If you enjoy decorating your home for the seasons, then a tiered tray is a must, but if you’ve looked at the prices of the ones at the department stores, you might be thinking that you don’t want to spend that kind of money…especially if you have a tight budget. I’m going to show you how to make an adorable Dollar Tree tiered tray for literally just a few dollars! Once you’ve put it together, painted it with your choice of colors and decorated it, it’ll be as cute as the expensive ones if not better!
Having a tiered tray in your home is one of the easiest ways to add seasonal cheer to your home and it can be used so many different ways.
I have mine in my kitchen, in a corner on my counter, but you can also put one in your bathroom to hold makeup, jewelry, hand towels, soaps, etc. They make beautiful centerpieces for your dining room or kitchen tables and can you imagine how adorable it would be with cookies and/or cupcakes on them? For you coffee lovers, this would make a great piece to add to a coffee bar, as well!
This is such a versatile decor piece and the best part is…you don’t have to spend hardly any money to get a huge bang for your decorating buck! I’m talking $5 to make!! That’s it!! It just doesn’t get any better than that and anyone can do this! No artistic ability needed!
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how to make a dollar tree tiered tray
supplies needed:
Head over to your local Dollar Tree and pick up:
- 2 glass candlesticks
- Pizza pan
- Cake pan
- Pie pan
- E6000
glue (or hot glue) (Dollar Tree does sell Super Glue if you don’t want to buy E6000) - Paint in your choice of colors. I prefer to use a chalk paintbecause it has wonderful coverage (usually one coat will do), it adheres to just about any surface and it dries quickly.
glue (or hot glue) (Dollar Tree does sell Super Glue if you don’t want to buy E6000)
Let’s make it!
Paint your five pieces with 1-2 coats of chalk paint. I’m painting this one with Waverly white. To make it look very farmhouse, I’m going to duplicate an enamelware look.
Once the white paint has dried, I use a black acrylic paint to lightly dry brush the edges (corners) of each piece. If you’ve never tried the dry brushing technique, all you do is light dip your brush in the desired color and wipe most of the paint off with a paper towel. Then, lightly brush the edges of the piece (like above) until you get the desired look. You really can’t mess this up, so don’t be afraid of doing this.
Chalk paint is very forgiving, so if you’re not happy with the way it looks, it’s easy to cover up with the white and try again.
My Dollar Tree tiered tray is beginning to take shape, as you can see!
Here’s a close up of what the edges look like on the pans. As you can see, you just drag the paint brush around the edges with no pattern. The more random, the better!
I gave thisdollar tree tiered tray to my daughter and she loved it! The white enamel ware look fits into her decor, perfectly as the farmhouse look is more her style!
Once you’re finished with that step, it’s time to clue your pieces together, as shown above. The pizza pan is on the bottom, followed by the pie pan and last, the cake pan.
I highly recommend using E6000 glued if you want a permanent bond. Hot glue will also work, but it will not hold like E6000 will. Hot glue is great if your making a tiered tray for a party and you would want to disassemble afterwards.
When you get it glued with the E6000, I would suggest putting something weighted, like maybe a book on top, while it’s drying. Allow about 24 hours to make sure that the bond is completely set and dried.
another version of thedollar tree tiered tray:
The above pic is my own dollar tree tiered tray. I used a Dollar Tree charger for the base (instead of a pizza pan) and this one was actually the very first one that I made. A charger is another option. I painted it with 2 coats of Waverly chalk paint (FolkArt
& Rust-Oleum
make a very good chalk paint, as well) in the color Ivory and I antiqued it with with Waverly Antique Wax sealer.
The sky is the limit on how you can make yourdollar tree tiered tray look! If you prefer a more industrial look, you don’t even have to paint your tray. Leave the pans silver and the candlesticks clear!
The beauty of this fun little tray is you can make it match your own decor, perfectly!
styling yourdollar tree tiered tray
This is the fun part! The first thing I do, depending on the season, is I look around my house, first! I look for items that are small enough to fit on the tray, like knick knacks and what nots. I’ve also used cute salt & pepper shakers, mugs, pretty cup towels, books, silk flowers, pine cones, ornaments or whatever I have on hand.
Dollar Tree is a great place to find items for the tiered tray as well as thrift stores. I also enjoy making items or repurposing things.
As you can see below, I had a small piece of scrap wood that I painted white and wrote the word “GRATEFUL”. It’s versatile and can be used for almost any decor or season.
On the patriotic tray, I painted a small birdhouse red, white & blue and on the middle tray, I took a 2×3 picture frame (that I found at Dollar Tree), painted it red and I switch out the sentiment according to the occasion. Scrapbook paper is a perfect option for this and so easy to do OR you can print out your own sentiment (“Love” on the Valentine tray).
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Other posts that may interest you:
How To Make A No Sew Fleece Blanket
How To Make A DIY Dollar Tree Fall Centerpiece
Easy DIY No Sew Napkin Pillows
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