DIY Rope Tray

Make a DIY Rope Tray Using An Old Pizza Pan

Hey there and welcome to another fun diy project inspired by Thrifty Thursday! This diy rope tray was simple and fun to create on a dollar store budget.

Every month I join up with a group of amazing women to bring inexpensive diy home decor ideas to you! This post is part of our Less Is More Thrifty Thursday series. Please make sure to check out their amazing projects at the end of this diy tutorial. Thanks!

Rope Tray Inspiration

As I’m sure you know, I’m a fan of the the rustic design style. Distressed woods, jute rope, vintage decor, etc. I also am always looking at everyday objects with a new eye. Take for example, my scratched up pizza pan. There comes a point when you have to cave in and replace your pans.

I’ve also been admiring textured wall decor such as macrame, woven baskets, and jute trays. That’s when I decided to try and create my own. But I wanted it to have a sturdy base. Like an old pizza pan perhaps.

Supplies for DIY Tray

The supply list is pretty simple for this one!

• 1x 12″diameter pizza pan
• 4x Jute rope bundles from Dollarama (18m or 58.8ft)
• Hot Glue
• Sharpie

Tutorial For DIY Jute Rope Serving Tray

Step 1

As usual, it’s better if you start with a clean surface. I gave my pizza pan a scrubbing to get as much oil and grease residue off it as possible. This was done to make sure the hot glue would stick to the pan without any issues.

Step 2

Use a ruler to find the center of your pizza pan and mark it with a sharpie. I didn’t take a picture of this step. So measure across the length of your pan to find the center, and mark it with a dot. Then spin your pan 45 degrees and do that again from the new side, measuring across your pan. Do this a few times across different parts of your pan until you have a consistent dot in the center of your pan. Otherwise, at the end of your project, your rope won’t end on a single length and you’ll need to get creative to make it look even on all sides.

Step 3

Add hot glue along one end of your jute rope and curled it in on itself to form the center of the spiral. You can hold it in place between your fingers as you let it cool. I figured starting out with a spiral knot already pre-formed for the center of your pan would make attaching it easier than trying to form the spiral as you glue it to the pan.

Step 4

Add a dollop of glue on the center point of your pan and attach your rope spiral knot.

Step 5

Now you keep going around in a spiral with your rope, adding glue to the pan about every 2 inches, and placing your rope tightly against the first spiral. Keep going until you run out of rope.

Step 6

When you come to the end of your rope, make sure the glue the rope end to the pan. Add some extra hot glue along the cut ends and jam your new rope end right into the end of the first rope as tightly as you can to try and get a continuous rope look. Believe me, once your pan is completely covered in rope, this joint will blend in.

Now you can continue on with your spiral.

Step 7

At some point you are going to hit the rim of your pan. I continued wrapping the rope over top of the rim, and fit 3 spirals tightly together on the rim. It created more depth to the tray. It’s okay for the outer edge of the rope to slightly overhang the pan. This will help cover the joints where you add handles.

Step 8

Now that your pan is covered you need to cut off the extra rope. But you don’t want the exposed cut end to be an eyesore! You’ll fix this by slightly turning the cut end underneath the raised pan lip and glueing the cut ends on the back of the pan. This is also where I chose to place a handle. So it looks like the rope turns into the handle.

Step 9

To create the handles, you’ll need to cut two lengths of rope, approximately 8″ long.

Hot glue one end of the rope handle on the back of the pan where your rope tray design ended.

Then spread out your handle and attached the other end a few inches further along the pan, also hot glueing it to the back of the pan.

On the opposite side of the pan, glue the handle ends on the back of the pan directly across from where you glued the first handle ends. This is purely for symmetry.

In the end you should have a rope tray that looks something like this:

Dress it up an and display it however you want! You can use it as a serving tray…

Or stand it upright as a beautifully textured wall art! This would be great propped up on a mantel too!

Now it’s time to appreciate your hard work and beautiful rope tray! I hope you found this tutorial easy to follow and inspiring! Do you plan to do anything extra with your tray? A fun color perhaps?

Please take the time to check out these amazing projects by my blog friends in our Less Is More series!

Windmill & Protea: Create a Hobnail Table Lamp

• 

• 

Bloom In The Black: Make DIY Leather Coasters

• 

• 

Practical Whimsy Designs: Updated Wooden Crate

• 

• 

The Lived-In Look: DIY Plaster Vase

• 

• 

A Well-Purposed Woman: Easy Way to Make a Chalkboard

• 

• 

One Thousand Oaks: Create a Vintage Halloween Sign

• 

Pin The DIY Rope Tray For Later