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Jaime Costiglio

build - paint - sew

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DIY Portable Lego Tray Revised

June 5, 2012

Every kid needs a portable lego tray to move those precious lego builds off the table when its time for dinner.
diy portable lego tray revised

A DIY tutorial to build a portable lego tray. This revised version of the original lego tray has more options and makes a great gift.

I was shocked and surprised at the response to my first portable Lego tray.   Thank you to everyone who shared the idea, I’m truly flattered.  Naturally I’m always looking for ways to improve my projects and so this revised version of the lego tray is just that much better.

Lego Baseplate Layout

After receiving many requests from friends and strangers looking to purchase the lego tray I revised the build slightly to make a better product.  With all the baseplate options available there are so many layout choices but I narrowed it down to these three:

lego tray option 1
lego tray option 2
lego tray option 3

PORTABLE LEGO TRAYS

  • lego trays with personalization
  • square lego trays
  • original portable lego tray
underside of portable tray

Lego Friends Baseplates

I also contacted the Lego company to request the baseplates be made in colors to coordinate with the Lego Friends collection – maybe yellow, pink, purple, bright blue would work well with any of the Friends sets:
image from Lego.com
 Below is a portion of the response I received from JoAnn at LEGO Direct Consumer Services.  Maybe someday they might have new baseplate colors, maybe?
letter from lego consumer services
Update: As of 12/10/22 they don’t have baseplates in fun bright colors. 🙁

SUPPLIES:

  • lego baseplates
  • 1/2″ plywood (15″ x 19″)
  • 1x2x6 pine board
  • pocket hole jig
  • 1″ pocket hole screws
  • wood glue
  • 1 1/4″ finish nails
  • (2) handles
  • construction adhesive
lego baseplates

STEP 1: DECIDE ON YOUR BASEPLATE CONFIGURATION AND TRIM THE PLATES TO FIT.  YOU CAN USE A MITER SAW JUST GO SLOW BUT A UTILITY KNIFE WORKS TOO.

cutting lego baseplates with utility knife
lego trays stacked

STEP 2: TRIM THE 1/2″ PLYWOOD TO FIT YOUR BASEPLATES.  THEN CUT (2) 1×2 SIDES EQUAL TO THE SHORT SIDES OF PLYWOOD.  AND CUT (2) 1×2 SIDES EQUAL TO THE LONG SIDE OF PLYWOOD PLUS 1.5″.

wood pieces ready for assembly

STEP 3: ASSEMBLE THE TRAY USING 1″ POCKET HOLE SCREWS AND WOOD GLUE TO ATTACH THE SIDES.  SECURE THE CORNERS WITH FINISH NAILS.

plywood tray step two

tray with sides and handles

STEP 5: APPLY ADHESIVE TO BACK OF LEGO BASEPLATES THEN PRESS ONTO PLYWOOD BASE.  AVOID GETTING ADHESIVE CLOSE TO EDGES.

construction adhesive on plywood base

STEP 6: USE PAINT CANS TO WEIGH DOWN THE BASEPLATES WHILE THE ADHESIVE DRIES.

paint cans on baseplates
wrapping a birthday gift
All wrapped up and ready to give as a gift.
portable lego tray birthday gift
A great DIY project that any Lego enthusiast would love.
SHOP THIS PROJECT:

Thanks for joining me for this portable lego tray project.  Please leave any questions in the comments below and be sure to follow me on social media for sneak peeks, tools and project inspiration:

Instagram / Pinterest / Facebook / Youtube / Twitter

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Filed Under: BUILD, DIY, GAMES & TOYS, GIFTS, KIDS, ORGANIZATION23 Comments

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cristina Garay says

    June 5, 2012 at 6:48 PM

    I love it! Thanks for the great tutorial!

    Reply
  2. [email protected] Road says

    June 5, 2012 at 8:23 PM

    It's cool that they wrote you back, but you need to get a patent on that design NOW! Because they'll probably come out with Lego trays just in time for Christmas. You might as well make some money on your idea.

    Reply
  3. Korrie Bastian says

    June 6, 2012 at 2:05 AM

    I *need* to make this for my son's birthday next month! Thanks for the great tutorial.

    Reply
  4. Kirsty, New Zealand says

    June 6, 2012 at 5:35 AM

    this is fantastic, what an awesome gift to someone 🙂

    Reply
  5. Ellie says

    June 10, 2012 at 5:29 PM

    Yup. I still love it. I'd love to get something like this with a pillow on the bottom so my boys could use it for road trips! You really are an inspiration!

