining or breakfast in bed.  It can also be made without the handles and hung on the wall as a message board.  A friend of mine just used this tutorial to turn a really big cabinet door into a huge message board for her kitchen, it looks awesome!

To make the tray you need an old cabinet door, I got mine at a shop that sells used building supplies.  You can also find them sometimes at yard sales or thrift stores, or if you or anyone you know is redoing their kitchen, snag one!  Or if you can’t find one anywhere, you can buy new sample doors at the hardware store.

You will also need two cabinet door pulls for the handles and a drill to put them on, chalkboard paint for the center, and paint for the outside.  I used two shades of green on mine for a distressed look.  The bottom coat is a dark green (Wild Rice by Behr) and the top is a light green (lemongrass by Martha Stewart)

Tape off the center panel of the door and paint the outside of the door with the dark green.  After that coat dries, paint a couple coats of the light green.  I found it worked best to paint with my tray on top of a box, that way I could easily paint the top and all the sides.  Once the paint dried, I flipped my tray over and painted the back with the light green.

Once the paint is dry, distress it by sanding it some.  Focus more on the edges and corners where it would naturally distress more.

Find the center of the short side of the cabinet and mark where to drill the holes for your handles.  Drill the holes and screw your handles in place.

The last step is to paint the chalkboard paint on the center panel following the directions on your paint can, mine said to prime then paint.  I used a small brush to get into the corners and a foam brush for the rest. 

Once the paint dries your tray is ready to use!