How to Make a Chalkboard Serving Tray for a Fun Kids' Breakfast

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BetterBreakfast #CollectiveBias

Are you a serving tray junkie? I cannot walk by serving trays in the store without melting and wanting to take home each one. I see beautiful glasses, fun foods and great displays of all sorts, set upon a unique tray ready to welcome friends and guests to enjoy something delicious with us. Yes, serving trays are my weakness (okay, one of my weaknesses).

So for today’s tutorial, I am skipping the store-bought tray and making a chalkboard serving tray that is perfect for your next kiddos’ sleepover. With three main breakfast foods I picked up at Walmart, your kids and their friends will enjoy a nutritious breakfast filled with choices and fun.

But before I get into how to make the chalkboard serving tray, let me tell you about the Great American Milk Drive. I am excited to be a part of the #BetterBreakfast campaign, which is supporting the Great American Milk Drive.

Childhood should be filled with playing, learning and growing. But for many children who face hunger, even basic staples like milk – and the nutrients that help power childhood activities – are missing. Now, you can help feed a childhood – by purchasing 1 or more of these products, you are helping Feeding America provide nutrient-rich milk to kids and families in need. Visit milklife.com/give to learn more and give.

Don’t you love this? And speaking of love, let’s talk about the chalkboard tray. This is definitely one you can make yourself!

Here is What You’ll Need for Your Chalkboard Serving Tray:

Unfinished wood – my tray measured 2″ x 12″ x 30″
Sander with Medium or Fine and Extra Fine Grit Sand Paper
Stain and Supplies (brush and rag)
Sealer
Square
Pencil
Painter’s Tape
Chalkboard Paint (I prefer spray for this size project.)
Drill
Two Handles
Felt Furniture Pads (4)
Chalk (I suggest a chalk pencil and a regular chalk stick.)

To get started, decide what length you want your tray to be. I wanted a nice long tray that could hold several toppings for a bagel bar so I decided on a serving tray that was 12″ x 30″. I purchased a 2″ x 12″ x 8′ piece of wood and asked the store to cut it down for me.

Prepare your wood. You will need to sand down the wood, working out any splintering pieces from the rough cut and smoothing out all edges and corners. It is especially important that you use an extra fine grit sand paper on the top where your chalkboard will be. The smoother the surface the better!

With your wood prepped, stain the wood and wipe off the excess with a rag.

Allow the stain to dry completely.

Next, add a coat of sealer and allow to dry.

Now, you will need to determine the chalkboard space. I gave my chalkboard a border of 1″ on the long sides and 1.5″ on the short sides where the handles go. With a square, measure the border space you want to create.

With marks in place, draw a line to create a rectangle in pencil. This is the border of your chalkboard.

Use painter’s tape to cover the wood that will not be painted. To keep the paint from bleeding into the border, press the tape down firmly. I always take my fingernail along the edge that will receive paint to ensure a tight seal.

Grab your can of chalkboard spray paint and put several thin coats on the wood. My wood took three coats. Follow the directions on the can for wait times between coats.

Remove the tape and allow the chalkboard to dry and cure completely per manufacturer directions.

Mark the screw holes where you want the handles to go. I centered the handles in the 1.5″ stained border.

Then, drill holes for the screws.

This is what they will look like.

However, if you have used 2″ thick wood like I did, this is where you’ll run into a slight problem. The screws for the handles are likely too short to grip the handle and go through the thickness of the wood.

With a larger bit on the drill (large enough for the head of the screw to fit), carefully drill into the bottom of the tray so that your screw has less wood to go through. Don’t get too crazy here. You don’t want to mistakenly drill all the way through.

This is what it should look like when the screw is set into the wood.

Now attach your beautiful handles.

I always add furniture pads to the bottoms of my trays. Why risk scratching the table?

Prep and condition your chalkboard by rubbing a piece of chalk (using the side) all over the chalkboard surface. Wipe clean with a damp rag. I try to avoid paper towels for cleaning chalkboards as eventually, I always get little white fibers everywhere.

Next, you are ready to write down labels or food descriptions for your kids’ breakfast. I love chalk pencils for this kind of writing. You can put them in the pencil sharpener which allows for a clean, fresh look or deeper emphasis/outline in wider writing.

Now, it is time to call the kids down for breakfast! I love that this is a simple and easy breakfast while being nutritional. We served Lender’s Bagels (with lots of toppings), Great Value Milk and Del Monte Fruit & Veggie Fusions. The combination of milk, bagels and fruit cups gives kids protein, carbohydrates, vitamin C and other things that they won’t get with other choices. Plus, all it takes is pouring a glass of milk, grabbing a bagel and opening a fruit cup. (You can even keep everything in the fridge including the fruit cups.)

Here is a little bit about each:

Great Value Milk

Milk is naturally nutrient rich and powers potential – if you have access to it. Milk’s 9 essential nutrients, including 8 grams of high-quality protein per 8 ounce serving, can help to ensure that kids have the potential to play, learn and grow. This is another reason to join Feeding America in The Great American Milk Drive to help deliver highly desired and nutrient-rich gallons of milk to hungry children and families who need it most. More than 14 million servings of milk have been delivered to food banks through this first-of-its-kind initiative. Don’t you love that?

Lender’s Bagels

I love offering choices to guests. Here the kids can choose which bagel they want: Plain, Blueberry or Cinnamon-Raisin, all kid-friendly options and great for the whole family. Lender’s has a bagel for everyone! Bagels are time-saving, easy, tasty and nutritious. Plus, they are filling which means kids can be sustained all morning. Lender’s Bagels are available in the refrigerated dairy section.

Del Monte Fruit & Veggie Fusions:

Del Monte Fruit & Veggie Fusions is the only fruit cup product that provides 1 serving of fruits and veggies in a single cup. The vegetable is in the juice but you’d never know it. (A win-win for those of you with kids who don’t like their veggies!)

I served Apple Pear Watermelon, Peach Mango and Cherry Fruit Trio. As I mentioned earlier, I love giving our guests choices. With our Fruit Fusions, Lender’s Bagels and the entire bagel bar, the kids had so many flavors to choose from. They could customize their breakfast with their favorite flavor combinations.

*Check the shelf at Walmart for specially marked Del Monte Fruit & Veggie Fusions packages for valuable coupons for Del Monte and Lenders products.