Valentine’s Day is one of those holidays I love, but one for which I have never done much decorating (sorry for the awkward formal sentence, but I’m incapable of ending a sentence in a preposition). Until I became a blogger….and found myself spray painting pumpkins and sticks?! Now I’m all fired-up and hosing my house down in red and pink! (Not really.) But it is fun to create a few projects with the kids, and having homemade decor around certainly makes my Valentines feel special.
I decided to try and redeem myself after my hideous Christmas Snowflake Placemats, and make a new set using burlap in a simple, attainable shape!
Gather your supplies…burlap (I needed a little more than a half-yard for 4 placemats), large darning needle, and yarn or ribbon of choice.
I decided on a square shape instead of the traditional rectangle, and used a very scientific method of laying my square Greek Islands calendar down and cutting around it. You’ll be fringing the edges about an inch all the way around, so keep that in mind when determining your size.
If you like big messes and lots of fabric hairs all over the place, you’ll love the fringing step. Simply pull out strings until the fringe is at your desired length. One edge of your burlap may have a thick binding, just trim that off before fringing.
Now, this may come as a shocker to those of you who are used to me and my best friend Stitch Witchery, but I actually threaded a needle and did a bit of sewing…of sorts! I took the fattest needle with the largest hole I could find (mine are called Yarn Darners), and threaded a piece of ribbon the length of all four sides of my mat combined. (I went with thin grosgrain instead of yarn, just my personal preference.)
Then I just made a running stitch around the perimeter, trying to keep the spacing consistent. The back has a small knot where the ribbon started and ended. At first I worried that I’d crossed the Crazy Crafter line, but now I love the nubby texture and punch of red they bring to the breakfast table.
Oh, and I finally learned the trick to getting the creases and wrinkles out of burlap….mist with water before running a hot iron over it (worked great to smooth out the fringe too). Wish I’d known that when I made these.
And since I never pass up a chance to set a cute table:
Saturday morning breakfast becomes a little more special with the addition of these placemats and muffin toppers.
Those muffins are totally distracting you from the placemats, aren’t they? I used this Ikea muffin tin and muffin cups…ridiculous how smitten I am with this thing!??!!
(The yellow blob is scrambled eggs, and I only sprinkled them with parsley for photo purposes…certainly not a common occurrence around here!)
Did I redeem myself in the placemat-making department? Are you working on any Valentine’s Day projects, or do you leave it to the saps and bloggers?
And I’m super flattered to be the Feature Friday on Kirsten’s amazing blog, 6th Street Design School today. She put together a great post full of house pics…certainly fun to see them all in one spot! Thanks Kirsten!!! {heart}
these are fantastic! you would have you eggs sprinkled with parsley!
Congrats on the 6th Street Design feature!
Love them! Love the added touch with the ribbon woven through. Very cute.
I am obsessed with those! I love the stitching and the red burlap.
LOVE THEM, they look great – I might be able to do these as well… 🙂
The placemats look great. I may have to make them myself.
Those are really cute!
How cute is this!!! I love!
Simple and sweet! A perfect addition to your table. You could use those for the 4th of July and for Christmas too! 🙂
Oh – love them!! So great!! You've redeemed yourself. 😉 Not that is was necessary. Your snowflakes had "character" (especially your husband's). 😉
You sewed!! Go Cassie!
These are adorable and I love how you only sprinkled them with parley "for the blog".
The placemats turned out darling Cassie! Love the cute table setting too! 🙂
Darling. . . how cute that you are whipping up an amazing Valentine table already. I like the ribbon idea. HUGE kudos for the 6th street spread. That's awesome!
Very nice! You totally redeemed yourself! Although the snowflake place mats were cute too. But I love the simplicity of these.
cassie, these are darling!!!!
uhm, the muffins are yummy-looking!!!
Great idea! And your feature on 6th Street was lovely! Hope you have a fab weekend!
I love them. I actually made a Valentine's wreath and am working on another decoration. I've NEVER done anything for Valentine's. This whole blog thing has me doing such unexpected things. I guess that's a good thing.
Super cute!! Hilarious about the preposition. I can't do it either. But then it ends up sounding so awkward!! Can't win!
How exciting about your feature (: You rock, Mrs. Sugarplum!
Those are great!!! Love the cupcakes also…I am so hungry right now…wish you were my neighbor!
those look adorable! and i would like a cupcake, too please!
very cute! off to read your feature, how fun!
Super fun post! I heart Valentine's Day!
It looks good. I wish someone would set a nice table for me….joking.
Mr. Goodwill Hunting
great!lovely greetings
The outcome is fabulous, and, as always, your write-up has me cracking up! Who doesn't love burlap fur everywhere? And congrats on the feature- I'm heading over!
You're so clever! Those turned out so well. Congrats on being featured at 6th street! Exciting!
This are to cute! Have a fabulous weekend!
What a pretty setting, love how these came out, and congrats on your feature…off to check it out now!
I didn't think there was any redemption needed, but those place mats are too cute! Love it! (c:
They look great – and i am totally loving those muffin cups too! I hope they do them in the ikea here! I love the napkins too!
Hope you had a nice weekend!
Rachie xo
You MADE those cupcakes?!?! You've come a long way, precious one, since your idea of cooking was to dump a box of Milk Duds into hot popcorn…I am more amazed by and proud of you every day…kiss! – Ali
those placemats are so cute! i might have to give them a try… Congratulations on your feature at 6th street, I'm off to see it now!
found you at 6th street design, and I am happy to be a follower. I love your home. Such creativity!
I would love it if you got a chance to stop by Fieldstone Hill!
– {darlene}
http://www.fieldstonehilldesign.com
I found you on Tatertots and Jello. Very cute. I love the simplicity and punch of red color.
Hiya! Found you on 6th Street Design School. Love your blog and home! Thanks for sharing a look into your life!
These are gorgeous – and I have to get my hands on those muffin tins!
Cassie, I love the beautiful red place mats. The grosgrain ribbon is the perfect accent. You will be able to use these for many different occasions. Don't know if you like using a sewing machine but you may want to run a single straight stitch just at the edge of the fringe. This will prevent fraying and these will last much longer.I am loving your blog and I am your newest follower. I am fairly new at this blogging stuff. Come over for a visit. Ginger
I like the simplicity and the cuteness of your place mats!I saw you cupcakes and i realized that we have the same paper cases from ikea!:-D Have a look at mine!
http://vallys-creations.blogspot.com/2010/11/lemon-muffins-with-multicolor-truffle.html
http://vallys-creations.blogspot.com/2010/11/vanilla-muffins-with-praline-topping.html