Christmas Place Mats

In December, the tables for the Young at Heart group from Spirit of Christ Catholic Community dinner were decorated with beautiful place mats. Some persons wanted to know how the place mats were made and on February 10, 2015  a few persons, gathered in the Holy Family room to learn how to make them.

We were told that materials needed would be black contact paper,  (works best), scissors, pens, a pattern of a petal and old Christmas cards. I was shocked when I saw the collection of cards, each in its own category, in two large boxes. I found out that the leader of the decorating committee has been collecting cards for years. I would say this is recycling at its best!
 

Using a completed place mat as a model, it is placed on the contact paper to outline the scallops. After you decide on the theme you wish to use, which can be trees, angels, nativity, candles, animals, teddy bears or children, whichever you prefer you will be ready to make your mat. Pick a card for the center and using the petal stencil cut the pictures from the cards. It is important to have pictures on the cards facing in an organized way. Arrange the cards until you have them how you want them to be and begin sticking the pictures on the contact paper. The final step is placing a clear contact sheet over the mat and trimming.

                                                     And there you have it, a
beautiful place mat and the satisfaction of having created the mat with your very own hands!




I thought that the mat might be fun to make by using photographs and maybe, sometime in the future, I might try it with photos. Today it was enough that I took some photographs and when I left, the group was cutting, sticking, and completing their own creative place mat!