Inexpensive Placemats, Napkins and Napkin Rings You Can Make

Since my summer decor theme is Americana, I needed place mats, napkins and napkin holders for our table.  By now, you know that I don't like, nor do I have, a lot of money to spend on things like this.    But, I still like things to look a certain way, so that means a little ingenuity.  I have had red place mats that I have used for several years, but of course this year I wanted to use blue and I wanted to put some kind of decoration on them.  On a recent trip to Dollar Tree, I found these round straw place mats just like my red ones that I paid a LOT more money for and they were only $1 each.  Now that is my kind of price.  They also had these tea towels in navy, red and white that I knew could be turned into napkins.  (I like to use fabric napkins when we have guests).  There were also bolts of #40 ribbon (#40 is 2.5 inches wide) in patriotic patterns that were 3 yards for a dollar which is a great price, so I picked up three bolts because there is always something that can be done with ribbon.

I purchased 6 placemats for our table, 4 tea towels that would make 8 napkins and my ribbon.  My investment was $13.00 total.  Not bad for table decorations.  I paid more than that for 4 red place mats, so count me happy.

When I got home, I had to decide how to decorate my place mats.  I wanted something simple, not too fussy.  We have white Pfaltzgraff Heritage dishes that we have had for 42 years that would be perfect with these colors and complement the Americana theme.  I had a stencil with stars on it that I used to make my flag banner, so I decided I would cluster some of the stars on one side of the placemat and that would be all that was needed.  All it took was some ivory acrylic craft paint that I already had, a stencil brush and a little time and the place mats were done.

The place mats went from this to this.  Done.  Now, to make the napkins.

All I did was take the tea towels and cut them in half.

I opened each towel up and simply turned the cut edge under 1/4 inch and then another 1/4 inch so that each napkin had a finished edge.  Since three sides were already hemmed, I only had to hem one side on each napkin -  fabulously easy and two napkins for $1.00.  Now, I needed napkin holders.  Hmmm. What was I going to use?

I had just finished a roll of paper towels to clean up some paint brushes and I stood there looking at that cardboard roll, when I thought why not?  I simply cut the cardboard along the glue marks where the first towel is attached to the cardboard.  The are evenly spaced and I got 7 pieces of cardboard.  I used a piece the same size from an empty toilet paper roll and I had 8 potential napkin rings.  Cost?  Zip, zero, nada.  Yes!

I simply cut a 12 inch piece of ribbon and used a hot glue gun to run a bead of glue on the inside of the tube near the top edge.

Now, place one end of the ribbon, right side out, on the glue and press it down flat.  I used a pencil so I didn't burn my finger.

Next, wrap the ribbon around the tube making sure it overlaps and completely covers the cardboard tube.  When  you get to the end, run another bead of glue on the ribbon and press the ribbon end onto the glue and trim.

Eight napkin rings for $1.00 is not a bad price if you have priced napkin rings.  They can be quite expensive and these will get us through the summer season.

Fold your napkins however you want and slide your napkin ring down over the napkin.  How easy is that?  You now have place mats, napkins and rings for six place settings.  Napkins will normally cost $2.99 each even in discount stores, so 50 cents per napkin is a great bargain.  If you don't sew, you can use stitch witchery or fabric glue to finish your napkins.  A little paint, ribbon and hot glue will finish the napkin rings and place mats.  Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy and the cost can't be beat!

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:


“Life is the greatest bargain - we get it for nothing."    Yiddish Proverb

How To Make A Birdbath From Terra Cotta Pots

Oh what a beautiful day it has been, especially for a Monday.  You know how Mondays can go sometimes.  Here it is the last day of April already.  Where does time go?  Today the weather was simply spectacular and we spent the entire day outside enjoying the above average temperature.  It was supposed to be in the high 80's today and I am sure it was, because I got quite warm at times, but the steady breezes kept it bearable.

