DIY Acrylic Accessories Tray

DIY Acrylic Accessories Tray

Today I'm excited to share a DIY project with you that's super easy & cute! I have been seeing these adorable acrylic or lucite trays everywhere, but oftentimes they come with a hefty price tag. 

For example, and here, and here. If you don't mind paying $60 for a tray, they sure are cute & more power to you, but I was having a rough time getting my head around that price. Even for the plain acrylic ones without a decorative bottom, they can get up there. However, there are plain ones for less  and you can customize them yourself and get exactly what you want!

For this post, I'm going to show you all the tray that I made for my mother-in-law, whose birthday was last week. I found this plain acrylic tray with handles at Home Goods for around $8 and thought it could be something great for accessories on top of my mother-in-law's dresser or vanity. I had seen a couple of Pins floating around Pinterest that I thought I may be able to use for this project. In the end, I combined a few of the ideas I found on there with a few of my own and came up with this tray!

At first, I thought about creating my own art to fit inside the tray. While I still think that this is an idea I might use in the future sometime, this particular tray had non-traditional dimensions & I was having trouble coming up with a design I liked for Wendy. Then I found this great pink watercolor scrapbook paper at Michael's and I fell in love! It came in a large package of about 40 sheets for $20, making the paper used for this project about 50 cents. I cut the paper to fit the tray, held it in place with double-sided tape, and then debated what (if anything) to put on top of the paper. A couple of the Pins I saw left the paper plain or just laminated it, but I felt like it would make the tray more durable and "finished-looking" if I had a hard surface on the top. Since I was going to be giving it as a gift, those qualities were important to me!

I ended up getting a sheet of acrylic at Lowe's and having the very nice hardware guy there cut it to size for me.

**Tip--Lowes does this, but not all home improvement places do. Another place I was thinking of going was Home Depot, since they're closer to our apartment and I've used them for other projects...but the lady there looked at me like I had three heads when I asked if they could do this. So if you don't have a Lowe's in your town, you may want to call ahead to your local home improvement stores & ask so you don't end up running all over town, like me.**

I brought the tray into the store with me so that he could check the size & make sure it was exact. He was so helpful and willing to work with me, and it didn't add to the cost at all to have it cut. Speaking of cost, the sheet of acrylic I bought was $11 and was big enough for two trays, so I have another at home waiting to be finished up! (You'll have to pretend to be surprised if you're a friend of mine & you get this gift in the future).  So all together, the tray itself cost about $19.50! Not a bad price for a customized decorative piece. 

Then it was time for accessories! Although I think the tray would be a beautiful gift on its own, I wanted to add a few fun things on the tray that would both compliment the tray's style & be useful for Wendy. I went with small, color coordinated things that would also be perfect for her dresser or vanity. 

Owl shaped porcelain jewelry box-Hobby Lobby. Here is the round version that matches.

Tahititan Vanilla silver speckled candle-Hobby Lobby--They don't have the candle online, but here is the scent.  So yummy! We have it in our house too on our bar area. 

"Jot It Down" magnetic notepad-Target dollar section (I love to have these for things I remember at night & can't sleep without knowing they'll get done--write it down and off to sleep!)
"LorimerLiving" pen-I created & purchased from Vistaprint

Vanilla Sugar body butter-Bed, Bath, And Beyond-how perfect is the color for this tray?? Plus it smells amazing. I have the cocoa butter version in the same brand and it is so smooth & moisturizing. 

The tray as I gave it to her!

"Fabulous" Perfume--a gift Wendy received from her sister & a perfect addition to the tray!

I'm so glad I went with the acrylic topper for this tray--it makes the whole piece feel cohesive & professional. You can't even tell it didn't come this way! I love the way that the pink watercolor looks inside the tray and with the items on top. It went over very well with my MIL and I hope it will be loved by anyone you may choose to give it to--even if that person is yourself!

Follow me on Instagram and see the one I'm making for myself--I'll be posting a pic in a couple of days when I finish it up!
You can also find me on Pinterest & Twitter, or click subscribe at the top right of this page to sign up for future posts like this one!

What DIY projects have been keeping you busy lately? Which ones are you excited to try in the near future? Let me know below!

XOXO,

Jaclyn