Mini Makeovers

Calling this a makeover and implying it's a project is probably a total exaggeration. Last fall at a rummage sale for a Food Bank in our neighborhood, I picked up a battered, chippy old dustpan for a nickel. 

If you want something chippy, beat-up, rusty and made of metal, this certainly fills the bill. Now, what to do with it?

How about glue magnets on the back? Then you could use it like this:

 

stuck on the side of the refrigerator to hold receipts. You have to admire an object that can last as long as this one has with what looks like constant usage and still be around for a second career incarnation. At the grocery store on the weekend I picked up the HGTV magazine and had to laugh, seeing they had used an old dustpan to hold papers, too. Theirs had a long handle and not as common a design as this one, though.

Another minor effort involves this tray that was super cheap at the Sand Dollar, under $2.00 if my memory is correct.

  

I like the scalloped edges of this tray, but not the artwork. It's pretty ugly, and also cheaply made. It looks as if someone set something wet on it which discolored a lot of the background. It has been used already with the lazy method of putting a crocheted piece over the bananas, but they were still there underneath. Today I broke out the glue and scissors and came up with this:

 It's cork, from a roll bought at Target for $1.99. There's some leftover, so for about $3.00 and almost no effort we have a nice tray to use. These aren't on the scale of refinishing furniture pieces or house renovations, but hey, it's hot in Texas right now. Small and easy is still an achievement in this weather! I hope to link this to Met Monday at Susan's Between Naps on the Porch at http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

What have you come up with while staying inside where it's cool? I'd love to know. 

Michele