What is your favorite season? Mine, you ask? Fall/Autumn! Not only are the colors absolutely gorgeous but the spirit of the season always drives me back to childhood memories. Granny is making dressing, baked macaroni and cheese, and a huge batch of collard greens. While the smells of the kitchen waft through the windows, we are outside raking those beautiful leaves that happen to blow into the neighbor's yard. Most times we just made huge piles and jumped on them. Granny calls us in for dinner. No leaves have been bagged because we were too busy making a mess. We go in and wash our hands and prepare the table. That is my favorite part! All the pretty colors and table dressings made my heart smile. Everyone had a job to do to make sure it was ready on time. My job was making sure the placemats were clean and ironed. So now I’m inviting you into my home. Although we are not washing and ironing placemats today - we will create a symbolic reference of the memory. So, wash your hands and prepare to have a seat at my table.
Supplies Needed:
- Cardstock Warehouse Cardstock Papers
- Autumn Cardstock Collection in 100#
- Gold Mirror cardstock
- Olive Speckletone
- Autumn Place Settings SVGs
- To download the SVGs, click the link, right click, and save. Then upload the SVGs to your electronic die cutting machine. You can also print them and use them as templates to hand-cut your pieces. Before you cut, select the two small lines in the center of the place card and change them to "score" instead of "cut."
- Zig 2-Way Glue Pen
- Hot glue
- Coordinating ribbon
- White Gel Pen
This project is as easy as they come. You’ll enjoy making this!! I found it to be quite therapeutic. Have fun using different colors, widths, and patterns. Here’s how I did mine.
Using different colors of 8 1/2 x 11 Autumn Cardstock, cut 9 strips that are 3/4-inch wide for each placemat. I am going to make multiple placemats, so I cut lots of strips of each color.
Using your Gold Mirror in 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock and your paper trimmer, slice the paper lengthwise every 3/4 inch. Be sure to leave a 1-inch border all around.
Arrange your strips in the color order you want to weave them.
Use the under-over method to weave the strips. Example: Strip #1 under-over-under, strip #2 over-under-over... And so on. Continue to do this until all nine strips have been weaved into the gold mirror paper.
Once you have completed your rows, fold the ends to the back of the placement and adhere them with hot glue. Cut off any excess. Feel free to layer the back with a sheet of cardstock as well, but I am going to leave mine the way they are.
Now it’s time to create the napkin wrap. Follow the instructions to download the SVGs listed in the supplies and cut all of the pieces out of your chosen colors. (Don't forget to convert the cut lines in the middle of the place card to score lines.) The two vines I cut are from the Cricut Design Space store. You can just search your machine's software for a similar vine. I am using the following colors from the Autumn Multi-pack, plus Gold Mirror, and Olive from the Speckletone Collection:
- Scallop Napkin Wrap: Gold Mirror
- Leaves: Hot Fudge and Jellybean Green
- Vines: Olive Speckletone
- Placecard Base: Whip Cream
- Placecard Mat: Tangy Orange
Using your scallop SVG file, fold your napkin and wrap the gold paper around.
Tie it with a little coordinating ribbon.
Time to make the place card. Gather the card base, card mat, and both leaves. I’m using vinyl to add a name to the card, but you can also stamp or write yours. Lay the leaves on top of each other and attach them with wet glue. I added white faux white stitching to mine with a gel pen, and a small gold embellishment on the leaf.
I added the vinyl name to my place card and a little gem and I was done!
See how easy that was? This is a fun activity that you can do with the whole family. Cut up a bunch of strips, put them all on the table, gather around your loved ones and chat while you make placemats together. This could be something that you can keep every year or make new ones each time. Invite the kids to play, too! Here’s how everything looks put together.
What do you think? Do you think you’ll be trying this in your home? Maybe it can become a tradition for you, too? Thank you for hanging around the table with me. ☺️
Please be sure to leave a comment to let us know what you think! If you’re super fancy – tag us in your cardstock paper creations on Facebook or Instagram. You can use the hashtag #cardstockwarehouse to be featured on our page!
Toodles!
Tmika