TRAY MAKEOVERS AND MY "WORD"

I've been a little MIA lately...for some reason after my husband left for overseas {AGAIN}, and I was eliminated from the One Month To Win It contest {please remember to vote for the remaining contestants!}, I have been in a SLUMP....not really a crafting slump {I have been creating}, but a BLOGGING SLUMP.  Right now I feel like haven't been coming up with anything original....does that ever happen to YOU?  I happen to follow Liz from Bon Temps Beignet {love her and her blog...she saved my life once, well, not really, but she did this} and she is participating in the Word of the Year link party hosted by The Lettered Cottage {while three days overdue, yes, you read that right!}.  I have seen "word of the year" on several other blogs and while reading through the reasons that people choose their words, the two words that kept running through my mind were "believe and courage."   Believe....I need to believe in myself, I need to work on my confidence.  I want to sell my crafts and my party kits...yes, it's true, I've never actually sold a party kit to anyone who wasn't related to me, so my confidence and belief in myself is low {so low}.  I need to have the courage to put myself out there IN PERSON, like at craft fairs, especially at our local farmer's market right here in our neighborhood.  Now, my friends do encourage me, they tell me my stuff is awesome, but I do not believe it {I find the imperfections, even if they do not see them}.  So, my two words for the year are "BELIEVE and COURAGE."  Now on to some crafts......

Two tray makeovers:

This is an $8 unfinished tray from JoAnn's {obviously, painted in this pic! AND used a 50% off coupon!}  I put a light coat of white spray paint, then a coat of Krylon's Caramel Latte Metallic spray paint, then a light coat of black acrylic paint, and then I sanded it down for a distressed look.

I used my cammie to cut out a deer head stencil and used vanilla acrylic paint.

I also sanded down the deer head silhouette.  I like it!  Don't know where I'm putting it yet, but I do like it alot!  My next tray was also from JoAnn's.  It was on sale at 50% off so it cost 7 bucks.  It was a finished tray, but I knew I wanted to do something on the bottom of the tray.  I dug out some vintage looking stickers I've had for awhile and went to town.

While deciding the pattern as I'm going along, I decided to make it a little personal.  It's not really obvious and wouldn't mean anything to anyone else.....

See the 4 and the four "H's?"  Those are for our children {yes, all their names begin with H} See the April calendar?  We were married April 30th, 1993.  See the 30 and the 93?  Uh-huh...and the "L," "C," and "W?"  For my hubby and I's intials.  I LOVE this tray.  I LOVE that it holds a secret.  I love that it includes me, the hubster and our babies....that brings me back to my two words of the year.....If I don't believe in myself and I don't have the courage to go for what I want, how in the hell can I set an example for these two???? 

I'm thankful that I have a very supportive husband, friends and children, but this is the year for me to take a chance and lead by example.  My favorite motto that I like to spout to everyone is, "Fake it til you make it."  Now I need to take my own advice!

What is YOUR word of the year??

Linking here: The Lettered Cottage