Shopping for Inspiration: Target

You may not believe it given my weekly Fab Finds Friday posts, but once in a while I go shopping and don't buy a thing. Rather than coming home with shopping bags brimming with goods, I simply return with a mind full of new DIY ideas. I like to call it shopping for inspiration!

I recently took one of those inspirational shopping trips to Target, and I thought I'd share some totally DIY-able projects based on some of their new summer inventory.

Now, don't be me wrong. I'd definitely buy these things if they were on sale. (In fact, I'll probably stalk Target until they go on sale). But they're all products that you could recreate with the right supplies. And if you DIY them, you can customize them to fit your color scheme!

First up: this lovely ombre tray. I'm on the lookout for a cheap tray so I can DIY this ASAP. To get the look, take a thrifted tray, spray paint it a glossy white, use a ruler and pencil to mark off lines, tape them off with painter's tape, paint the stripes in whatever shades you want, and finish the whole thing off with some lacquer spray!

 

Painted utensil projects have been hitting the blogosphere lately (see my post, as well as this one from Little Bit Funky or this one from A Pretty Cool Life), and retail buyers must have taken notice. These rainbow-handled salad sets are lovely, but totally DIYable!

 

I'm kind of a sucker for letters and numbers, so these coasters caught my eye right away. But with some vinyl or a stencil + tiles from any home improvement store, you could achieve the same look for less--plus you can use whatever numbers and font styles you desire!

 

And same goes for this number pillow. With some heat transfer paper or a freezer paper stencil you could customize the pillow with any letter or number you desire! Also check out the alphabet canvas to the right of the shelves. It highlights the vowels, which is cool, but you could also customize the colors of a DIY version so that it spells out a message or highlights your initials. Last year I created something similar on Word for Valentine's Day, printed it, and framed it! You could also grab a canvas, letter stencils, and paints to create your own.

Likewise, with some stencils or vinyl and some thrifted, stained stools, you could recreate these beauties:

Look! Michelle of {Primp} has already DIYed something similar:

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And lastly, this "Etc." jar reminds me of the "Things & Such" jars on my crafty to-do list. Now I'm thinking I need to make 5 chalkboard jars--Things, Such, Odds, Ends, and Etc.

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Have you spotted any totally DIY-able products in stores lately? Do tell! Share in the comments :)