Style is served: Transform cardboard into an elegant serving tray

You can never have too many serving trays. They’re handy for transporting a cup of tea with toast and your favorite book to a comfy chair or for moving silverware and condiments outside for an alfresco dining experience.
As symbols of hospitality, trays should please the eye as well. This elegant tray DIY is fashioned from cardboard, decorative paper and a pair of pretty drawer pulls. Despite the modesty of the materials, the tray is something you’ll be eager to show off to guests or just enjoy all by yourself, as you indulge in well-earned downtime. Let your new tray serve a practical purpose or adorn it with special objects and place it on your coffee table for a decorative accent.
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Materials
- Two 12-by-12-inch cardboard squares
- Pencil
- Ruler
- A sheet of wallpaper, contact paper, or other strong decorative paper that’s larger than the cardboard pieces
- Bottle of craft glue
- Scissors
- Hot glue gun
- Glue sticks
- Pair of decorative drawer pulls
DIY Everywhere
Instructions
1. Lay the 12-by-12-inch cardboard square on your work surface.
2. Place the ruler against one edge of the cardboard square and mark a dot at the 8-inch point with the pencil.
3. Rotate the the cardboard square on the work surface and place the ruler against the edge that's opposite the marked one. Mark it at the 4-inch point.
4. Use the ruler to draw a straight line across the cardboard from the first drawn dot to the other.
5. Cut on the drawn line with the scissors and put this piece aside, as it won’t be used in the project.
6. Repeat steps 1-5. You will now have two cardboard rectangles to work with.
7. Apply glue to one side of one of the cardboard pieces.
8. Place the other piece on top of it so they're aligned.
9. Allow the glue to dry.
10. Use the cardboard piece as a template, and cut the decorative paper to fit it with the scissors.
11. Cover one side of the cardboard with glue and affix the decorative paper to it. Allow the glue to dry.
12. Take one of the drawer pulls and apply hot glue to the non-decorative, flat end. Glue it down beside one of the short ends of the tray, midway between the longer sides.
13. Repeat step 12, but glue the other pull to the opposite end of the tray and position it in the same way.
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14. You can now use and display your beautiful tray.
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