A Dabble in DIY

For years, I've seen tons of DIY projects that I've wanted to attempt. Now that I finally have some time... I'm too afraid to start any of them! Crazy, I know. I didn't see that one coming. I mean, hey, my mom is one domestic, costume-making, re-upholstering diva. And we share blood after all! I may also have had a small history of sewing quilts, baking cakes, painting, etc. that I was hoping to rely on. However, I'd like to make an important note and recommendation here... the skills you want to actually keep: don't ignore them for 15 years. Ground-breaking, I know. But really, you think you can fall back on those "Pssht, I used to do that!" until you sit confused looking at the bobbin and sewing machine wondering how these two parts once magically entwined to make a stitch. SO after a few failed trips to Hobby Lobby & the Fabric Store where I left empty-handed and kicking projects to "the future when that domestic bone kicks in" again... I decided to pick something uber simple to start.

So here it is! It's basic ladies. BASIC. Don't judge. This isn't Pinterest & I am not the Pioneer Woman (wait... she cooks). Well, whoever her crafting equivalent would be.

Back when I was selling my home, I invested in a few pieces to stage it to get top $. (PS. Not to be random here-- but did I even blog that we sold our home in February of this year?! Hmmm... maybe should do that.) Anyway, one of the pieces I bought was a Target breakfast tray. It was brown and worked well with some books & candles on my old coffee table-- but now we have a new sofa and all the brown was just BLAH. When we moved I also introduced a new color scheme. Mike and I actually use the tray quite a bit and I was tired of storing it after every use. So I decided to make the piece fun with some color so it could be part of design as well as dinner.

To begin, I made a very manageable trip to Hobby Lobby and for around $10 bought my supplies.

Then I laid out my tray in my garage where I could get crack-a-lackin at it! See the tray: functional but not fun.

Let me just pause here and say, "How cool is spray paint??" Really, this stuff turns painting into the easiest job on the planet and for the impatient of us... it dries in less than 10 minutes. Sweet! So after a few coats of the modern day miracle called spray paint... I now had the same tray in white. An improvement but not necessarily fun yet. So I took some scrap paper of my choosing (golden yellow damask) and mod podge-d it to the inside of the tray. Yeah, mod podge is pretty cool too. Glue + Sealant = Happy Girl

And in a very simple jiffy... I now have a new tray that instead of blending into the brown of my ottoman-- pulls in my little pops of yellow in the room. Ta-da!

Meg can craft (if only simplistically)! It may seem simple and lame to all of you blog-following, pinterest-loving maniacs out there (I'm included in that group actually) but it was one small step towards doing all those big things that made me want to panic in the Michael's aisle. A little spark to warm up the fire, we'll say. Hope you enjoyed my dabble in DIY!