Recently, I was feeling a little “crafty” because I was determined to use this absolutely adorable shopping bag I found while out shopping.
I am a sucker for these bags when standing in line. One, they are almost always cute. Two, they are usually only .99 cents. Three, they save using a plastic bag. When I get it home, I realize I have a stack of them and I am always trying to come up with some way to repurpose them.
And, I finally came up with the answer – a DIY upcycled tray – perfect for outdoors or in. Mine will end up being used to bring beverages and such out to our porch this summer.
And the best part, it was super easy.
1. A vinyl-type shopping bag.
2. A boring tray
3. Washi tape – any type will work, but the thicker width (2”) worked out really well.
4. Mod Podge matte finish
5. Scissors – and of course, if they are cute, even better.
6. A crafting knife
1. Cut a panel from your bag and lay it on the inside of your tray. Use a pencil to mark the edges of the bottom and cut it to size. Put that piece to the side.
2. If your tray has handle slots, start there. Just do your best, it doesn’t have to be perfect. The tape is more forgiving that I expected. The polka dot pattern seems to blend easily in multiple directions.
3. Cover the inside edges first getting tight to the bottom of your tray. Then cover the outside with a finishing edge along the top. Cut out where the handle slot is and smooth it all down.
4. Spread a medium coat of Mod Podge on the bottom of your tray and all over the taped areas to seal it. Lay in your cut piece from the shopping bag and smooth it all out removing all air bubbles. As you can see, I missed one in the bottom right corner – so do as I say, not as I do on this one! If you want, you can add a second and third coat to seal the taped areas further if you are planning on using it for beverages or outdoors.
Just wait for it to dry and you are done!
And since I am lover of all things Mod Podge, you can visit my Painted Canvas made with Mod Podge Photo Transfer.
Thanks so much for reading and wishing you a great day!
Laura that tray is super cute!!
Laura that is the cutest and as a fellow pool owner you know we can never have enough carrying trays!
That really is super cute. Not being in the deep crafty stuff for years where do you get the cute tape? I used to be a regular at Hobby Lobby and Michael’s but since hubby is retired I’m not a regular. I love all of your ideas — in fact I have a tray just like that — unfinished. I just haven’t done anything with it yet.
How adorable! 1. I never see cute shopping bags like that! What stores? 2. I didn’t know they made wide washi tape 🙂
Oh my gosh! wouldn’t this make an adorable gift for somebody that does a lot of entertaining? You never cease to amaze me with your creativity.. This would make such a useful gift for a hostess gift or just for yourself to use. I have the tray that my grandchildren made me years ago. I wonder if I can remove the piece together wrapping paper and use the tray again to do this? I’ve pinned this for future use.
Such a cute use for those shopping bags! I have a hot pink one from Marshalls that has the Eiffel tower all over it…..it would make a cute tray for my daughter’s room. Hmmmmm……one more summer project to add to the list! 🙂
So cute!! I can not STAND to throw even some of the cuter PAPER bags away! LOL!!
This is awesome Laura! SO cute. 🙂
Wow! I am living in the wrong place! They don’t have cute bags in Ohio–they are re-usable brown, boring bags. 🙁 Where do you guys shop??
Cute, upcycle, Laura! I have some trays that need some love in my house (and plenty of shopping bags), so I should try this! BTW, I loved your class at #havenconf! It was fun and informative! Thanks again!
Gosh, Laura, I love that tray decor.. I need to take my existing tray and make it look beautiful like this and keep it on dining room table to hold DH diabetic supplies and recording book, box of Kleenex and our monthly calendar, so it will look Neat. The busy calendar lets us keep up with where we are supposed to be and what’s going on that day. I pretty much have all those dates in my head but DH looks at that calendar almost every hour I think, as if it changes from hour to hour as he has some memory loss..issues. I hate to have all this stuff on dining room table but it is necessary.