I am a little into woodworking lately can you tell? I made a mantle with my dad awhile back and I am unstoppable ever since. I guess I got bitten by the woodworking bug.
These little trays are fantastic to make with scrap wood. Everything here came from my scrap pile and all were furring strips so even if you don't have wood scraps you will only have a couple bucks in a tray like this. The most expensive thing about this tray was buying a can of black spray paint since I ran out of mine mid spray...grrr!
To make your own simple tray you will need:
Scraps of wood-I used 1x3 inch furring strips and my tray is 18 inches long and 12 inches wide
Pocket Hole Jig or Wood Glue
Pocket hole screws
Drill
2 pieces of 4 inch plastic pipe in a 1/2 inch circumference. I use plastic pipe in the underground sprinkler section and it's super cheap
1/2 inch galvanized clamps with screws
Black Spray paint
Saw or precut wood
Phillips head screwdriver
Start by deciding on how long and how wide you want your tray. Once decided and wood is cut use your Pocket Hole Jig to drill a pocket hole on each end of the wood. Always lay out your boards so you know which will need holes and which is top or bottom etc. Once your holes are drilled use your pocket hole screws to attach the boards together. Sand everything well and then flip it over and cut 2 small pieces the same width as your tray and attach those with a couple screws. Since my boards are 1x3s I used 1 1/4 inch wood screws from the bottom of the tray into the little end pieces. Whatever you do just be sure the screws won't come through the board.
Once my tray was assembled I used Espresso wood stain by Minwax and let it dry well. I then took my 2 4 inch pieces of pipe and sprayed them with the black spray paint. Let that dry and then find the middle of your end boards and place them on there and wrap your 1/2 inch metal clamps around them and screw them into the board. I used 1 inch #10 screws for this. When you add your clamps make sure your screw head is large enough to cover the hole in the clamp so it won't slip off.
This makes the perfect display tray.
After everything was assembled I used poly acrylic and coated the whole thing. This helps with repelling dust and I highly recommend it! I used a semi-gloss polyacrylic coating. If you want a matte finish be sure to get satin in the polyacrylic. I usually use satin but they were out when I went to pick up a new can so I just settled for the semi-gloss and it turned out that I liked it but not for all projects. 
A very simple tray that doesn't look simple! A perfect way to use up scrap wood. I hope you love yours as much as I love mine!
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