DIY: Rock Shoe Tray

There are two things that happen around this time of year. First, snow finally shows up, then partially melts, freezes, gets slushy, and so on.

And secondly, this:

This may look innocuous, but this, dear reader, is what people at my school affectionately call "soy sauce." Unlike other places, where small pebbles and salt is the accepted answer to slippery sidewalks, my school uses a vodka byproduct known for its great melting-point-lowering capabilities, environmentally friendliness (too much salt = bad for soil), shoe-staining tendencies, and pungent soy sauce smell.

Since I have linoleum floors in my room, covered only by my doily rug and brown square rug, tracking slushy snow and brown smelly soy sauce in on my shoes can only lead to disaster. To combat this, during my recent room renovation I recreated this brilliant river rock shoe tray I first saw on Martha Stewart's website, of all places. Keeps the muck and water off my rugs and is arguably eco-friendly!

What you need:

A tray of some sort (baking sheet, cafeteria tray, low wooden box, etc)

Rocks (you can buy them so they all match, I sketchily took mine from around a nearby dorm)

Hot glue gun or glue of some sort (optional)

What you do:

1) Take rocks, arrange them on the tray or sheet.

2) Glue them down if you're feeling fancy. But really, they aren't going anywhere so I didn't

3) Put shoes on top!

Just some rocks

And then rocks on a tray. SO EASY YET SO USEFUL!!