Did It Ourselves: Cookie Sheet Crafting

My BFF Cathy (Cat) is a really good Pinterest Pinner. Unlike me (and most of you), she only pins things she has a legitimate interest in pursuing, whether that be a craft, recipe, outfit, whatever. Since I moved away from her last year, a lot of our reunion gatherings have included craft time, which is AWESOME. This allows for simultaneous creating of pretty things while also catching up on happenings back home (with the occasional glass of wine!)

Anyway so in all her brilliance, a few months back Cat came up with this craft idea (I think she got it from Pinterest but I could be wrong. But then again, where did we find crafts before Pinterest??) On one of my home visits we spent a rainy Saturday creating THIS:

Y'all I just have to tell you, this turned out WAY better than I thought and was also WAY easier than I thought to pull off!

Here is what you need:

• cheapest cookie sheet imaginable (just make sure it has sides and if you want handles like the one above, make sure the ends of your cookie sheet are a little wider so you have room to attach them)
• fabric of your choice (We each got a yard, but you can get less if you feel like you are better with measurements than we are. You need enough to cover the front and sides, and an inch or two of overhang on the back/bottom)
• felt (you will use this to cover the bottom. Makes a better sitting-surface than regular fabric. Any color is fine, you won't see it.)
• spray adhesive (get at Hobby Lobby or even Walmart may have it)
• If you want handles, get two drawer pulls at Home Depot or Lowes. Just make sure they aren't wider than the ends of your cookie sheet.
• Gorilla glue (if you're doing handles)

Literally, all you have to do is cut your fabric so that it will wrap around the front/top of your cookie sheet and still leave enough room to slide up and around the sides, and have an inch or two left for the back.

Cover your surface/table with newspaper. Spray glue is about to get everywhere.

The hardest part of this is keeping your fabric straight while you're pressing it onto the cookie sheet to stick. To combat this, we sprayed our cookie sheets in small sections, starting at the center. Press your fabric onto your sections a little at a time, smoothing out any bubbles. Keep going until you've sprayed and covered the front and sides.

Flip your cookie sheet over so that the bottom is facing up. Again start from the center, pulling the fabric toward the center so there aren't any bubbles until it's all been glued down. The corners will look messy becuase you'll have a lot of fabric congregating there. That's ok, you're not going to see them anyway.

Cut your felt in a rectangle that will cover all but an inch around the bottom of your cookie sheet. This should cover any metal still showing and make a smoother-looking edge, because your fabric underneath is probably going to look messy.

Let it all dry really well. If you're doing the handles, use a bit of gorilla glue under each end of your drawer pull and stick them onto the fabric. When you use gorilla glue it's best if you can use a clamp to really push your handles into the glue, but if you don't have a clamp it's ok. Just put pressure on them for a few minutes and it'll be fine. A little bit of that stuff will go a long way, so be careful. Any excess is going to come out from under your handle and it dries in a crunch white-ish consistency that is quite hideous.

Let it sit over night and you should be all set! The only thing I would caution you of is that if you DON'T use the clamps on your handles, don't use them to pick up your tray when it's piled with magazines and whatnots - just pick it up using the cookie sheet ends or the tray itself.

I love this project because the fabric and handles can be totally customized to fit your decor! I use mine as an ottoman tray to hold remotes and magazines and I LOVE IT! And I love that I got make it during craft time with my BFF! I am sure there will be many more cat-crafts to come. :)