DIY Dessert Serving Dishes

Need something cute to serve all your sweets and treats on?!  You’re in luck….today I am sharing with you a tutorial on how to make your own dessert serving dishes.  For cheap!  And you can customize the colors to fit your home, theme or party.  These serving dishes would be beautiful at a bridal shower, baby shower, brunch celebration….or anytime you are serving food and want something special to serve them on.

Ever since I made chalk-paint mason jars for my sisters baby shower a few years back, I have had a love for all things chalk paint.  When I was asked to make the desserts for the dessert table at our friends wedding, the bride also asked me if I could make the serving dishes for the treats to go on.  Their wedding colors were a light pink and white, with eucalyptus and driftwood accents.

I was making three different desserts for the dessert table and decided on making two serving trays for each dessert.

To make your serving dishes you will need: any plate in any color (we will paint it to the color we want), short drinking glasses or candle sticks, chalk paint in your desired color, sand paper (use fine grit or a heavy grit depending on your desired distressing), gorilla glue or adhesive, sisal rope and top coat spray.

What makes this project cost effective, is that you can use any plate.  If you have a mismatched plate, use that.  Or go to the thrift shop, dollar store, discount store, etc to buy your plate.  What matters most is the size and design of the plate.

The plate in front has been painted with one coat of white chalk paint.  The plate behind it has not been painted yet.  You can use a paint brush or paper towel to apply the paint to the plate, making sure the cover the entire plate.

This is the clear serving tray after one coat of chalk paint.

Let the chalk paint dry completely before adding a second coat of chalk paint.  For the round serving plates, I went with two coats of the white chalk paint.  For the rectangle serving plates, I painted the second coat using a light pink chalk paint.  See the difference the second coat adds??

Let the second coat of paint dry fully before using your sand paper to lightly sand the serving plates to add distressing.  Be careful not to sand too hard, or you will strip your paint off.

Next, add the base to the bottom of your dish.  I used gorilla glue and it worked awesome.  Just read the directions on the package before using (gorilla glue needs moisture to adhere).  I wrapped the top of my base with thin sisal rope after the glue dried.

Next, spray your trays with a top coat, protecting the chalk paint and to add a shine.  I sprayed my trays with two coats of the top coat.

To make the trays safe for food, I added a layer of crinkled brown paper bag, topped with waxed paper.  I was going for a rustic look.

Now you are ready to add your treats!  If you want to give your dessert trays different levels of elevation on a dessert table, put a book under one tray and then top with a table cloth. Now you will have varying levels!

I hope you enjoyed this fun and easy craft post!  Up next is a yummy treat you won’t want to miss, so stay tuned 🙂 But first….tell me: do you like crafts?  Would you make these trays??  Leave me a comment below!

XOXO,

Kelly

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