How to Decorate Tablecloths

Create a work of art on your tablecloth with a potato stamp.

Tablecloths are used to protect tables and add a decorative touch during the holidays, birthday dinners and Sunday brunches. A good quality tablecloth is an investment that can be enjoyed for many years to come. Give your tablecloth new life by painting decorative touches on your future family heirloom.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Tracing paper
• Pen
• Tape
• Potato
• Knife
• Utility knife
• Paint
• Shallow bowl
• Paper towel
• White paper
• Tablecloth

1. Cut a potato in half. Keep both halves in case you do not like the first design you create.

2. Draw a design onto a piece of tracing paper. This design could be anything from a tree for Christmas to a cake for a child's birthday.

3. Place the tracing paper onto the flesh of the potato, making sure to center the design on the middle of the potato. Attach the paper with a piece of tape.

4. Cut the design you traced into the potato by carefully carving it with a utility knife approximately 1/2-inch deep. Cut away the sides of the potato about 1/2 inch around the design.

5. Pour a few ounces of paint into a shallow bowl or the lid of an ice cream pail.

6. Pull off the tracing paper and rinse the potato with cold water. Dry the potato with a paper towel. Rinsing the potato will ensure that the natural brown dye found in the skin of the potato does not run into your paint.

7. Dip the potato into the paint and place it firmly onto a piece of white paper. This will act as a test before you try your pattern on the tablecloth.

8. Lay the tablecloth onto the floor. This will allow you to make prints on the entire cloth.

9. Dip the potato into the paint and place it firmly onto the tablecloth. Continue to stamp the tablecloth with the potato until the desired effect has been reached.

Tips & Warnings

• Use multiple colors or multiple designs for a more vibrant effect.

References

• HGTV: Potato-Stamped Tablecloth