    Reply
  6. Steph says

    June 10, 2012 at 10:27 PM

    I LOVE this!
    Why don't you just spray paint the base the color you want it? 🙂

    Reply
  7. Jill @ KitchenFunWithMy3Sons.com says

    June 11, 2012 at 12:26 PM

    Love this! We have our Kitchen Fun & Crafty link party up and would love for you to share this!
    http://kitchenfunwithmy3sons.blogspot.com/2012/06/kitchen-fun-and-crafty-friday-link.html?m=1

    Reply
  8. Crafty Mischief says

    June 11, 2012 at 7:02 PM

    This is brilliant! I need to make one for each of my kids I think. Thanks so much for sharing the tutorial!

    Reply
  9. Becca @ Our Crazy Boys says

    June 13, 2012 at 5:31 AM

    Thank you, Jamie! We made your Lego trays and I posted pictures of our experience. They are a hit!

    http://ourcrazyboys.com/i-pinned-it-i-made-it-portable-lego-tray/

    Reply
  10. Tiff says

    June 14, 2012 at 1:48 PM

    That is just what my kids need! Love your idea! All of us play with LEGOS in our house. Even my 16 yr old daughter. It's our family time and we love it. Thanks so much for sharing your idea!

    Reply
  11. Lisa says

    June 15, 2012 at 2:25 PM

    This is awesome! Just yesterday I was in need of a portable Lego solution as the 10 month old tried to eat the 4 year old's Legos! Eeeeek!! Thank you! Pinning and making!!

    Reply
  12. Aimee Seaberry says

    June 15, 2012 at 3:08 PM

    This is so awesome! I actually have a tray that is not getting used that would be perfect for this! Visit me a http://www.six-cents.com.

    Reply
  13. Trisha @ The Sweet Survival says

    July 2, 2012 at 6:39 PM

    That is such a cool letter from LEGO. I love these trays – Sawyer loves his LEGOS. So do I. I am one of three daughters but we always got sets of LEGOS for Christmas from my Dad.

    Reply
  14. 'M' says

    August 21, 2012 at 2:36 PM

    My daughter is a huge Lego girl. W have the Friends sets and are now acquiring the Creator sets. This tray is exactly what she needs! Thank you so much for sharing 🙂

    Reply
  15. 'M' says

    August 21, 2012 at 2:36 PM

    My daughter is a huge Lego girl. W have the Friends sets and are now acquiring the Creator sets. This tray is exactly what she needs! Thank you so much for sharing 🙂

    Reply
  16. JRmamaETC says

    August 26, 2012 at 10:36 PM

    What a simple and awesome idea, I'm going to make this for a Lego gift basket for a school. I think I will stain the wood and add felt to the bottom.

    Reply
  17. Kimberley says

    November 2, 2012 at 8:27 PM

    i love this! where do you buy lego base plates?

    Reply
  18. Scharko-fisk says

    March 27, 2013 at 5:27 PM

    I love this idea!! I wanted to make this for my daughter but didn't have the time to construct the tray part. So, I bought the lego plate and searched for something I can easily put it in. I ended up finding a scrapbook frame. I took out the glass and left the back part. I glued the lego plate where the picture would go. It has worked out great because it's deep enough the lego pieces do not fall off. Just wanted to add a quick version.

    Reply
  19. Martina says

    April 30, 2013 at 12:03 AM

    This is an awesome idea! Definitely adding it to the build list.

    I think Lego used to make the 1/4 sized and 1/2 size platforms/baseplates in yellow (we have some "vintage" ones in our collection), if you look on eBay or at
    local garage sales you might find some. 🙂

    Reply
  20. Kilo says

    October 15, 2013 at 2:08 AM

    I can't think of a way to do it that would be efficient, but it would be possible to use green and blue to make a roughly heart-shaped lake, which would suit the LEGO Friends town well. My first thought was just to have three blue squares in a rough "L" shape on a field of green–if your builder is willing to apply some imagination, that might be adequate.

    For those considering staining the sides, I'd recommend cutting the corners at 45 degree angles, rather than butting them at 90 degrees as shown. Stain tends to look somewhat darker on end grain, which is more porous and soaks up more of it. Not the sort of thing most kids would care about, of course, but it would give a slightly more consistent look.

    Reply
  21. Kat says

    December 4, 2013 at 5:34 AM

    What is the best way to cut the lego baseplates?

    Reply
  22. Chloe says

    December 1, 2019 at 5:18 AM

    These are great, can I order them from you? I don’t have the time of skill to do myself.

    Reply
    • Jaime says

      December 1, 2019 at 7:45 AM

      Thanks Chloe, while I do take special orders I’m not making the lego trays at this time.

      Reply

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