Dan and our son in love Todd finished tilling and readying the garden space and it is ready for planting all those vegetables we hope to harvest this summer.  That's if the bunnies don't get them first.  We have some really big rabbits that dart through the yard and I know how they love the new green shoots of vegetable plants.  We will have to figure a way to keep them out of the garden.  I may have to consult  Mr.  McGregor about a solution.   Note to self, reread Peter Rabbit.

While Dan and Todd were busy tilling the garden, I worked on a little project of my own - a new birdbath for my "secret" garden.  This is not an original idea as I had looked up birdbath images on Google and found many examples of ways to make them.  I have a big concrete birdbath that I have had for years and it is really, really heavy.  Instead of using it for a birdbath this year, I am using it to hold the giant asparagus fern I got at the farmer's market last week.  Sometimes, I make some crazy choices.  Do you ever do things like that?

The birdbath idea I really liked was one made of terra cotta flower pots and I knew we could get that in our car.  We don't have a truck or big car anymore and it makes it very difficult to bring home big pieces of anything.  Flower pots will definitely fit in our trunk, so that is what I went with and this is a very easy project to make.   

First, you need 3 different sized flower pots, a large saucer and a small saucer.  My pots are 14", 10" and 8" in size.

I got my pots at Old Tyme Pottery and the two saucers at Home Depot.  Total cost was about $30.00 compared to a LOT more money for a ready made birdbath.  I bought a can of colonial red spray paint at Big Lots for $3.00 and had bottles of acrylic paint that I used for the decorating.  I also sprayed it with some acrylic sealer that I had.  You can get clear acrylic sealer almost anywhere spray paint is sold and it is just a few dollars for a can.  

First, I turned the biggest pot upside down.  I ran a big bead of E6000 glue around what would normally be the bottom of the pot (but is now the top) before placing the next sized pot on it. 

When  you place the next pot on upside down, this will bond the two pots together.  If you are painting your pots all different colors, you will want to paint them before putting them together.  I knew mine would all be the same color, so I put them together first.  It's your decision.  Repeat with the glue before placing the third pot over the second.  Now you are ready to paint.

First, I lightly sprayed all the pots with a white primer to help the red paint stick better.  When the primer dried, I sprayed the stacked pots and the saucers with the colonial red paint and let it dry.  When the paint was dry, I ran a big bead of glue around the top of the last pot on the flat surface and placed the biggest saucer on the glue, making sure it was centered and let it dry.  For the small saucer, I found a flat piece of concrete that had broken off of something and sprayed it red and sat the small saucer on it because I wanted to be able to remove it from the big saucer.  Now, I was ready to decorate the birdbath.

My decoration choice was to paint dragonflies on the birdbath and some fern fronds to tie it in with the garden.  I used a stencil I had for the ferns, using different shades of green to paint them on the pots and in the saucer.  For the dragonflies, I used some light lavender and pink mixed together for the wings and a mixed green for the body highlighted with black.

When the paint was dry, I sprayed the entire birdbath with clear acrylic spray just to help protect the paint from weather.  It took Dan and I both to move it to the garden area - terra cotta pots stacked are not light.  I won't add any water until tomorrow after it has completely dried.  

Doesn't it look pretty behind the wrought iron fence?  I hope all the birds in the yard will enjoy a respite in the garden birdbath splashing in the water and quenching their thirst.  It's going to be so enjoyable watching them this summer.

There are so many more projects that need to be done in the yard and garden, but we are gradually making progress.  Today's project was lots of fun and it was most pleasant spending time out of doors.  I have already started on tomorrow's project.  Check back and see what tomorrow brings.  

