My little family has another move coming up, and in the process of going through stuff deciding what to keep and what to get rid of, I came across a box of jute rope in my crafting materials that I had bought a while back. I wasn’t about to throw it out, and when I saw it, I was reminded of some Pottery Barn placemats I had been eyeing recently.
I decided to get my creativity flowing, and the result was these D.I.Y. jute rope placemats inspired by the Pottery Barn placemats found at the link above. On Pottery Barn, they go for $19.99 per placemat (as of today), and I was able to make three of them (probably a little larger than those on Pottery Barn) with $22.49 worth of jute rope that I got a while back on Amazon…for anyone mathematically challenged out there, that is a savings of $37.48 (possibly more, because I’m pretty sure I could have gotten four placemats out of the jute rope if I had made them just slightly smaller.
Regardless, they turned out so cute, and they make for a perfect compliment to our little dining room table.
Cute, right? Additionally, these are super simple to make, and the only materials needed are jute rope, a glue gun, and some scissors! Let’s get to the directions!
D.I.Y. POTTERY BARN INSPIRED JUTE ROPE PLACEMATS
Materials:
- 3/8 inch jute rope (I got mine on Amazon here)
- Glue gun and glue sticks (I’ve been using this one for years, and it is only $3.68 on Amazon)
- Scissors
Directions:
1. Start by folding the end of your rope over the rope before it to create the center of the placemat, and your starting place in terms of what you will continue to wrap the rope around to complete the project. Add a bit of glue from the glue gun, and hold it in place until it dries enough to stick.
2. From here, put a thin layer of glue on the outside of the rope, and wrap the rope over it in a circular shape. Repeat this as your circle grows. One note, you want the rope to be taut enough so that there are no gaps, but you want to still keep it loose enough so that the placemat will lie flat when it is finished (I learned this the hard way 🙂 ). Hence, as you glue the rope, just make sure there are no gaps, and keep the rope relaxed in the process.
3. When your placemat is the size you would like, cut the rope at an angle, and then glue the end to the side of the mat so that the angle blends well (this is to avoid an abrupt/harsh end of the rope and to help keep the outer edge as smooth as possible).
4. Place something heavy on the mat to help it set in a way that it will lie flat. Leave it like this for at least a couple of hours (longer is better, as it helps it to set better). Once you’ve done this, you’re done, and your placemats are ready to use!
Enjoy!
Loving and Laughing 