I’m a sucker for a do-it-yourself project. I also love getting together with my girlfriends. We were recently invited to go check out the new Project Studio in Vinings, and while we were there, I made a beautiful tray for my mother-in-law for her birthday. Project studio is a great place to create wooden and canvas crafts for the home. These are items that would also be wonderful as gifts.
We spend a lot of time at my in-laws home during the summer because the girls love to visit with their cousins and swim in the pool. We do a lot of grilling out during the summer, so there is a lot of back and forth from the house the pool. So I decided that a sturdy wooden tray would be the perfect gift!
Take a look at the video of Project Studio and the project I made.
Project Studio Vinings shares a building with The Front Porch Market so not only can you find great locally made items and food, you can make your own gifts right in the studio. It’s a one-stop shop for wonderful gift ideas. Once you decide what you would like to make, Project Studios wonderful staff with walk you through the steps to create your masterpiece. 
They showed me how the stain the edges so that when the corners were sanded it would give the tray a shabby chic look. After it was all painted, they sketched the floral design that I would paint. They then taught me how to properly paint the flowers. 
Here is my tray after I finished painting it. I think I did pretty good. They sanded the design down and then hand lettered the name onto the tray. I filled in the rest of the black and one final sanding, and my tray was complete. 
Project Studio hosts all kinds of great workshops, or you can just pop in for open studio time to create. They are also offering kids programs as well. My friends made these beautiful signs to put into their homes. I’m already thinking about other designs I want to make. The possibilities of home decor items are endless. Your favorite quotes and colors all on something that you painted yourself. It makes receiving the gift even more special when the receiver finds out that you made it especially for them. 
