DIY Life

Even though we're pretty savvy DIYers around here, I know there's a lot of you out there that have really got it going on. Take my good friend Jill, for example. She recently came up with a terrific make-it-yourself gift for her mother-in-law -- a personalized serving tray.



Jill bought an inexpensive serving tray -- the kind you'd use to serve someone breakfast in bed -- and then dug into her collection of family pictures. Using her best scrapbooking skills, she cropped assorted photos into various shapes or gave them scalloped edges with scrapping shears.

Whether you use traditionally developed photos or print them onto photo paper at home, be sure to laminate all the photos before you cut them. This will help them hold their shape and protect them from the glue you'll use to secure them to the tray.

Once she readied the photos, Jill layered the tray with colored cardstock paper as a background, then put washable paint on her sons' palms and placed their handprints on the tray. After the paint dried, she arranged the pictures, some stickers, and a few labels bearing personal messages all around the tray.

When everything was fixed just-so, Jill glued everything in place then coated the tray's entire surface with Mod Podge to seal it and give it a high shine. For added flair, she also glued some additional messages of love on the back of the tray and coated them with Mod Podge as well. As a finishing touch, she tied a bow on that handle.

For less than $30, Jill put together a handmade gift that her mother-in-law will treasure for years. I like this idea so much that I'm downright jealous. We'll see if I ever puppy-sit for her again!

[Thanks, Jill!]