Intermediate

Catch All Tray

A slab-built rectangular tray for an entryway, desk, or coffee table. It holds keys, sunglasses, a phone, or whatever you drop when you walk through the door. This project teaches slab rolling and wall construction, and it produces the most "giftable" piece in the lineup. When done well, it reads as bought rather than made, which is a genuine compliment to your craftsmanship and the guide quality.

30-45 min Dry time: 24-48 hours

What You'll Need

Air-dry clay 350g (slightly more than one third of bag)

Included in kit

Acrylic paint set

Included in kit

Brush set

Included in kit

Ruler or Straight Edge

For Cutting Straight Lines

Rolling pin or smooth bottle

For creating an even slab

Chopsticks

Place on either side of clay for even thickness

Step by Step

  1. 1 Roll the Base Slab

    Place your clay on parchment paper. Set chopsticks or dowels on either side as thickness guides. Roll out a rectangular slab about 6 inches long, 4 inches wide, and 1/4 inch (6mm) thick. Roll in multiple directions to keep the thickness even. The chopstick guides ensure consistent depth, which matters more than you’d think: uneven bases warp during drying.

  2. 2 Trim the Edges

    Using your craft knife and a ruler or straight edge, trim all four sides to get clean, straight lines. Save the trimmed clay. You’ll need it for the walls. A crisp rectangle at this stage is what makes the finished tray look intentional rather than approximate.

  3. 3 Build the Walls

    From the saved clay, roll four even sausage shapes, each slightly longer than the sides of your rectangle. Flatten them so they’re about 1.5cm tall and 6–8mm wide. These are your tray walls. Consistent height across all four walls matters. Lay them next to each other and trim to match if needed.

  4. 4 Score and Slip

    Using the needle tool, scratch crosshatch lines along the outer edge of your base slab (where the walls will sit) and along the bottom edge of each wall piece. Wet all scratched surfaces with water. This is the same technique used in the vase project. Skipping it here means walls that pop off during drying.

  5. 5 Attach the Walls

    Press the walls onto the base, one side at a time. Press firmly and blend each interior join with a blending tool or your thumb. At the corners, trim the wall pieces to meet cleanly, then score, slip, and blend each corner joint. The corners are the weakest points, so reinforce them thoroughly.

  6. 6 Smooth & Detail

    Smooth all surfaces and joins with a damp sponge or wet fingers. Pay special attention to the inside corners, as they’re the most visible part of the finished tray. You can round the corners slightly with gentle finger pressure for a softer aesthetic, or keep them sharp for a more architectural feel.

  7. 7 Dry & Finish

    Place on a flat surface lined with parchment and dry for 24–48 hours. Flip carefully after 12 hours. Once cured, sand any rough spots with 220-grit sandpaper. Paint and seal.

Tips & Troubleshooting

If a wall leans or bows outward during drying, prop it with small wads of foil on the outside until it firms up (first 6–8 hours).

For a gift, this tray plus a candle and a small plant makes a complete "housewarming" set. All from the same kit.

The most common failure point is weak corner joints. Score and slip every joint generously. Then reinforce the inside corners by pressing a thin coil of clay into each one and blending it smooth. This internal fillet is structural.

If you don’t have chopsticks for thickness guides, two identical pens or pencils work as substitutes.

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