An Upcycled Outdoor Dish Caddy

I'm so happy to be sharing in Maggie and Kristin's summer blog party!  It's been a great week and I've been completely inspired by all of the fun projects shared by the other bloggers and by all those who have linked up each day. If you haven't taken a peek, you really should!

Today the party is all about summer entertaining and I'm sharing a little project I made to make outdoor entertaining a bit easier: an outdoor dish caddy.

Despite the crazy Texas heat, the kids love to eat outside during the summer.  I love it too but sometimes it seems like such a pain to grab all the outdoor dishes and get things set.

I decided to make an outdoor dish caddy.  It keeps everything in one place and when we're ready to eat someone just has to grab it and take it outside.

I didn't photograph every step of this project but it's pretty simple.  I started with a small CD crate that I found at a local thrift store.  It was super cheap and the perfect size.

I cut two pieces of plywood to fit into the bottom of each side {so forks and napkins wouldn't fall through the cracks} and cut another small piece of plywood to divide the front section.  I used liquid nails on all three pieces and also used some tiny finishing nails to hold the divider firmly in place.

I spray painted the whole thing bright yellow and then rubbed it with some white paint to give it a bit of a distressed, weathered look.

It's perfect for our summer dishes and will make outdoor entertaining super simple ... which is what summer should be all about.

Do you like summer entertaining?  I hope you'll head over to the blog party to link up your own summer entertaining ideas!

If you like what you see, would you consider following me?

I'm linking to Bubbly Nature Creations, Tatertots and Jello, I Heart Naptime