Happy Cinco De Mayo! I have another WONDERFUL blogger friend here to share a project with you today. This week has been filled to the brim of so much I hope you can recover in the coming weeks! We will, most likely, go back to the normal 3 days a week of posting. Sorry to break your heart, but I’ve got a family to take care of 🙂 I’m so glad Eva and Christina were here to join in the fun this week, a BIG thanks to both of them!
Enough of my blabbing, here’s Christina!
Hey y’all! I’m Christina aka The Scrappy Housewife and I am so happy to be here guest posting for Megan during her birthday week! Over at my blog, I blog about a little bit of everything, but especially about my adventures as a housewife, crafting, scrapbooking and organizing. I’d love it if you’d pop over and take a look! When I’m not blogging you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.
Today, I thought I’d share with you one of my favorite “throwback” projects that I did a couple of years ago and still use – my burlap freezer paper stenciled placemats. They were simple and added just the perfect touch of rustic to our dining room. Check it out:
I’m always looking for new tips and tricks to create a home on a budget so when a friend recommended a site called Tipnut I knew I had to check it out. I was not disappointed! The site is just slam packed with fun things to make and do and create. While checking it out I came across possibly the cutest placemats ever over at bloesem kids. Here are those adorable placemats:
They are made from burlap and freezer paper. I knew I had to try it.
Now, I’ll fully admit I’m probably way behind on this freezer paper stenciling thing. I spent most of the creativity I had the last 5 years on teaching and working with kids in the classroom. I’ve missed out, but oh man am I going to catch up, so when burlap went on sale 2 weeks ago at Joann’s, I snagged a yard and promised myself I’d make some. I had a coupon so I went ahead and bought the textile paint I would need as well. Here’s what I did:
First, I chose the size of my placemats and made a template. I chose 15×15 squares because we have a small round table and four rectangle placemats tend to overlap more than I’d like.
I used a black marker to make a dashed outline around my template to make it easier to cut out.
Then I cut them out carefully and removed 5 or 6 strands of the burlap from each side. I’d recommend that you cut inside the selvage edge on the burlap since you won’t be able to pull strands to make your border otherwise.
Also, it won’t really be 5 or 6 equal long strands of burlap. It’s not easy to cut the burlap evenly (for me at least) so you’ll probably have some small strands that pop off too. No worries.
Next I made my template. I wanted our placemats to look natural and rustic, but somewhat classy with a monogram. I used Microsoft Word and chose the first initial of our last name “L” and used a font size setting of 800 to blow it up. I printed it out and attached it and the freezer paper to my Fiskars self healing cutting mat plastic side down. I secured them with a binder clip and then went at it with my x-acto knife.
Scrappy’s Quick Tip: The reason I laid the freezer paper plastic side down is because my design was directional. When you iron the freezer paper to your fabric you do it plastic side down and you need to make sure your design is in the right direction while cutting out your template.
Then I ironed the freezer paper templates to each placemat. I made 4 – one for each placemat. I followed the directions on the Reynold’s Freeze Paper package and made sure I had a paper bag in between the iron and the freezer paper.
I used Jacquard Textile paint in a navy blue color and applied it with a stencil brush, but if you want fuller coverage I’d use a sponge brush or some other brush. Mine came out rustic which is what I wanted, but it’s not full coverage.
Here’s what they look like completed:
After I let them completely dry and removed the freezer paper (a must – let your paint fully dry before removing stencil) I flipped them paint side down and heat sealed the paint with a screaming hot iron. These placemats will be spot clean only, but considering the whole project cost me less than $20.00, I’m not worried about it.
Total Cost for supplies:
Burlap $3.99
Fabric Paint $5.29
Freezer Paper $3.50
Have you tried this technique? If so, I’d love to hear from you!
Thanks for letting me guest post Megan, and Happy Birthday!
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Thank YOU, Christina for guest posting on my blog today!! I hope you enjoyed this project as much as I did! I’ve heard so much about using freezer paper, but I have yet to try it… I guess I should get on that now, huh? 🙂
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you’ll come back tomorrow for another round of Let’s Get Organized! I also have some more special posts coming your way SOON!! I can’t wait to share them with you! Have a wonderful and uplifting Sunday!
