How to Make Holiday Placemats

You can make easy, designer quality holiday placemats for any season and any holiday with this method. Holiday placemats can make a home feel rich and festive, they can match home or holiday décor, and holiday placemats can even be made and given as gifts for weddings or the holiday itself. This eHow article shows how to make easy but high quality holiday placemats.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Choose and purchase the fabric to make the holiday placemats. Go to a fabric store and purchase medium weight fabric in the holiday design you choose. You’ll find spring themes, shimmery metallics, tie dye, elegant classical designs, American flags, snowflake scenes, autumn leaf prints and so on. You’ll probably need about two yards to make six 12-inch by 18-inch placemats, but fabric comes in different widths. If you’re not used to buying and measuring fabric, have the clerk help you, showing her your dimensions and the number of holiday placemats you plan to make.

2. Gather the rest of your materials. You’ll need sharp scissors and a roll of clear plastic laminating film. Make sure the width of the roll is at least 16 inches so there will be room for trimming and a margin outside the fabric of your holiday placemats.

3. Make your holiday placemats. Cut perfect 12-inch by 18-inch rectangles of fabric. Read the instructions on the laminating film (they’re all a little different) and press the fabric between two laminating sheets that are cut to be an inch or two larger than the fabric. Trim the laminate to a half inch from the fabric’s edge. Your holiday placemats are complete.

Tips & Warnings

• You might want to practice on scrap fabric a time or two first. It can seem awkward in the beginning, but if you keep at it, you’ll become a human factory of holiday placemats.
• Author disclaims liability and offers article for educational purposes only. Parents are responsible for any activities involving their children. Author’s articles are registered with the national copyright office and protected with Copyscape

[Cherst1031]

on 8/25/2009 Interesting! I never thought of using laminating film, but it's a great idea :)

[jennyu]

on 8/13/2009 I just might try this thanks

[sonni57]

on 8/12/2009 Good article on making holiday placemats.