Thursday 27 October 2011

Trayding Places

Altering things is a pastime that often evades me. I fail to break down the project into small, manageable pieces and then get so overwhelmed with the seeming enormity of the task that I put off starting - or, to be truthful, in most cases, finishing - the job.

Not so with this one. It kind of wrote itself, in a way.

do they actually have a name for these cushion-tray-things?


Take one TV-cushion-tray-thing. Take a bunch of old scraps of paper, a pair of scissors, and some glue. Sit down in front of the TV (in my case, it was a silly film called Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs), and proceed to cut and stick. Afterwards, laminate and paint the wooden frame (only if you like painting wood. My husband near forbade me to do it as the tray is one of two which came from his late grandfather and for some reason he dislikes painted wood to an almost extreme degree. But I am working on that, now we're married).

it's mine. it's not any one else's.


Finally, brand it as yours so no one else can use it. Then promise that you'll make one for said person trying to steal usage minutes of your tray, but remain vague on the timescale involved. You never know, this might be a one-off case of finishing something within a day of starting it.

it's the shabby-chic distressed effect of painted wood he dislikes the most

To round things off, here are some end-of-the-month competitions for some weekend crafting:

  • Punky Scraps - three October challenges to choose from: a collage, a spooky sketch, and a recipe
  • True XOXO Girls - October's scraplift challenge is still open: choose one of the team's eye-catching creations as a jumping-off point 
As always, if you enter you could win a prize. There's no excuse not to get crafting!

And if you're still reading, a small toot: I'm usually their video alchemist, but today I'm also being written about on Gauche Alchemy's blog.

4 comments:

  1. I really like what you did to the tray, looks much better now. Great way to use up scraps! Will go to Gauche now and read all about you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. LOVE this project! Great final design and choice of materials! I wonder why hubby doesn't like painted wood? I feel the same way about older or expensive wood but I constantly attack my Ikea furniture- it's so cheap and the wood is so soft you need to paint it to keep it from getting banged up.

    ReplyDelete
  3. yep, I paint my Ikea furniture all the time too. I might be deluding myself but I think it makes it look more expensive!

    I live with a girl who loves to write her name on things. She would most definitely approve.

    ReplyDelete
  4. STEEEEVE!!!! LOVE that film...tom and i make a point of watching it when we need cheering up on a rainy day...J joined in once and it even made him giggle!! STEEEEEVE! :)
    Great tray....it looks much better lol!!
    If he doesn't like painted wood then you should make him close his eyes whenever you have the tray and if he really needs to use it he can't touch the wood lol! :)

    ReplyDelete