Ben has a crazy pile of leather from his pillow crafting days, which has inspired me to fiddle with leather lately.  First, I made a leather bin.  Then leather tab top curtains.  Now, two quick and cute items that are perfectly giftable.  Bonus points if you have leather scraps.  First up, this leather catch-all tray.

To make, start with a square or rectangle that is the size of your base plus side height.  Pinch one corner and mark where you want to secure together.  Using a leather punch, cut a hole.  Pinch again to make a second matching hole.

To speed the process, I flipped my punched holes over, marked each dot, then punched again.

After all four corners, you’re ready to assemble.  I used screw rivets (because I had them on hand from my curtains) but you can use normal rivets or even snaps.  If you’re shipping these, snaps are perfect for flat packaging.

Just align the pinched corners:

And insert the rivet.

That’s it.  A simple tray that is perfect in an entry for keys or in the laundry room for pocket items.  Mine corrals jewelry, chapstick, hair ties, and the cutest, most useless mini pocket knife.  One must have miniatures, if only to make you smile and wonder when/how it could ever be useful.

With even smaller scraps, you can make a chic key chain.  Just cut a 1 inch wide by 7 inch long strip.  Tip, use a utility knife for the cleanest, straightest cut.  Fold in half over a key ring (from the hardware store for about 70 cents each).  Pop in a screw rivet, leaving 1/4 inch between it and the ring.  Get all fancy and make a design on the end.  Go nuts by stamping names or initials to further personalize it.

These are ideal as smaller gifts, especially if you have a large group.  Depending on the color, they work for anyone – men and women.