Beautiful holiday crafts and decorations are easy to make and require very little expense. You probably have most of the items around the house. In this article, you’ll learn how to make placemats at home. The only skill required is your imagination.
Thanksgiving
To create placemats with the feel of autumn, look in your front yard. The best thing about Fall, besides the crisp air is the turning of the leaves. The ground becomes awash with vibrant shades of orange, red, yellow, and brown. If you don’t happen to have a lawn full of leaves, any nearby craft store or craft department of a store like Wal-mart should have artificial leaves available.
Supplies:
Leaves (real or artificial, but not dried)
Poster board in fall colors (red, orange, black, or brown)
Clear Contact paper (sized to fit an 11″ x 17″ placemat; 3 rolls should cover six placemats)
Scissors
Ruler
Glue stick
Magazines (with autumn pics)
Old wall calendars
1. To begin, cut your poster board into 11×17 inch sections. These will become your basic placemats. Now it’s time to decorate.
2. If you are using real leaves, make sure that have no dew or moisture on them. Do not choose dried leaves because they will crumble when we seal the placemats. Snip off the stems of the leaves so only the body of the leaf is left.
3. Turn the leaves over so the underside is facing up. Using a glue stick, gently apply a thin layer of glue to the leaves. Arrange the leaves in the pattern of your choice on one side of the poster board.
4. Carefully turn the placemats over. Now it’s time to use those old wall calendars or autumn magazine pictures. If you keep old calendars, cut out your favorite autumn pictures from September, October or November. If you are using smaller pictures, you will need to snip out several.
5. Again, apply a thin layer of glue to the backs of your pictures. With the larger picture, center it on your placemat. Create a collage with the smaller pictures. Mix it up.
6. When all of the placemats have been decorated to your satisfaction, sign your artwork like the artist that you are.
7. To make sure that the placemats stand the test of time, they need to be sealed. If you have a laminator or access to one, you may use that to seal your handiwork. But, since the idea is to be economical and easy, we will use clear contact paper to seal the placemats. Roll out the contact paper to the desired length. Place your placemat on the paper before you remove the backing to make sure that it fits while leaving a quarter of an inch to a half inch edge on all sides.
8. Once satisfied, remove the backing on the contact paper and put your placemat, picture side down, on the contact paper. Bring the contact paper up and over the leaf side of the placemat. Rub your hand back and forth over the placemat as you apply the contact paper to push out any air bubbles. Remember, with contact paper you can position and reposition the paper without ruining your work.
9. Once the placemat is sealed on all sides, cut the placemat away from the roll.
Christmas
To create Christmas placemats, the steps are basically the same. Instead of leaves, use your old Christmas cards. I always keep my favorite ones around to decorate my entryway each year. Cut the front pictures off of several cards to decorate your placemats. Choose winter pictures from old wall calendars and magazines for the other side of the placemats. For Christmas, a splash of glitter or holiday ribbon will add an extra special touch to your placemats.
Your holiday placemats are now ready. Since the placemats are sealed with contact paper, clean-up is easy. All drink and food spills wipe up with a damp dishcloth. Placemats store flat in a dry place for use year after year. Happy Holidays and Bon Appetit!
