No-Sew, Waterproof Placemats

If you hold even a five-minute conversation with me, you are bound to hear about my little munchkin, Aubergine. Aubs/Aubrey/Aubbie loves to play with makeup brushes, eat her mama's ice cream, and chase her papa around the house. She is such a little piggy when she eats though... water dribbles and food crumbles everywhere. Even so, she is just the sweetest little cuddlebug on four-legs you would ever meet. Oh wait, you thought Aubbie was our kid? Close! She's our itty-bitty kitty baby.

She is super duper cute though... I mean, just look at this face!

I'm not kidding about the messiness while she eats though. Aubs has some serious confusion between whether she is a sloppy toddler or a rambunctious puppy because she's always getting food all over her little area. It got so bad, we put a little rug down just to collect her scraps, but the spills went right through and her wet food would cling to the fibers when they dried. We definitely needed something new but I was having a problem finding one that coordinated with the rest of our decor (and didn't look too pet-themed) and was also durable enough for Aubs to dirty up.

So one day, after doing a quick one-through at the dollar store (you know you can't resist looking around either) I found some clear vinyl shelf paper and knew right away that it was a steal. In my previous life I taught preschool and clear vinyl was a mainstay in our crafts cabinet, so there was no doubt that I would find something to do with it. Turns out, my something was this adorable placemat for Aubrey.

This was so simple and took less than 30 minutes. Now we have a pretty mat for Aubs that not only looks nice but is also waterproof and cleans up in a jiffy.

Materials:

• 1 Piece of scrap fabric, 11" x 17"
• Coordinating trim or ribbon
• 2 Pieces of clear vinyl shelf paper, 12" x 18" (generally comes in an 18" width which makes it even easier)
• Tacky glue

Directions: Sorry -- the pictures just aren't uploading correctly, so I'll try to explain this tutorial as clearly as possible 

1. Carefully peel the paper backing off of one piece of the vinyl and place it sticky side up
2. Center the fabric, right side up, and apply it carefully to the vinyl
3. Starting from the center, rub any air bubbles out with your fingers
4. With the ribbons, create a framed inset inside the perimeter of the fabric and using a small dot of tacky glue, affix the ribbons together at each corner
5. Gently peel back the paper on the second piece of vinyl and while centering it, apply it over the fabric and ribbon layers (sticky side down), being sure to overlap the edges of vinyl so that they stick to one another
6. As before, start in the center and smooth out any air bubbles. At the edges, apply extra pressure to ensure that the pieces of vinyl have adhered to one another
7. Trim the edges to form an equal border of between 1/4 and 1/2 of an inch and you're all set to lay it down for Fido.

 

What I like most about this is that while it's great for a pet because it's stain-resistant, washable, and CHEAP, you could easily create a number of them to use at your next barbecue or even some for the kids to use. Speaking of some for the kids... how cute would it be to use their artwork in place of the fabric? I'll have to save that idea for a few more years :)