Thursday, January 29, 2009

toddler's placemat

Kate loves to help around the house and is getting quite good at some tasks. She helps to set the table but doesn't seem to know where to put things, so the forks or spoons just end up in one big pile in the middle of the table. I've seen place mats similar to these before and thought it would be easy enough to make one up with materials I had on had. I went with oilcloth for easy cleanup, it just wipes clean! I used pinking shears around the edges and used a plate, fork, cup and spoon to trace around. I then used the bright blue thread and did a wide zig zag stitch around the tracing so it would stand out a bit. It has really helped Kate figure out where to put things and it's now a little game. You could use regular fabric for this and some embroidery thread, or just fabric markers--the only downside being if your toddler is as messy as mine you'd have to wash it after every meal! See here for more examples.

2 comments:

Monica said...

what a great idea! so cute.

Kelly said...

I'm always amazed with all of the wonderful things you come up with to make. I don't know where you find the time! I hope you're doing well.