Remember a
few weeks ago when I showed you how to create a layered Red, White, and Blue Tablescape and gave you a glimpse at those handmade Patriotic
Placemats? Well I’m back to show you how those babies were made. And let me tell you they’re ridiculously
easy to make.
Since we
wanted every piece on the red, white and blue table to shine in their own
subtle ways, we opted for plain yet thoughtful placemats. That’s where we came
up with solid red and blue backgrounds with bright white meaningful words to
represent what Independence Day, Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day mean to us.
Oh and today
I’m teaming up with my Silhouette Challenge buddies to spit out 34 more
Patriotic projects, using our favorite cutting tool, the Silhouette
Cameo. So I hope you’ll stick
around!!
Let’s dive
right in shall we?
Supplies:
- Rust-Oleum Ultra Cover 2x in Apple Red
- Rust-Oleum Ultra Cover 2x in Midnight Blue
- 3M General Purpose Spray Adhesive
- Kilz Primer
- White 12x12 Cardstock
- 1/8” 4’x4’ Masonite (or other thin wood)
- Measuring tape
- Tablesaw OR Circular saw
- Hand Sander
- Silhouette Cameo or X-acto Knife
Typical
placemats dimensions run 12 x 18 inches, ours were 14 x 18 inches. We cut a
total of six placemats. Don’t worry too much about the rough edges, you’ll
catch them in the sanding stage. If you don’t have a tablesaw, you can also use
a handsaw + Kreg Rip-Cut.
Then, give
them a light sand, being sure to even out those edges:
Give them a
quick coat of primer:
Spray paint
thin even coats of spraypaint in red and blue:
You’ll
notice in our set of six, we made four red and two navy blue (for the heads of
the table).
Next, pick a
font, words, and the size you on your placemats. As you can see, we choose
“Freedom” and “Remember.” I’ve had a mega crush on cursive
fonts lately, and I chose the Signerica
Fat font, size: 132. Mostly because it’s pretty, flowy and it connects
which made cutting and placing easier. I was able to fit all six words squeezed
tightly together on one 12x12 sheet of plain white scrapbook paper. Then, run
them through your silhouette.
**Please remember if you change your placemat dimensions
from our dimensions above, you may need to adjust your font measurement too.
> Oh and for those without a cutting
machine, using an exact-o knife and cutting mat are easily done while watching
a few episodes of the New Girl. Otherwise, craft stores sell alphabets which
would look equally charming.
After that, adhere
the words using your favorite adhesive, our
favorite lately is 3M all-purpose
spray, since most
of our project was completed outdoors anyway. And finally, give the placemats a
few quick coats of clear spray paint.
A word of caution: I did notice some minor cracking on one of
the placemats (it’s difficult to spot in the shots and hardly noticeable). I
chalk this up to not enough prep work/a heavy spray paint trigger finger. It
also could have been the masonite, hence why balsa/thin wood may be a better
fit (we used the Masonite since we had it on hand from another project). The
rest of the placemats are just fine and are holding up nicely.
And that’s
it!!
My favorite thing about them is the perfectly patriotic words. It really helps us take a second to remember what the holidays are all about celebrating our freedoms and taking a moment to remember those who have sacrificed.
Itching to
see the rest of those tablescapes? I’ve got two versions for the decorative and
the simplistic:
What words
would you choose for your patriotic placemats?






P.S. We were not paid or perked from any of
these vendors; we just used our existing tools for these placemats.
As promised,
here’s even MORE fun Patriotic Projects from my favorite Silhouette Pals (click the image or links below):

1. Our Rosey Life // 2. My Mom Made That // 3. The Kim Six Fix // 4. Create & Babble // 5. The Frill of Life // 6. My Paper Craze // 7. Kate's Paper Creations // 8. Simply Kelly Designs // 9. Dragonfly & Lily Pads // 10. Mama Sonshine // 11. Lil Mrs. Tori // 12. Tried & True // 13. It Happens in a Blink // 14. McCall Manor // 15. The Thinking Closet // 16. unOriginal Mom // 17. Sowdering About // 18. Weekend Craft // 19. The Outlandish Momma // 20. Adventures in All Things Food // 21. Practically Functional // 22. Silhouette School // 23. Please Excuse My Craftermath... // 24. Ginger Snap Craft // 25. Pineapples And Pinecones // 26. Black and White Obsession // 27. TitiCrafty // 28. Architecture of a Mom //
Remember...



Awesome placemats! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI love how these placemats turned out!! Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI love these placemats so much! Never would have guessed that's how you made them! Awesome job :)
ReplyDeleteTrisha, I think your idea of using wooden placemats is fabulous! Clean up after dinner would be so easy too. And I think the words you chose present the perfect patriotic message - remember & freedom!!!
ReplyDeleteI love it! You have definitely inspired me to make my own placemats!
ReplyDeleteSo pretty!! I love how you made them out of wood! Such a great idea!
ReplyDeleteI would never have even thought to make wooden placemats, but it is so smart when you think about it. I love the simplicity in yours too. Perfect for a tablescape without taking away from the rest of the dinnerware. Love it .
ReplyDeleteThese are so fun - modern, eye-catching, simple! I'm even crazy about the font you used!
ReplyDeleteTrisha,
ReplyDeleteYour placemats are bright, cheery and celebrate the holiday. I love the crisp clean design.
SC Love,
Karen Marie
Dragonfly & Lily Pads
So, I've read this post three times and only now realized I hadn't commented yet! I love these placemats Trisha. They make me happy inside. I really appreciate how you brought it above and beyond laminating paper to something that will be really durable and usable throughout the season and beyond. Thanks for linking to Creative Spark, and don't forget to grab your featured button if you want!
ReplyDeleteAwe, you have no idea how much this means to me! Thanks for the kind words Kristy, and for featuring me on the link party!!
DeleteTrisha thanks for always stopping by our Creative Spark Link Party! I love that you party with us every week! I always love seeing your projects!
ReplyDeleteThanks girl, your party is off the heezy (too much?!). In all seriousness, you ladies have such a well oiled machine there and the email reminders help substantially!!
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