Greeting Card Placemats
Difficulty: Easy
These placemats can be used for any holiday feast, birthday and/or anniversary celebration, for dressing up your everyday meals, or for cheering up someone that may be in bed under the weather. You can even personalize them by adding a name to them. (This idea will also work as covers for scrapbooks.) The end result can be as fancy or as simple as you make it.
What you'll need:
- Paper towels (one or two sheets depending on desired size)
- Old greeting cards, calendars, and/or magazine pages
- Clear self-adhesive Con-Tact paper
- Scissors (pinking or scalloped type would even be more fun)
- Colored construction paper for cutting out letters for names (if you choose to personalize them), optional
- Some paper lace, bits of ribbon, pressed leaves, etc. to add to your collage, optional
How to make it:
- Pick a theme for your placemat. For example: Christmas, Thanksgiving, Happy Birthday, Get Well, Happy Anniversary, Easter, Spring, Fall, Winter, Summer, You're Special, I miss you, I love butterflies, Dogs are my specialty, etc.
- Cut out pictures that relate to your theme from the used greeting cards, calendars, or magazine pages. A variety of sizes and shapes will add character to each placemat. Optional: You can also add a saying or scripture.
- Cut out the letters of your name from the colored construction paper, if desired.
- Lay your paper towel on a flat surface.
- Arrange the pictures face-up on the paper towel until you are satisfied with your design. MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE ABOUT 3/4 INCH BETWEEN EACH PICTURE OR LETTER.
- Carefully peel off the backing of the clear Con-Tact paper and line up the edge of the Con-Tact paper with the edge of the paper towel.
- Slowly press the Con-Tact paper over the top of the paper towel and your arrangement of pictures and letters, etc. Carefully smooth it out as you go, working out all the air bubbles.
- Optional: Another layer of Con-Tact paper on the bottom side of your placemat will make it last longer. Before adding this piece, consider another arrangement for this side to make it a reversible placemat.
- Trim the edge of your placemat with scissors.
