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July 12, 2007
In the interest of full disclosure: I swiped this idea from Leslie.
We never seem to have enough clean place mats so I bought a bunch of Martha Stewart dish towels and cut them in half vertically (fold top to bottom, press and cut on pressing line). A quick hem to the cut side and for $9.99, I had 14 place mats instead of 7 dishtowels. Well, make that 28 place mats - I made two sets. Less laundry for me.
Yes, my laptop sits on the kitchen table for now. I have grand plans to make myself a little desk out of an old door up by our bedroom, but for now, this is command central most of the time. The kitchen is the hub of the house anyhow. Of course, I do move it when we sit down to eat.
Another great use for these dishtowels: skirts like the ones I made the girls last year. Throw on some embroidery or applique and they would be super sweet. If you make them, just be sure that both ends of your towel have trim instead of just one. Of course, you could always use one without trim and add some yourself.
Happy Thursday!
Great idea! Now I want to steal it too :-)
Posted by: Lisa Clarke | July 12, 2007 at 01:17 PM
Love this! You are making me REALLY miss our KMART. The closest one is a 40 minute drive away now. Every now and again my mom and I go and always come home with Martha's dishtowels and candles.
Posted by: Stefani | July 12, 2007 at 01:26 PM
What a splendid idea! And they'll wash nicely and not come out all wonky like some placemats do.
Posted by: Anina | July 12, 2007 at 01:39 PM
Super idea! Gosh what you can do with a dish towel... who knew!
Posted by: kat | July 12, 2007 at 01:39 PM
The Kmart MS brand has such cute prints in dish towels. Just last week the one in town had the 6 packs for half off!
Sew them up the sides and add a drawstring...and they make great totes and backpacks for kids stuff when traveling!
Posted by: marcia | July 12, 2007 at 02:22 PM
geez. now i'm off to get dishtowels!
Posted by: heidi | July 12, 2007 at 03:05 PM
i just did the same thing two weeks ago! i was at kmart and found ms dish towels and made placemats. they didnt have much selection though. i want to do some more! yours look great!
Posted by: samantha | July 12, 2007 at 03:48 PM
good idea, I've got those towels too!
Posted by: Courtney | July 12, 2007 at 04:05 PM
Very neat idea. Am always tossing my mats in the wash after one use and sometimes laundry doesn't get done that quick. This idea is worth trying!
Posted by: Account Deleted | July 12, 2007 at 04:14 PM
Wonderfully simple idea... it looks great!
Posted by: Mirre | July 12, 2007 at 04:47 PM
love those towels!....never saw that print.
I MUST get a laptop to blog at the kitchen table....:)
Posted by: leslie | July 12, 2007 at 06:02 PM
I love that little bit of rick-rack at the bottom. Just the right touch!
Posted by: kathryn | July 12, 2007 at 06:16 PM
erin, that is total inspiration for me! thank you! we have vinyl placemats right now, because i was thinking that would be easier - cut up a sponge into smaller pieces and have the kids wash their own.
yeah.... that doesn't happen. my fault.
and i HATE washing those stupid things - i'd much rather throw them in the washer.
thanks!
Posted by: kirsten | July 12, 2007 at 06:32 PM
Very stylish, not to mention economical! Love the colours. Oh, by the way is there anything cheerier than checks?
Posted by: Katherine | July 12, 2007 at 07:38 PM
What a cool idea! The skirts are cute.
Posted by: SouthernGirlMusings | July 12, 2007 at 09:44 PM
Ok sweet woman...I have spent the better part of an hour now catching up on your blog and all that you have been up to. I could comment on each and every one of them, but I will resist. And only say, you are amazing. Simply amazing friend.
Posted by: Eren | July 12, 2007 at 11:41 PM
Such a great idea Erin. The trim at the bottom really spruces them up!
Posted by: erin s. | July 13, 2007 at 12:30 AM
these are great! the ric rac on the bottom edge is a nice touch.
Posted by: amandajean | July 13, 2007 at 12:33 AM
Just found your blog and now I have to go to Kmart to buy hand towels! They are lovely.
Posted by: Amy | July 13, 2007 at 07:27 AM
I do that too--make placemats form towel, or anything else! Adding trims really jazzes them up. And I like your idea of the skirts. One time at flea market I bought a huge old linen towel, cut into fours, I had four towels then--I love such economy & thinking. Happy weekend to you & yours! :o)
Posted by: Tracy | July 13, 2007 at 07:28 AM
How cute... I love them!
Posted by: Julie | July 13, 2007 at 08:06 AM
Terrific!!! Would make nice cloth napkins, too (napkins don't have to be square!)
Posted by: Anne K. | July 13, 2007 at 08:57 AM
This is SUCH a great idea - thanks for sharing...we seem to *eat* placemats around here!
Posted by: Carrie S. | July 13, 2007 at 09:16 AM
Wow what a great idea! We always have placemats around here, but they are near next to impossible to wash and these would be simple to wash! Do you know if anywhere besides Kmart sell MS?
Posted by: Chara Michele | July 13, 2007 at 11:41 AM
What a great idea and I love the ric-rac addition.
Posted by: Fiona | July 14, 2007 at 07:59 AM
this is a great idea erin! especially b/c I'm usually a tablecloth girl and lately I have to change it after every meal...well, I don't change it after every meal, but I SHOULD! this is a much, much better idea.
(and the girls' skirts are so cute! you could start a new anthropologie kids shop!)
Posted by: molly | July 16, 2007 at 01:50 PM
what a cute idea....oh and I loe the teeshirts, I really am going to steal that idea! (the turtle is my favorite!)
Posted by: angela rout | July 17, 2007 at 03:12 PM
Nifty! I've been on placemat detail myself lately, but not as cute-n-easy as this.
Posted by: angelique | July 22, 2007 at 03:52 PM
I just made a bunch of these placemats today....and now I want new dishes! LOL!
Posted by: char | July 24, 2007 at 04:46 PM