My daughter, Sammy, who cannot decide if she wants to be a boy or a girl, sometimes needs a place to store her Matchbox cars and sometimes wants to carry cookies when she's being Little Red Riding Hood. Luckily for us, the uses for this easy newspaper-crafted tray are limited only by one's imagination. We personalized it with her birth announcement, but that great picture in the paper of your son hitting a home run in the Little League playoffs would work just as well.

MATERIALS

A few sheets of newspaper
Ruler or straightedge
Scissors
Glue mixture (one part warm water, three parts white glue)
Paintbrush
Pencil
Paper clips
Newspaper article or picture

1. Cut four 10-inch squares out of newspaper. When you're cutting out the top square, keep in mind that the colors and design that frame the edges will become the inside edges of the tray.

2. Using a paintbrush, completely coat one square with the glue mixture. Press a second square on top of it, and then repeat until you've glued all four sheets together, one on top of the other. (Don't brush the top sheet with glue, though.) Let the squares dry.

3. On what will become the bottom of the tray, use a ruler and a pencil to draw a straight line diagonally from corner to corner in both directions, to form an X. Measure and mark off 1 1/2 inches in from each corner on the diagonal and cut just to those marks on all four corners.

4. Turn the squares over and fold each side up to the top of the cut line. Then fold each corner piece over the other (as shown) and glue. Use paper clips to hold the glued corners in place until they dry.

5. Glue a special news article or picture to the center of the tray. Then brush the glue mixture over the entire tray, inside and out, as a coat of shellac.

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