Junk Art- Using Old Trays in New Ways

Wondering what to do with all those old metal lunch trays you have lying around the house? Ok- so you probably don't have that problem, but I did. Last spring I was at a charity garage/rummage sale my dad runs every year and was about to leave, when my dad tossed me an old tray. He had a stack of them and thought I would want to do something with them. I didn't- they looked pretty hopeless, I mean they weren't even a pretty color, just a rusty old cream.

But I took a couple anyways and when I got home I played around with one of them. My first idea was this memo/magnet board. It turned out kind of cute so I called my dad and asked him to save me the rest of the trays- if they were still there. They were. :) So I got the whole stack.

The memo board came together really quickly and didn't require much in the way of tools or materials either. Some fabric scraps,embroidery floss, a little memo sign, a scissors, glue stick, and my trusty Crop-a-dile were all it took. The Crop-a-dile is my favorite tool ever. It chomped through the tray like butta'. So I went a little crazy and chomped holes on each side of the tray, but then I was able to thread floss through them and give the edge a stitched look. The magnets are buttons stacked and tied together with butcher's twine with a magnet stuck to the back. Easy and cute!

I didn't have the time to get back to the trays until yesterday when I grabbed one and started to play around with an idea I'd had. I wanted to use the tray as a base for a fabric collage. It turned out to be super easy and the result was pretty cute so I thought I'd share it with you. I thought maybe you'd like to make your own. I mean- there's a shortage of inspirational signs made of old lunch trays in the world. Right?