Burlap Placemats

Happy Thanksgiving. I decided this year we need to jazz up our Thanksgiving table, so onto the Internet I surfed. I found these wonderful placemats on Pinterest.com. My Mother ask me why we needed placemats, if there was a tablecloth. I really did not have an anwser for her other then "they are cool." I am always up for an Arts and Craft project. I really should have gone to Art School. Maybe in another life.

This project took me a bit longer than I anticipated. Which is always true with any project. 

This would also be a great project to do with your kids. Everyone is Thankful for something different. This project leaves room for interpretation. You could always do a table runner if the was more suitable for you. It is crazy notion that cutting fabric, pulling threads stencilling and painting fabric would make for

a wonderful Sunday afternoon.

Cutting the fabric

 By establishing straight lines in the beginning, you will make this such an easier project. There is very little cutting. Burlap seems to work better when you are pulling threads.You maintained straight lines by pulling the threads out.

You could fray around your mat as much as you want.

Inserting the ribbon after pulling out threads

I found this Fall Ribbon at the Dollar Store. The ribbon had wire on the edges, so once it was in place,

it held its own. When it was wove through the burlap, it just needed to be flattened down. 

I really like the touch it added to the placemat.

My helper Apple Jax.

 She was incharge of the ribbon playing and flattening out the placemats

Stencilling the words and then painting in the letters. Each placemat said a different word.

You could free hand your letters. I had old fashioned block stencils that worked perfectly.

According to the original post on Pinterest, they used a Sharpie to color in the letters.

These placemats will be perfect for Thanksgiving.