How to make Best Christmas Placemats 2021 with your Christmas cards
It’s always nice to receive Christmas cards and many people enjoy showing them during the holidays, but what do you do with them when Christmas is over? While you can put your cards away to show them again next year, you’ll end up with more cards than you can put on your tables, counters, or mantle. Instead of throwing away cherished cards, consider using them to make homemade Christmas placemats. You can use the placemats on your party table, or use them to decorate the children’s table. In addition to adding a little decoration, they also help to contain clutter and can be quickly cleaned with a damp cloth.
You need:
- christmas cards
- Scissors
- Construction paper
- Glue
- Clear laminate
Step one
Cut interesting artwork or images from your Christmas cards to make your placemats.
Step two
Arrange the cut out images on sheets of construction paper until you are happy with the look of your placemats.
Step three
Use glue to secure all images in place. Wait for the glue to dry before moving on to the next step.
Step four
Sandwich the finished placemats between sheets of clear laminate. This way you protect the placemats against spilling food or drinks and you can easily wipe them clean and store them until next year.
Step five
Trim the excess clear laminate with scissors, but leave a small edge of laminate around the edge of the placemat to avoid exposing the paper.
Tips:
If you can’t find clear laminate, you can use strips of clear packing tape to completely cover the front and back of your homemade Christmas placemats.
You can also add glitter or paint to the placemats before applying the laminate.
Use your scrapbooking skills to make placemats for Christmas
Make your Christmas table extra special this year by making personalized scrapbook placemats for your table. Here’s how.
It’s probably a good idea to use a regular 12 x 12 page layout for this idea. Design the layout of your placemats on a rough 12 x 12 cm piece of paper. It’s a good idea to use the same design for all your placemats. Each will be unique, but with the same underlying design to match them all together. It’s a good idea to trace the side of a plate on one side of your layout and use the other side for your signature photos. This way, your finished design will have a semicircle covering one side of your placemat, which you can decorate any way you like and your photos on the other.
You can keep your color scheme the same or use different color schemes depending on your personal taste. Mine all show part of the Christmas past, but are all different. Using the layout idea above, choose your background page first. Then cut your semicircle from a contrasting patterned paper. Stick this on the left side of your layout with the flat side of the circle against the left side of the page.
Then place and paste your photo or photos on the right side of the circle. If your background is busy, it may be a good idea to mattify your photos before pasting them on the background. Now for the fun part. Use your imagination to embellish your placemat in any way you want. I would stay away from bulky decorations on a placemat or else your food will wiggle as you try to eat it. Try stickers, twine, ribbon, strips of paper on the right side of the page, photo corners, labels, paper letters, or anything else that won’t make your layout bulky. I generally used the semicircle for my cup and journal on most of my placemats. If the photo brought back some memories, I did some more journaling at the bottom of the photo.
You can cut 12 x 12 blocks of felt to stick under your placemat. If you want to reinforce the placemat you could also use a thick piece of cardboard, but I didn’t think that was necessary. Now all you have to do is take your layouts to a print and copy shop and ask them to laminate them in a fairly hard-wearing plastic.
Now you have a set of beautiful and original placemats that will be the talk of the table at your Christmas dinner.
Christmas comes cheap with personalized gifts
Christmas is and always will be the season of goodwill; that happy and magical time of year when friends and families gather to celebrate. It’s a time of year when we make an extra effort to be considerate of others, whether it’s buying a gift, sending a Christmas card, or helping someone in need. Unfortunately, it can be a stressful time of year for many as Christmas isn’t always cheap. Many end up with mounting debt accumulated during the holiday season and this is really not necessary. Christmas is about togetherness and magic, corny as it may sound, we all appreciate our loved ones more this time of year.
When you think about the financial burden Christmas can be, think about all the unnecessary things we often buy to raise bills. Christmas decorations can be used year after year, so there is no need to buy more every Christmas. Christmas cards can be replaced with merry Christmas emails with photos that are not only free but also more interesting to receive. Shopping for Christmas food is always over the top, so prepare with a list and stick to it. Finally the main culprit: Christmas gifts. Exchanging gifts is a Christmas tradition that dates back to biblical times, so we won’t be throwing it away anytime soon. When buying gifts, it’s important to think carefully about who you’re buying for and what your budget is before you put yourself at the mercy of your bank to tire your poor little credit card.
You see, the most important thing to remember is that a gift doesn’t have to be expensive to make it special; in fact, it’s often the more personal and low-key gifts that are the winners year after year. One of the most touching gifts you can give at Christmas is a personalized gift. Personalized gifts are taking over as one of the most popular gifts out there. They come in many shapes including mugs, placemats, coasters, picture frames, photo books, canvas prints, t-shirts, teddy bears, bibs, puzzles and more! These Christmas gifts can be printed with any photo or text, giving you complete control over the creation of your gift. Maybe a “This is your life” style photo book for your partner or a Disney princess puzzle with your own little princess.
Stocking stuffers such as personalized key chains, paperweights and snow globes are sure to be a treat in any household!
So express your Christmas spirit (inexpensively) this Christmas with personalized gifts. You will have a lot of fun designing it and you will experience the greatest joy when you see the joy on the faces of your loved ones when they tear off the wrapping paper. Not only will these gifts stand the test of time, but they will constantly remind the recipient how much thought and time you put into their gift, and as they say, it’s the thought that counts. So if you’re on a tight budget this year, don’t think cheap and tacky, think about value for money with personalized gifts.
Advice on making your own Christmas fabric
Making your own Christmas fabric can also be fun and convenient. Christmas fabric can be used for gift wrapping, craft projects, personalized quilts and pillows, or interesting throws. Here’s how to make your own Christmas fabric.
High Tech
There are fabrics you can buy that you can use in your home printer to make Christmas fabrics. You can find these in your office supplies department or in your craft department, but also on the internet. These fabrics are stiff and specially made to absorb printer ink. These fabrics would be perfect for creating Christmas fabrics with pictures of family, friends and pets. You can also use colorful clipart, in conjunction with your word processor, to create interesting, fun fabric.
Always follow the special washing instructions that come with the printer fabric. Some of these fabrics are not intended for intensive use, such as on clothing. Fabric stickers can also be purchased to decorate fabric. These decals come in many different designs and are applied with a warm iron.
Handmade
If you want raw, traditional-looking Christmas fabric, you may want to try your luck with hand-printed fabric. First, choose a sturdy fabric that is absorbent, such as muslin. The fabric should be a light, solid color and should not contain any ribbing, polka dots or patterns.
Then decide how you want to apply the print to the fabric. Stencils, stamps, and markers used with fabric paint are all good choices. You can also make your own print with objects around the house. A Christmas stamp can be made by cutting a potato into a desired shape. You can also use a potato cut in half and dipped in Christmas-colored paint to make festive polka-dot Christmas fabric.
Another way to create a festive print on fabric is to splash, toss, or spray red and green paint onto the fabric in an abstract pattern. The fabric dye you choose will have washing instructions on the package. Be sure to follow them to keep the original look of your Christmas fabric print.
from scratch
You can also weave your cloth from scratch in beautiful Christmas colors. This is not as difficult as it sounds. There are many weaving kits for children and adults with simple, easy to follow instructions. Some simple things you can make with your handwoven Christmas fabric are placemats, tree skirts, cushion covers, dollies and coasters.
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