Fall Craft Project: Autumn Apple Place Mats

Here is a fun and pretty craft project for you to create this fall for your holiday table. Autumn Apple Place Mats are an easy and decorative way for you to be creative with a little paint and the blank canvas of boring, plain, store bought place mats. Have fun and use your imagination to create your own works of art for your dining room table this autumn.

Material For Your Autumn Apple Place Mats:

Cloth place mats
Acrylic paint
Apples
Potato
Sponge brush
Newspaper
Paper plate
Paper towels
Knife

Step 1. Choosing Your Place Mats

You will need to use light colored place mats. Off white is a good choice. You can choose any light colored fabric, as long as the painted apples will show up well. Any light fall color is nice for this project, even a place mat with multiple colors, or a plaid will work. Fringes make the finished place mats nice as well.

Step 2. Making The Apple Stamps

To make your apple stamps, you will need a small, hard apple. Cut the apple in half, going right down the middle from the top to the bottom. You can use different sized apples for variety if you want a more interesting place mat. Set the apples cut side down on a paper towel or newspaper to soak up some of the juice.

The next step is to make leaf stamps. Take a small potato, and cut it in half. Blot the cut side of one of the potato halves to soak up moisture. When it's as dry as you can get it, draw a simple leaf shape on the cut side of the potato. With a sharp paring knife, cut away the excess potato around the leaf shape. Make sure you cut away a good quarter inch or so. Carefully cut vein lines into the leaf.

Step 3. Stamping The Place Mats

To stamp your place mats, you should start by laying out your place mats and your materials on newspaper to catch any paint drips. Next, pour or spoon your paints onto paper plates. You can just toss the plates when you're done to make clean up easier this way. Choose a nice rustic red for your apples, and a leafy green color for the leaves. You can use already made colors , or mix your own if you'd like. Acrylic paints work well on fabric, or you can choose to use specially made fabric paints.

Using a crafter's sponge brush, brush the red paint on the cut side of the apple, and press the apple firmly onto the place mat. Stamp in any pattern you want to. A random pattern using different sizes of apples looks great for this project. Stamp the leaves randomly as well, making sure you add some leaves to the tops of at least some of the apples, where the stems would go.

After you let your Autumn Apple Place Mats dry, they are ready to use to decorate your fall dining room table.