DIY Wood Utensil Caddy

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Inside: This wood caddy makes it easy and convenient to hold utensils, napkins, and salt and pepper shakers for your outdoor patio parties.

This DIY Utensil Caddy is an easy build with just the right amount of a rustic touch. Since we are in the season where friends and family gather outside to enjoy the warmer weather I thought this wood caddy would be the perfect build.

A utensil caddy is an easy and convenient way to store all of your essentials for patio dining when enjoying your meals outside. This wood caddy is extremely convenient for using for outdoor meals but there are several other uses as well. You can use it for:

A decorative item on a table to hold some fresh or artificial flowers or old books
Office or school supplies like notepads, pencils, pens, a stapler, etc
Bathroom supplies like cotton balls, Qtips, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc
Kitchen counter items like bottles of olive oil, vinegars, common spices

This utensil caddy will store all your dining utensils, napkins and salt and pepper. Choose any canister for the silverware; mason jars, tin cans or little buckets.

A couple other awesome summer projects you will love is this BBQ Caddy, which is perfect for holding all of your BBQ tools and spices and these DIY Scrap Wood Lanterns will look fabulous on your patio.

I was able to make this with the scrap wood I had on hand so this project was basically FREE!

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*Before you get started make sure you have your Safety Gear. For this project I recommend safety goggles, ear protection, and a P100 mask.

TOOLS FOR WOOD UTENSIL CADDY

Measuring tape
Pencil
Saw
Circular saw
Sander
18G Brad nail gun
Wood clamps
Carpenters square and combination square
Drill – I use this drill
7/8 inch Forstner bit

SUPPLIES FOR WOOD UTENSIL CADDY

*I used what wood I had at home. If you opt to use different wood keep in mind your cut sizes will vary from mine due to wood thickness, etc.)

app 3/8 inch plywood (another good option is a 1 x 4 or 1 x 6 boards)
1 – 1 x 2
1/4 inch plywood
7/8 inch round wood dowel
Wood glue
18G 1 1/4 inch brad nails
Wood filler
Stain – I used Rust-oleum Kona
Paint – I used an Oops paint (sorry it didn’t have the color listed, but it is turquoise ish) and white flat paint
Paintbrush
Varathane Triple Thick Polyurethane

CUTS FOR WOOD UTENSIL CADDY

2 – 3/8 inch plywood at 12 1/2 x 4 inches – front and back
2 – 3/8 inch plywood at 7 1/2 x 4 inches – sides
3 – 3/8 inch plywood at app. 3 1/2 x 4 inches – short dividers
1 – 3/8 inch plywood at 11 3/4 x 4 inches – long divider
1 – 1/4 inch plywood at 12 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches – bottom
2 – 1 x 2 at 9 3/4 inch – sides to handle
wood dowel at 13 inches – handle (keep in mind your cut size will vary depending on the depth of your forstner hole. I recommend cutting this just prior to attaching for the best measurement)

STEPS TO MAKE WOOD UTENSIL CADDY

Step 1) I attached all four pieces front, back and the sides to create the frame. I did this by applying wood glue to the edges, clamping the joints in place and using 18G brad nails. I used a square for alignment.

Step 2) I attached all the dividers. I did this by first marking my spot and then gluing and nailing them together. I used a scrap piece of wood to help hold the dividers in place while I was nailing again using a square for alignment.I filled in the nails holes in the divider before moving to the next step.

Step 3) I inserted the divider in the frame and nailed the frame to the divider. Then I glued and nailed the bottom piece. Step 4) I marked and drilled a hole with a 7/8 inch forstner bit about 1/4- 1/2 inch from the top of the 1 x 2, which would be the sides for the handle. I only drilled down the depth of the forstner bit. Then I glued and nailed one handle to the frame. At this point I held up the other handle and the dowel and marked with a pencil to get my measurement for the dowel and cut the dowel. Then I filled the forstner drilled hole with glue and attached the dowel. I also inserted one nail to the ends of the dowel as well. I filled in all the remaining nail holes with wood filler. Step 5) I applied Kona stain and let it dry. Then I dry brushed a turquoise like paint color. Dry brushing adds a rustic look. If you’re not familiar with dry brush you start by dipping the end of a chippy paintbrush in paint. Then blot it on newspaper until there is only a little bit of paint left on the brush. Then with light strokes go back and forth over the wood. I suggest to start out light and then build as you go until your desired look. This technique is pretty much foolproof. If you apply too much paint then lightly sand it off. When I was all done with this I wasn’t loving the turquoise color so I dry brushed some white to tone it down a bit. I sanded the high spots. I ended up loving the results. I added a coat of triple thick poly and placed the utensils, napkins and salt and pepper in their respective sections and placed it outside on our patio.