Whether its the man in your life who may be hard to shop for, or you just need a catchall for all of your pocket trinkets by the front door…I really think this leather valet tray is a stylish and easy-to-make solution. With a little leather from Mood Fabrics, and some inexpensive rivets, you can have a fun leather tray (in any color you choose) in no time.
SUPPLIES: hole punch, chisel (but you can make your holes using a spacer and an awl like I do in this, and this post), wire cutter, mallet, rivet and burrs, leather, sinew, 2 needles, and a ruler (preferably with 90 degree angle).
HOW-TO:
1. Cut out two 2 squares whatever size you want (my larger square is 7 1/8 inches, and smaller is 3.5 inches smaller, and it is 3 5/8 inches in size). Use your chisel (or awl/spacer) to make holes around the perimeter of your smaller square.
2. Next, find your center of your larger square and mark the holes on IT separately. I do this because if you simply lay one on top of the other, the bottom tends to suffer and the line of holes don’t tend to be straight in my opinion. (Note: I mark the corners, just to get an idea, and then measure out the rest of the holes. Count them to make sure you have the exact number on both).
3. Now, it’s time to punch your holes for your rivets. (Note: while doing this, I saw that it would be best to grab a piece of cardstock and make a template so my holes would be in same spot on all 4 corners).
4. Punch those holes you marked in the previous step.
5. Using a saddle stitch (like I did in this post), stitch your center piece into place.
6. Put those rivets in (Note: here’s a video to help).
Brandhyze Stanley is the chief leather goods designer and creator of Brandhyze + Co. A DIY girl at heart—Brandhyze has been featured on Dr. Oz, The View, The Today Show, InStyle Magazine, Essence Magazine, and MTVStyle. A Wilhelmina Model for over a decade, with a Business Degree from Loyola University Chicago, Brandhyze has provided DIY content to the popular How-To Site, eHow; and has been a contributor for the Huffington Post, Yahoo Finance, Super Money, Good Housekeeping, and Newsday Westchester, to name a few. Brandhyze is a lover of leather and a mixer of textiles, follow her on Instagram @BrandhyzeandCo.
1 comment
Thank you — this is great!