Laptop Desk Portable Bed Tray

The other night I got into bed with my laptop. It was funny because my husband was already in bed with his. I had my Mac sitting on a pillow on my lap. I had my back against the wall trying to get comfortable with pillows. It just wasn't happening. My laptop was getting very hot on my lap and so I put it on a pillow. The pillow was not holding my laptop. It kept falling off the pillow. I couldn't type at all.  I briefly mentioned to my husband that I needed a tray to put my laptop on.

Ding ..Ding.. Ding.. as Gru from Despicable Me would say, LightBulb!!!

Image from Here

I looked around town in different stores and come to found out, you cannot find breakfast trays in stores. I also knew that it had to fold up for easy storage and so I googled breakfast trays and found one that I liked. I ordered mine from here. 

Once it was delivered, I opened my package and started using it right away to see if it would work and if I liked it. Yes, I was going to like this! I knew I wanted to make it pretty and so I went to work adding vinyl and paint.

The first step that I did was cover it with vinyl (aka contact paper). I found mine at the Dollar Store. 

Here are a few instructions for applying:

Before starting make sure the surface is smooth and clean. 

Cut slightly more than the required amount as vinyl make shrink. 

Apply by peeling backlining paper and positioning into place, while smoothing out wrinkles and bubbles with your hand or squeegee (I used a library card).

I cut out the size that I needed and it was nice because the vinyl had these lines to help me cut straight.

I peeled it off and put it on the tray.This was a bit tricky at first, but what is great about it is that the vinyl can be removed if you make a mistake, which happened to me more than once. I had it all stuck on and then I noticed that I was a little bit off in one corner, so I just removed the vinyl carefully and started over.

Once I got it close to the edge, I did have to have an extra hand. I stuck it on the tray and started using a card to make sure I got all the bubbles out, and that it was straight.

After the vinyl was applied to the whole tray I used an exacto knife to cut off the extra vinyl around the edges. If you can get your vinyl to line up great! I couldn't.

A few days later I painted it. My first step was to tape it off. Now I know I could have applied the vinyl after I painted, but this was the process that worked for me.

Ok to be honest I really don't like painting. To me it is tedious, and it takes a lot of work. People have commented to me...painting is easy!! I struggle with this, because yea it is easy to paint a room, but what about all the prep work?? Taking off the light switch plates, taping the room, baseboards, and I could go on and on but I wont. I just need to get over this because pretty much my whole house is going to be painted in the next year, at least I hope too.

I have helped my husband paint a few rooms in the homes that we have owned, I  just painted my entryway last September, but I have never painted a wood project like this, and I am sure you could just spray paint it, but this is how I did mine.
A few things I did learn was this:
A good paint brush is needed. I had this Purdy Paint Brush from when I painted my entryway. I just used the small one.
A good paint is needed. I used the BEHR Premium Plus Paint and Primer in One, the color being Milestone. If you don't have any paint on hand, just get a sample from Home Depot. It really should be enough to cover this little project.

I painted the the complete tray one day and this paint has only 1 hour dry time. I did not know this at the time until later when I was reading up on this paint and so I waited overnight and painted the backside the next day. Just be careful when painting the backside and make sure the front side is dry before flipping it over.

Once it is dry you need to seal the paint. The paint was dry but was sticky. I applied a polyurethane coat to the paint once it was dry. Let dry for 9-10 hours. 

I had my husband showcase the final product for me, He He. 

Here is where I store my little beauty, right next to my bed. It is portable so I can take it anywhere, and not only can I use it for my laptop, but I am sure my husband can use it for some breakfast in bed right?? Mothers Day is coming up and I know that my kids like to serve me breakfast in bed, now I have the perfect tray for that too!

This Laptop Desk Portable Bed Tray will be wonderful and I am so excited to start using it, now I just need to make sure to put it away sometimes, to actually talk to my husband while I am in bed, instead of being on my computer or phone all the time right?? Right!!

Enjoy!