Fitted Buffet Table Cloth

Introducing my first item for sale on my Etsy shop!  I have wanted to do something like this for a long time, but I have pushed it aside.  There are always too many other things to do.  This idea came about last summer.  Here in Oakley we joke about the 11 am wind that comes up the valley, the 1 pm wind, and then the 4 pm wind that goes back the other way.  I am not kidding.  This is without fail.  We love to spend time outside in the summer.  Can you blame us when there is a 6 month winter?  Anyway, one afternoon we were grilling outside on the BBQer.  I had pieced together some table cloths, because they were not long enough to cover our buffet table, and then I had placed every condiment, plate, pitcher, etc. on top so that, hopefully, the table cloths would not blow to who knows where!  I decided this was too much work. 

In light conversation with my husband, I said that we needed an outdoor table cloth that would do its job.  We created the ideal one as we talked.  Later the thought didn't go away.  I determined to make this one a reality. My mother-in-law offered 2 pieces of heavy outdoor fabric she had picked up a year or two ago with the intention to make some decorative pillows for her patio, but had never gotten around to it.

The ideal table cloth, I thought, needed to STAY ON the table even with the wind blowing; NOT look like it was PIECED TOGETHER; be MACHINE WASHABLE and hand wipeable; and be very FUNCTIONAL. I was tired of trying to find the napkins, plates, and silverware among the menagerie of food dishes.  And, our table cloths weren't the only things blowing away (plates, napkins.....), so I decided to sew pockets on the ends to hold the napkins, silverware and cups.  I just had a startling revelation.  I should make one end have a larger pocket for plates (duh)!. 

Anyway, the mad creative scientist came out.  At first I made a simple cloth from the exact dimensions of our buffet table and card table (I made 2 matching cloths). These had pockets on the sides, a 6" overhang on all sides, and ribbon ties.  Basically what you see above.  We put these on and I felt pretty good.  They looked great.  My napkins and silverware were easy to find. They stayed on better than the others, but when the wind REALLY picked up, off they went.  So, not one to get discouraged, I thought, "I need something to tie these down."  That is exactly what I did!  I attached wide ribbons to both ends of the bottom of the tablecloths and sewed velcro to these.  When I put the table cloths on and secured the ribbons below, it was a perfect solution!

I loved them so much that I left the tablecloths on ALL summer.  I wiped them off with a clean rag when they were not in need of a wash.  The colors held up, and I was in heaven.

One night late in the summer my husband said, "You should sell these."  Thus the idea was born.  I made and donated 2 to the local youth football organization.  One is for their concession condiments and is a smaller buffet table.  The other one is a standard buffet table they use for their coach/team/referee check-in area.  They put pencils, calculators, etc. in the pockets.  I made these in the teams' colors and put their initials on the front. 

I have since realized that these would be great for catering, weddings, events, parties, etc.  If you'd like one, you can visit my Etsy shop and pick one up.  You can order one that is already finished, or you can order a customized one (color choice, print style and size).  These aren't just for outdoors.  They can be used inside as well.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

FHE chart & Quilted Bath Mat

Wow!  Time has flown.  I have been super busy with projects, life and kids this summer and realized that I have not posted any of it for awhile (lol).

Many years ago I created a great FHE board, but we have not used it for a few years because it doesn't even have all our family members on it.  I have been thinking about this dilemma for awhile, and I had some inspiration during church yesterday. 

I cut a large piece of mat board (that is what I had in my storage room).  It worked well.  I didn't even have to paint it.  I created 1.75" squares using Microsoft Word for the name plates, cut them out, glued them onto 2" square patterned paper and laminated them using my Purple Cows laminator. This allows us to change the names under each assignment. I created the Title Banner using Microsoft Word as well and followed the same procedure as the squares.  I typed up some text boxes in Word with the following:  1) Date    2) Conducting    Opening Song      Closing Prayer    3) Opening Prayer   Testimony     Closing Song     4) Scripture    Refreshments     5) Lesson      6) Activity.     Then I followed the same procedure as mentioned above.   Next, I cut 1/2" strips of polk a dot print paper for the sashing (dividers).  I felt my title needed a little bit more so I took 2 pieces of scraps and layered them behind my banner.   I glued everything down with my hot glue gun.  Note: I only glued the edges of the 2" squares so that they would not be lumpy where I write the names.   To attach the ribbon, I punched 2 holes about 1 1/2" from each end.  I cut 2 pieces of ribbon 18" long and burned the edges, slipped one end in each hole and glued in place, then tied a bow and glued it in place really well.  That's all!  Note: I chose to do a rotation of 5 weeks since we have 5 people in our family.  That way everyone will have a chance to do each assignment.  After filling in all the blanks, I realized that the only blocks I need to change are the date blocks.  I could have typed the names and they would have looked nicer, but oh well!

The second project I want to share with you today is my quilted bath mat.  I needed a quick and economic fix for our bathroom.  I pulled out some cotton scraps and found some that kind of match our bathroom colors, sewed them into strips, pressed them with the iron and put a border around them.  Next, I layed out an old towel, placed the quilted top on it and cut the towel to fit.  Then I stitched the two layers together.  Out of the brown border fabric, I cut 2 1/2" strips on the bias, sewed the ends together to create bias tape, folded it over and pressed, then sewed it to the towel side, folded it over and stitched it on top.  Wah lah!  It has worked great.  It absorbs well and can be draped over the side of the tub to dry and adds a nice touch to the decor (at least I think so which is what matters, right?).

I wish you a wonderful day.  Thanks for stopping by!-Dari