Recycled Brown Paper Bag Christmas Place Mat

Now, I love using old brown paper bags from the grocery store to make craft projects. I read Christmas Crafts for Kids by Angie on Associated Content and had to share one of my own brown paper bag crafts. The brown paper looks so good when it is a little worn form being used. You can also easily crumple a brown paper bag and flatten it back out for a textured surface perfect for this simple kitchen place mat.

This simple Christmas craft project should cost you less than $5. It might even cost less if you already have all of these materials around the house. The kits should be able to easily make this simple Christmas place mat in less than an hour.

To Make a Simple Christmas Place Mat out of a Brown Paper Bag You Wall Need:

Brown Paper Bags
Construction Paper
Paints, Markers, Crayons
Sequins, Glitter
Magazines
White glue or Glue Sticks
Scissors
Ribbon
Ruler
Pencils
2 Sheets of acetate
Twine
Tapestry Needle
Whole punch.

Ok, that is mostly list of ideas you can sue for this simple craft project. You can simply use any existing materials and make a beautiful place mat.

Now, the first step is to cu out your placemat shape. About 12 inches by 16 inches should be more than big enough. You should be able to get two place mats out of each brown paper bag.

Use the inside of the bag as the fronts of your place mats. It will be the most clean surface.

Now, for a more finished look on this craft project have the kids create e a border around the edge of the place mat. They can trace in with a ruler to make an even border. They could also do circle, candy canes, Christmas ornaments, gingerbread men, or even triangles. Whatever they want.

In the middle of the place mat they can create a central design. Snowman cut out of construction paper is a great idea. You could also place a photocopy of a photo as well.

The kids can add sequins, glitter, and almost any relatively flat embellishment.

Once all of the decorating and the glue has dried, then you need to laminate the place mat. This will preserve the life of your Christmas placemat and keep it useable for many more Christmases.

You have a couple choices here. For a home made look I like to simply place a sheet of acetate on either side of the place mat. Use your hole punch to punch holes around the border of the acetate. I like to do both sheets at the same time to match the holes. You could do one sheet at a time though, and then lay the finished sheet on top of the second sheet. Use a marker to make a dot in the center of each hole onto the second sheet. Now you have a guide where to place the holes in the second sheet of acetate.

Once all of the hole have been made you can place your Christmas dinner mat inside and use the twine or yarn to sew the plastic together surrounding the art work. You could also use Christmas ribbon as well. Finish on one of the corners and tie the string or Christmas ribbon off in a bow that is one top of the placemat.

Now, if you want to skip this step you can tae the Christmas placemat to Kinko's and have them laminate it. This should cost about $1.50 per placemat. You could also use your laminating machine at home if you have one. When you trim the laminating plastic off be sure you don't trim to close to the Christmas placemat. I like to stay about ¼ to ½ inch away from the paper. If you trim to close the plastic could come apart and make for a sloppy look that will not protect the Christmas inspired artwork.