[…] of Southern Yankee DIY shared the cutest Christmas crafting idea in her post, Easy DIY Santa Cookie Tray. I am not the craftiest person, but my husband is pretty handy. I promptly forwarded this post to […]

Easy DIY Santa Cookie Tray
Make this quick and easy DIY Santa Cookie tray using scrap wood and just one tool. The perfect beginner friendly Christmas decor or hostess gift project.
What kind of cookies do you leave out for Santa?
Honestly I just hope Santa appreciates our new Santa Cookie tray and ignores the fact that the cookies are store-bought…
I have been wanting to make something to put our Santa cookie plate on since last year but it got put off.
Now that baby Eli is here it’s the perfect time for this simple cookie tray project.
This Santa cookie tray was so simple and I was able to make it all out of scrap wood, using only one tool.
Cookie trays are also great hostess and teacher gifts, especially when paired with a plate of homemade (or store bought zero judgement here) cookies.
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Santa Cookie Tray Supplies:
- (4) 1×4’s 19 inches
- (2) 1×3’s 16 inches
- Gorilla Glue
- Spray Paint
- Stencil or Vinyl
- Handles
- Cricut Machine (not necessary but it makes it easier)

Process:
First, I cut down (4) scrap 1x4s to 19inches a piece, lately I have been seeing smaller wood pieces at Lowes and Home Depot so if you find those you won’t even need a saw.
Next I stacked the wood pieces next to each other to get the measurement for the side pieces.
The two side pieces were then cut down to 16″ a piece.

After all the pieces are cut, apply wood glue to the sides and clamp the four tray pieces together while the glue dries.

While the 1x4s are drying, apply wood glue to the two 1×3 side pieces and place them on each end of the tray.

Finishing the Santa Cookie Tray
Once the wood glue is dry you can paint the Christmas cookie tray.
For Santas cookie tray I went with Apple Red spray paint, you can use whatever color you want, but I do recommend a glossy finish for easy cleanup.

After the paint dries attach the handles to the center of the side pieces.
Look at that red, It’s definitely giving me all the bright holly jolly Christmas feels.

Next is the fun part, personalizing Santa’s cookie tray.
I used a Cricut machine to cut out white vinyl lettering for the cookie tray.
They have a ton of Santa Cookie tray SVG options on Pinterest or just pick out a cute font you like.

If using a Cricut is not your thing, using stencils is another simple option or you could use white paint marker and free hand the letters.
Here are some of my favorite stencils!

Once I finalized the fonts and weeded out the lettering, I attached the vinyl onto the wood cookie tray.
Santa Cookie Tray Reveal
Hands down this is one of the simplest scrap wood projects I have ever done.
This cookie tray project definitely pleases my inner child, I big puffy heart love how bright and whimsical it is.

Now we have the perfect place for our Santa Cookie plate to go.

This DIY cookie tray would also make an amazing hostess or teacher gift idea.
I found this super cute Santa milk and cookies set at Walmart and knew they would be perfect for our DIY wooden tray.

It would be so sweet to have the little ones write a “dear Santa” note to leave on the cookie tray too.
Let me know what you think of our DIY Santa cookie tray and what kind of goodies you leave out for Santa.
Can you spot this Santa cookie tray on our whimsical hot cocoa bar setup?
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This is a brilliant idea and I’m adding this to my to do list. I have tons of scrap wood and we always say “where should we put Santas cookies?” The Cricut is awesome, enjoy it!
Thanks Jenny! It was such a fun project & I am using any excuse to use my Cricut right now!
What a fun project! Love the idea!
Thanks Veronica! This project was definitely for my inner child.
What a fun Christmas project!! I love DIYs that become a family’s Christmas treasure! That tray will be used for many many years!
I do too, thanks Christine!
This is such a cute idea!!
Thanks Michelle! It was a super fun project!
This is fantastic, absolutely love it. Pinned! Thanks for sharing with To Grandma’s House We Go, I’ll be featuring you at the next party!
Thanks so much Chas!
Very cute.
Thanks Anita!
Need to step up my game: I have some wood ready for some Christmas projects!
http://www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com
You will love making this one Mireille, Its a great use of scrap wood!
What an adorable tray idea! I found you over at Wonderful Wednesday blog hop at Le Cultivateur.
I would love for you to share with us at Thursday Favorite Things (Thursday-Sunday) and All About Home (Monday -Thursday).
https://followtheyellowbrickhome.com/fall-ing-into-the-holidays-at-thursday-favorite-things/https://followtheyellowbrickhome.com/all-about-home-link-party-14/
Happy Thanksgiving!
I absolutely will, thanks so much Amber!
What a fun and clever tray! Thanks so much for sharing your talent with us at the Creative Muster. Looking forward to seeing what you’ll be sharing next week. Pinning!
Robin?
Thanks so much Robin! I love all the wonderful projects that are shared on your party!
Lia, this is so incredibly adorable! I need to share with my husband for he is the crafty one around here…not me! But I think this is a wonderful project he could do with my boys. Thanks so much for sharing and joining my link party!
Shelbee
http://www.shelbeeontheedge.com
Thanks Shelbee! Definitely have him make you one! I love all the wonderful ideas everyone shares on your link party!
Love this! The color, the wood- thank you for sharing!!
Thanks Olga! Its the perfect Christmas red I think!