Homemade Wooden Tray Craft

Turn twigs and pine cones into a tray bien serving platter.

Submitted by
Kayla Chong

Silver too stuffy for your family gatherings? Have your children make a tray out of twigs and pine cones. It'll make a great rustic centerpiece for hors d'oeuvres or cookies and, because the kids made it, you'll have the perfect excuse for using it instead of that hideous floral number you got as a wedding gift.

Two 15-inch Sticks:
Sturdy, medium-width sticks.
Twenty 9-inch Twigs:
Thinner twigs to create the tray surface.
Small Pinecones and Acorns:
Purely decorative.
Silk Autumn Leaves:
Pick up a package of 100 for under five bucks at Balloons Galore.
Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks:
Kids and hot glue don't mix, so make sure you do all the gluing!
Ruler:
One that measures feet and inches, not one that makes laws and takes handouts from lobbyists.

Ship your kid out into the yard to wrangle up the sticks, acorns and pinecones and bring them inside. Bring your cell phone outside with you and grab the chance to return some phone calls while your kid is busy.
Dump all of the supplies onto a table.
Measure the sticks and cut or break them into the needed lengths: Two should be 15 inches and the rest around 9 inches. They don't have to be perfect. In fact, the tray will look better if they aren't perfect!
Plug in your hot glue gun so it's out of your kids' reach and insert a glue stick.
Have your kid lay the two large sticks down parallel to each other about 5 inches apart.
Grab your hot glue gun and help your child arrange the smaller sticks perpendicularly across the length of the base sticks while you glue them in place. The small twigs will hang over the larger sticks by about 2 inches on either side to give the tray that rustic feel.
Flip the tray over and invite your child to decorate the ends of the tray with the pinecones and acorns. You can hot glue them on there.
Finally, have your child line the tray with a bed of silky autumn leaves. (You don't want your cookies resting on dirty ol' sticks!)
Use the tray to serve hors d'oeuvres or dessert at your next holiday party. Or better yet, have your kid hand the tray to Daddy and suggest she make Mommy a little breakfast in bed!