Dog Food Wood Tray – DIY

Are you a dog owner in need of some organization for your dog’s feeding area?  Here is a pic of our little fur balls keeping it real with the Broncos spirit!In an attempt to get organized every day of my life this year I wanted to find a better way to keep our dogs’ food and water dishes. This is was we previously had, not horrible by any means, but it wasn’t ideal since water often spilled out of the water dish and would pool on the hard wood getting trapped under the placemat.  I definitely think that one major part of organization is making sure most if not all objects/things have a place. So in regards to that I created a Dog Food Tray that would keep the dogs eating area together and make it much easier if I needed to pick it up and move it and/or clean under it.   *This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

TOOLS FOR DOG FOOD TRAY

• Saw
• Sander and/or sandpaper
• Brad nailer/hammer
• Square
• Drill
• Driver/screwdriver

SUPPLIES FOR DOG FOOD TRAY

• 1 x 4 x 8 pine board 
• 1 x 12 x 4 pine board
• Wood glue
• 5/8 inch brad nails/nails
• White caulk or wood filler
• Indoor/outdoor white paint
• Indoor/outdoor clear matte sealer
• Stencil (optional) made from Silhouette Cameo
• Handles
• Felt pads

CUTS FOR DOG FOOD TRAY
*I measured my dog food dishes and water dishes to get an idea of my cuts.  If you don’t own a saw have the hardware store make your cuts. 

• 2 – 1 x 4 cut at 12 1/2 inches (ends)
• 2 – 1 x4 cut 23 3/4 inches (sides)
• 1 – 1 x 12 cut at 23 3/4 inches (bottom) 

STEPS FOR DOG FOOD TRAY

Step 1) Apply wood glue to the long 1 x 4 sides and then adhere to the 1 x 12 bottom using wood glue and drive in several nails. Use a square for alignment. Repeat this step for the shorter 1 x 4 ends.  You now will have a box/tray.  Sand any rough edges.  Now it is time to make this puppy (ha ha) pretty. 

Step 2) Fill in the nail holes and cracks with either caulk or wood filler, sand any rough spots.  I sanded the edges of well to soften it up a bit. It is time to apply paint. I used a sample paint size in white matte/flat paint that is used for indoor/outdoor use.  I wanted to make sure I had an outdoor paint so I could protect my project in case of water spills from the water dish.  Once the paint dried I sanded the paint off in spots to give it a vintage/roughed up look.  Step 3) To add some flare I created a fun stencil with my Silhouette Cameo. I wanted my stencil to show while the dishes were in the tray so I placed the stencil towards the bottom.  To do this I marked center on my stencil and in the tray, and applied the paw part of the stencil first, since it was the center. Then I applied the rest of the stencil around it. I painted the stencil with flat black paint.  Once it dried I lightly sanded the stencil. Then I created a water to paint 4:1 mixture, painted it on the tray and wiped it off with a t-shirt.  This further gave it an aged look. 

Get your PDG file here! Use as a cut file to make your own stencil or a printable file and frame it.  

*For personal use only.

Step 4) I applied a few coats of an indoor/outdoor sealer to protect the tray.  Then I drilled two holes on both ends and added some handles.  To protect the floor I added some felt pads to the corners of the bottom. Here is the dog food tray with the dog dishes.  

I am super excited how it turned out making it much easier to move around!

Happy building,