Happy Friday! I’m back with a simple, trendy project that I’m having so much fun with right now.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I love the chalkboard trend.
My Hubby says it’s perfect for OCD list-makers like me – I agree.
One of the things that drives me crazy whenever we have a family gathering or have people over, we do the whole red solo cup with Sharpie written name on them. When we have just a small group, I refuse to have red solo cups all over my house, BUT I do NOT love wondering which of the identical glasses is mine and whether or not I dare a drink once I set it down. Interesting dilemma.
While I was haunting a pinterest board, I found the cutest chalkboard coasters, but realized quickly that with a 3-year-old they would never last. They were made out of ceramic tile and chalkboard spray paint.
If they didn’t shatter in a million pieces, my little monster would destroy them by drawing too hard, chipping off chalkboard and leaving chalk dust everywhere. So, it was back to the drawing board until I went through a box of Hubby’s old stuff a few weeks ago and found the placemats from his old apartment.
I dug around my crafting stash and found:
- 4 basic placemats
- 12×24 sheets of chalkboard vinyl
- Washi Tape, a slightly transparent Japanese paper tape
- Metallic Foil Tape (used for HVAC systems)
First, I scrubbed down the placemats – they were from a bachelor’s pad after all!
Then I slowly peeled the backing from the vinyl while smoothing it over the top of the placemat. These placemats don’t have straight corners – they are slightly octagonal, so I made little triangular slits to make it easier to fold over the edge on to the back of the mat.
After folding the edges back, I took the washi tape and lined it up around the edges and folded that over the edge on to the back of the mat.
Excuse my blue jean knees – crafting at my parents house! |
I had thought to be done, but I wasn’t sure how well the wash tape would hold up and hadn’t counted on the fact that the vinyl would be heavy enough to pull up the tape.
So, I called my dad. He’s my go to when I’m working with things like vinyl and adhesives or epoxies. I talked to him about what I could use to hold the vinyl down. I wanted it to be sturdy, hold up fairly well and not leave a horrible sticky mess if I needed to replace it. He suggested Metallic Foil Tape and told me to look for it in our local hardware store with the Air Conditioning/HVAC supplies. I picked up a roll for $4.99 and didn’t look back.
The foil tape added a ton of stability to the placemat. They were coated with something that made the vinyl not want to stick. |
I wanted to keep the decorative washi tape, so I lined the back of the placemat along the outside edge with the foil tape. I’ve decided if the washi tape doesn’t hold up well, I’ll splurge for one of the colored foil tapes. So far, I’ve wiped them down repeatedly and not had any problems.
So many fun ideas – Happy Father’s Day Meal |
To Do List for the Day |
Place Card Placemat – my nephew wanted me to write his name |
I had all four placemats done in about an hour. I had a little help from my little boy and my three nephews – they surprised us all with a visit or I might have been done a little quicker. I’m really excited and three out of four boys under the age of 13 voted them “so much cooler” than the original. The other boy just said he wanted a hamburger because there was a picture of a hamburger.
I’m a little more excited to have these on my table now! |
I think they’re cool because I had almost everything on hand, it was a quick craft AND when people come to dinner they can use a glass and leave it on their labeled placemat. No unidentified drinks!
I hope you like them and it inspires you to do something fun and creative! Thanks, Kaysi!
Sarah Yoder
This is great! Always love a project that can recycle something old! Well done.
Tere Shake
these are great! i saw on pinterest where you can do chalk board paint on glass cups. i did it and it worked great! you can make some for those parties and skip the awkward… did i just drink your drink? game!
Motivated Mommy of two
This is an awesome tutorial, great idea thanks for sharing
Scrappy Gifts
This is pretty cool! She has awesome handwriting!
Melissa
I just found your blog and have to say I LOVE these place mats!!