Pier One Inspired Autumn Leaf "Faux" Placemat
by
Carol Murphy
4 Materials
$5
7 Hours
Easy
I was browsing Pier One online for inspiration for fall. I saw the Faux Maple Leaves Place Mats and loved the look but didn't want to spend $6 for each place mat. Could I make one from dollar store leaves? See blog for full post.
I got 5 branches of leaves from Dollar Tree. I see online that they have bags of leaves, but I didn't find that in the store.
I choose maple leaf branches and cut the leaves off the plastic twigs and branch. Some maple leaf branches have smaller leaves. If you choose all small leaf branches, you will need more than 5 bunches. The leaves are more vibrant than Pier One's but I like the colors. It will be perfect in October with black plates. I considered making place mats like Pier One's and tried laying out the leaves on cloth. The leaves have a plastic spine and do not glue well. I decided I would sew them together. I don't have a machine and don't really think a machine would work well with the plastic spines.
I got a gold charger and lined the leaves around the charger. I put a plate on top and it looked great. I decided to just make a ring of leaves for a "faux place mat" look. Place leaves with tips hanging over the edge of charger.
The first ring took a while as I was playing with the leaves to come up with a pattern. Choose a color or colors you want to showcase. For the first ring, I choose red as primary, orange as secondary, and green as the bottom layer for background. For the second ring, I choose green as primary, orange as secondary and red as second layer background. Large primary leaves have two secondary or second layer leaves on each side beneath the primary.
Pin the leaves in sections as I found the thread hangs up on the leaf tips. It's easier to sew in sections and then sew sections together.
Use dark thread running on backside from leaf to leaf. Make tiny stitches on top on dark shadowing of leaves. Periodically put on charger to check you're making it circular and large enough with leaf tips hanging over edge of charger.
The finished ring can be used with a charger or as shown above on the table. It really pops with a black plate.
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Comments
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2 of 12 comments
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I did the seven years ago and I have had more compliments on it. Everyone is amazed at the way the table looks.
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It makes a great impact, doesn't it?
Frequently asked questions
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guess I missed your answer.. Sorry.. What is a "charger" ? ?
no question. info: The plastic spines on the leaves tug off real easy and the leaves are fine. I did the same thing 5 yrs ago and still using them. You can also do this with snowflakes for. winter and poinsettias for Christmas. Any ideas for Easter besides flowers?
Why use thread to "sew" every leaf together when you could use a glue gun and save yourself tons of time & work......