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
-Lao Tzu

A Valentine For Our Grandsons

Valentine's Day is approaching - it's only 8 days away.  Have you started making plans yet?  Buying cards or gifts for your special someones?   We have no princesses.  But, we do have 5 princes and another due in the next week.   I wanted to make a Valentine that would pay homage to all of them.  I started with a piece of burlap and not one idea and this is where I ended up.  The wall hanging is 30 x 25 finished.  There is an initial for each one of the boys.  I have been delayed showing the finished piece until our daughter and son in love decided on a name for the our newest grandson.  His initial is proudly displayed now and I can show the final piece.  We have H, Z,  R, G, A and now a beautiful V added to the mix.  I won't tell you his name until he gets here, but it's a great one.  All the boys have really great names that just happen to fit their personas.  Funny how that works.

When I say I started with a piece of burlap, I am not kidding.   I wanted to make a wall hanging that goes over a cabinet inside our front door.  I have hung wreaths and other wall hangings there, but I wanted something for Valentine's Day.  So, I took a piece of tissue paper and drew a big heart, pinned it to the burlap and cut it out.  I mean, what else says Valentine's Day but a heart?

Now what?  I folded another piece of tissue paper in half, drew hearts of different sizes and cut them out.

Hmmmmm, now what?  I placed these hearts on the burlap and cut out several in different sizes.  Still didn't know where I was going with this, but I decided I wanted to put the French phrase je t'aime in the middle of the heart.  Je t'aime (zh tem) translates "I love you."  So, I printed out the phrase in a font and size I liked and cut it out to make a stencil.  I placed it in the middle of the burlap heart and stenciled it on in red.

Okay, that's done, but what next?  I decided to pin smaller hearts around the edge of the big heart and stitch them on using random embroidery stitches in different colors.  I used red, pink and purple.

Now, the hearts needed embellishing.  I printed out a cupid and made a stencil out of it for the big heart on the upper right.  I sewed that pink heart button I already had to another heart.  I used my wooden stamp set to put the word hugs and xoxo on two other hearts.  I also drew a pair of lips and cut them out and stenciled them in red on another heart.  Okay, it's starting to take shape.  I wanted our grandson's initials on the hearts because they are our very special Valentines.  I made some little felt flowers and stitched them on the smaller hearts, then added each of their initials by using my wooden stamp set.  I still had the heart with the pink heart button open and I finished by adding one more initial.  V.

As you know, burlap is a very open weave fabric and I knew I had to attach this heart to something to keep it from raveling apart.  I had some red felt from Christmas, so I laid the burlap on the red felt and cut a heart about 2 inches bigger than the burlap and stitched the burlap heart to the felt using more embroidery stitches.

Now, to hang it.  I cut two square pieces of felt about 4 x 4 inches and made big loops by bringing the raw edges together, stitching them to the curved top of the heart.  I took a dowel rod and covered it with red satin ribbon and slipped it through the loops.  I tied a piece of the red satin ribbon to each end of the covered dowel rod (about 2 inches in on each end) and glued the ribbon in place so it would not slip.  This would be the "hanger."  I made some little streamers and a bow in the middle of the hanging ribbon and placed in on a nail over the cabinet.  Done.  Whew.  That was quite a process of indecision, starting from nothing and ending with something.

All family members in town came over for the Superbowl last night and we shared lots of food and fun (including red velvet cookies, caramels and rice krispie treats that grandma made).  Each of the boys picked out their initial on the hanging and Grandma told them they were her special Valentines.  Sometimes creating happens on a wing and a prayer.  I don't always have a definite plan, but I really liked where this one ended up.  Now, we are just counting down the days until the new grandson gets here.  Doctor said this morning it could be anytime.  I am SOOOOO excited.  Another special Valentine to keep in my heart.  Life is good.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do.  Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children.  ~Alex Haley

Other than Christmas, do you change the accessories in your home to fit the season - spring/summer flowers and accessories for spring/summer, fall accessories for fall and holiday decorations for the winter holidays?  I always have and probably always will because I like it that way.  It just makes sense to me that the inside decor matches the season of the out of doors.  OCD?  Probably.

