Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

I know, babies are expensive.  And most of the money spent on them is well worth it and justified, especially when it comes to safety related items.  But at some point, the money people want for some of their paraphernalia is just ridiculous.  Take changing trays for example.  I was shocked at how expensive those things are.  I searched online and couldn’t find a single one for less than $99!!

Seriously, over $100 for four pieces of wood?!  It’s got to be the most simple piece of furniture to make (doesn’t get much easier than putting together four boards into a rectangle).  So we made our own!

First, we cut 3/4″ thick select pine craft board into these lengths and widths (we based them off this contoured changing pad which measures 30″x16″).  We decided to make the piece on the back side of the tray wider (5.5″) so that it would create a lip to hang over the back of the dresser and prevent it from sliding off the front (see finished pictures below to get a better idea of what we did).

Then using our Kreg Jig we made pocket holes in the two end pieces and joined them together with the side pieces.

We did the same for the slats on the bottom.  We used wood glue between all the joints too.  You could alternatively use a nail gun and putty the holes if you don’t have a Kreg Jig.

Below is a picture of the slats from the bottom of the tray.  We placed them about 1/4″ from the bottom of the sides (as opposed to flush with them) so that the pad will sit a little higher in the tray (and prevent head bumps on the edges).

Bottom view:

Top view:

The support slats on the bottom are spaced evenly at 5.75″.

Next we gave the whole thing a light sanding, then a few coats of paint, and placed some bumpers on the bottom to keep it from scratching the dresser top.

Here’s a better look at the lip that hangs over the back to keep it from sliding forward off the dresser (although this picture is actually of it hanging over the front of the dresser since it’s not possible for me to move the dresser on my own and get a good shot at the back).

And here’s the final product!

***EDIT***: After using the changing tray the way it was above, Anneliese started bumping her head on the end of the tray as she grew taller.  So using a round table as a template (or you could use a large round bowl- we didn’t have one big enough to give us the radius we wanted), we drew a semi-circle on the ends and using a jigsaw, cut them out.  Then we sanded and gave another coat of spray paint.  Now it looks like this and is much more functional: