Tray

On this cold rainy day I have 2 things to be excited about. The hot mug of spiced tea that I am drinking and my latest DIY tray :)

The rough idea is to laminate fabric and stick the fabric to the base of the tray. Laminate makes it easy to clean. Just wipe :)

The finished tray can be used to serve tea (:D) when you have guests or can simply be used in your living room to hold a collection of miscellaneous objects.

This idea has been on pinterest for ever and I took instructions for this blog and this blog. Laminating the fabric is an improvisation thought of by yours truly :)

I started off by picking up a 14"x11" tray from Micheal's. It was unfinished wood so I painted it with an off white paint. (Of course had to be white! I am officially obsessed with white now!)

One thing I did differently this time while painting was not to use spray paint. I have always used spray paint in the past with my projects. I think one might end up using lesser paint if you paint by brush (or a roller) instead of spray. I am yet collect solid evidence for this, so don't quote me :)

Once the paint is all dry, its time for the next step - Fabric. Choose your favorite fabric. I am also borderline obsessed with Moroccan patterns. This was my choice.

You will also need heat on Vinyl laminate.

Cut your fabric to the inner dimensions of the bottom of your tray and adhere the Vinyl to your fabric following the instructions on the laminate - I just had to iron on the vinyl for about 10 seconds.

Fabric on the left is without Vinyl laminate and the one on the right is with. You can see how the fabric can appear a little dull once laminated.

You can see the laminated finish in the picture below.

Your tray is now ready to receive a pop of color.

I used elmer's spray adhesive to attach the fabric - This can get a little messy. While gluing, I wanted to re position the fabric on the corner so I had to peel it out, it was not a clean peel to say the least. The I ended up over spaying in a one spot. It was challenging. Anyways I somehow managed to position the fabric and my fingers were all glue covered and sticky for the next hour. Use gloves - Definitely can save some annoyance.

Anyways - this is how my tray ended up looking. What do you think of it?

Linking it to made by you mondays

Yellow green jhumkis

I am now reading this book called - I am a stranger here myself. Written by Bill Bryson, it is a pretty funny book.
The author has moved back to the United States after about 2 decades in the UK. He wrote these as small funny anecdotes about day to day things in a UK newspaper. This book is the collection of all those articles.
Each article is like a short story, just the right quantity for me - to read a couple of them at night before bed time. A few giggles before I retire for the day :)

Now that the book review is out of the way, I now present to you my latest Jhumki.
Got a chance with terracotta jewelry making after a month almost! Life has a way of getting so busy.



Bought a new mustard color - craftsmart.

I think the color itself is nice, but the finish is not as smooth as the metallic colors.

Will try a glaze finish on top to see if it shines better.

Anyyways... here is me selfie - trying out the latest Jhumki.