Since today is the last official day of summer and fall is rapidly approaching, I have been working on making the transition indoors.  All the summer decorations are being changed for fall decorations as I create them.  Our new home, the little yellow cottage, is getting all new decorations because creating is a very joyous experience for me.  Yes, there are pumpkins and pots of mums sitting on the deck waiting for their assigned places out of doors, but first I want to finish the interior.  First things first - that's the way I like it.  

At the moment, I am in my burlap phase.  All artists go through phases and this is mine at the moment.  First, it's inexpensive and second, it has so much potential.  I bought two yards of red burlap when I made my fall wall hanging knowing I would use it for something.  I liked the wall hanging so much, I decided to make a runner for the table out of some of the remaining fabric.  The runner is 18 inches wide and two yards long.  The edges are unfinished and there are painted stencils going down the center of the runner.  Easy, inexpensive and creative.  

I thought about what I wanted on the runner and the thought of being grateful kept running through my mind.  So, I stenciled the phrase "Always Giving Thanks" in the middle of the runner as we try to always live in a state of gratitude.  I wanted the runner to be used through Thanksgiving, so I went with a fall harvest/cornucopia look.  Brown craft paper is great for inexpensive stencils that will only be used a couple of times, so I traced some of the artificial fall leaves I have on hand, cut an apple in half and traced it, googled images of acorns and drew one, and drew a small pumpkin.  I cut the center out of all the drawings to make stencils.  Quick and easy - my two favorite words.  If you don't feel comfortable drawing stencils, just find images on your computer and print them out.  The grapes were made with a round foam one inch "stomp".  It makes perfect circles and gives the bunches of grapes depth and dimension.  

Paint colors used were pumpkin orange, santa red, leaf green, hunter green, chocolate brown, dandelion yellow, purple pearl, eggplant and black.  All you need are the little bottles of acrylic paint available in any craft store.  Other supplies needed are a stencil brush, thin liner brush, foam stomp, and something to cover your table so you don't get paint on it.  I used a plastic trash bag.

Start by pinning a stencil to the runner with some straight pins.  I did leaves first, then acorns, grapes, apple, and pumpkins.  Start on the outside edge of the leaf stencil with whatever color you want to use and paint the outside 1/3 of the leaf one color.  Work toward the center of the leaf with a second color and complete the center with a third color.  If you start with orange, work to red then yellow.  You want the colors to be as natural as possible.  Nothing is ever just one color.  Don't be afraid to mix colors, it gives you depth, texture and dimension.

The brown leaf above was started with brown, then green and the center in yellow.  It makes everything much more interesting that way.

The grapes were done with the eggplant paint on the top part of the cluster and then the purple pearl was used on the bottom to give contrast.  The apple was painted yellow and then shaded from the top down with red.  The pumpkin was painted solid orange and the stem was done in brown and highlighted with dark green and yellow.  After all the paint was dry, I went back with the little linter brush and added veins to the leaves and lines were added to the pumpkins. All the stems were highlighted with green or yellow.  The acorns received a little shadow under the "cap" to show separation and depth.  Don't be afraid to trust your instincts.  I am not Monet or Van Gogh, but I love the way my runner turned out!

Stenciling is very easy.  Just make sure the stencil is snug to the fabric using pins or tape.  Use an up and down pouncing motion.  I like to work from the outside in, that way you get nice crisp edges.  Remove the stencil once the paint is partially dry.  I would complete one object, then move on to the next image I wanted to place on the runner.  

This is an easy and inexpensive project.  You can choose whatever design you want to put on your runner.  We now have a lovely table runner and the adorable candy corn tea lite holders from last night's post.  It's going to be a good fall!  

What could be more fun than creating your own personal table runner to use in your home or to give as a gift?  Give it a try, you can do it!  And, you will feel so satisfied knowing you created something lovely and meaningful out of something as humble as burlap.  Get that creativity out and use it as often as you can!  

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Gratitude is an Attitude!