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How To Decorate Plastic Black Catering Trays For Reuse With Paper Napkins And Plastic Wrap

Elevate your party table with a touch of creativity and practicality with this catering trays hack! Transforming those plain black catering trays with a lid or any tray into colorful trays that blend with your party theme is so easy to do. It is a plastic serving tray wrap idea on a budget and a food-safe solution to cover it. I tried and tested this technique many times for parties, and it works great! What is the best part? It is a hassle-free tray cleanup, and we can keep these trays for your next party event a few times. Decorate plastic trays on a budget for parties creatively for any theme. Check out the simplicity and charm of this useful hosting hack! plastic serving tray wrap ideas on a budget

*In my photos below, I used purple, gold, and green paper napkin colors to dress up trays for a Mardi Gras holiday table.

⇓ Check out the sandwiches page, link below! I have so many useful tips! ⇓

✅ Worth Knowing ⇒ Easy Make-Ahead Cold Sandwiches For Large Crowd With 9 Tips

What we need:

Paper napkins ( or thin scrapbook paper or tissue wrapping paper )
Plastic wrap
Plate smaller than tray ( to press plastic to the tray)

📌 Check This Out ⇒ 15 Creative Ways to Use Plastic Wrap in Your Kitchen

How To Wrap Plastic Trays With Lid:

Place paper napkins as you like the design on the tray.

*Don’t use too many napkins, so you can able to lock the lid to the tray.

2. Cover napkins with plastic wrap and make sure you have on both sides enough wrap, so when we turn the tray we can stick plastic to each other. Place a second tray on the top of the tray to hold the plastic wrap in place. It is a necessary step to press plastic with another plate! If you don’t, our tray will be like a drum, plastic doesn’t stay sticking to the tray. There still be some plastic elevation above the tray with a plate too but we will be able to place food easily and there will be not much air under.

*We can use instead of a smaller tray the same size black tray or the lid from the tray to hold plastic with napkins down.

3. Turn around the tray and stick plastic wrap to each other in the bottom as I show in the photo.

4. Turn around and repeat the same as many times as you need to cover the napkins well. How many layers of wrap we make depends on what kind of food we serve and how thick the plastic wrap we use is.

*For example, for deviled eggs, I covered 3 times a 16-inch tray with a 12-inch tray with my clear plastic food wrap.

Tip For Catering Tray Locks

Catering trays are designed with locking lids to ensure secure delivery and maintain food safety. While the locking mechanisms may vary slightly depending on the brand or style, most will snap into place with gentle pressure. One of the locks I show in the photo below. To ensure a proper seal, make sure napkins or plastic wrap are thin enough to allow the lid to lock tightly onto the tray.

5. If too much air is trapped beneath the plastic wrap on the top of the tray. A simple fix is to put the tray upside down and make small openings in the plastic. The weight of the food pushes out the air.

My tray match Mardi Gras theme is ready and it took me a few minutes to cover the tray.

I like to use catering trays to transport and serve party food, especially for large parties and outdoor events. Trays are perfect for sandwiches, appetizers, cheese-meat platters, fruit platters, vegetable platters, baked goods, and much more. I like to reuse these trays and usually cover them with plastic wrap with decor paper or without. We don’t need much cleaning after removing the plastic from the trays. However, I suggest rinsing and drying trays with lids before storing them, no matter how clean they look.

How To Secure Plastic Black Catering Trays During Transport

Catering trays with locking lids are a great solution for keeping food covered and protected. However, for added peace of mind—especially when someone else is handling the transport—I highly recommend reinforcing the trays for delivery. A simple and effective option is to use painter’s tape to seal the lid in place. It’s strong enough to prevent accidental openings. We can remove it easily without leaving any sticky residue behind. This small step helps ensure your presentation stays intact from kitchen to table.

🔍 Discover More ⇒ Many Ideas on How To Decorate a Table With Paper And Linen Napkins For Party

The photo below is from a real-life celebration of Mardi Gras 2024, held at the car repair auto shop owned by my husband’s friend. On the trays deviled eggs and stuffed jalapeno peppers. I removed the covers from the trays after the event and the trays look clean. I rinsed them at home and dried them with paper towels. I can reuse them again, they look like new.

What I Used For Square Trays To Press The Cover

For square-shaped trays not easy to find what we can use to hold down the cover. I used the lid from the tray. In the photo, I covered the tray with fun tissue paper. Another idea is what we can use for decor catering trays.

Spring Theme Tray With Chocolate Covered Strawberries

In my spring theme tray, I used 4 green napkins to cover the bottom of the tray. My green tray matches well with liners for cupcakes. It took me a few minutes to make a creative food tray cover. We can do it easily in a few days in advance, cover the tray with the lid and use it when will be ready. A great technique to dress up catering trays!

I like to use liners to serve strawberries because easy to use for guests as individual cups. Additionally, I make use of leftover chocolate. I use it to make chocolate-covered pecans and almonds. I place nuts with strawberries in each cup instead of directly on the tray. I used this catering tray to carry these dessert sweets to the family’s Easter tea party. It is so handy to have these catering trays on hand!