Can you believe these placemats are made out of inexpensive drop cloth? They are easy to make and look just like the fresh linen placemats you would buy at the store.

Stenciled with greetings of holiday cheer, they are the perfect invitation to a great meal.

Follow our easy instructions to create fun and inexpensive drop cloth placemats. All you need is a painter’s drop cloth from the hardware store, fabric paint and stencils.

Follow our lead or choose a pattern of your own to make festive table settings for your holiday guests!

This post includes links to purchase items you’ll need from our affiliates.

Drop cloth placemats instructions

drop cloth placemats instructions
Ingredients
  • canvas drop cloth
  • ruler
  • tailor’s chalk
  • scissors
  • fabric paint
  • stencil or stipple brush
  • 1″ lower case letter stencil
Instructions
  1. Lay drop cloth on hard, flat surface. Measure and mark 9″ x 13″ rectangles along grain of fabric using ruler and tailor’s chalk. Cut out placemats along chalk line cutting approximately 1″ larger than intended size; washing/drying will make fabric shrink). Repeat for each placemat then wash and dry drop cloth.
  2. Pull and remove strings on all edges to fray material. Even out fray on all sides with scissors.
  3. Lay placemat on flat, hard surface. Place stencil in bottom right corner. Work backwards and start with the last letter of the word so you don’t run off the placemat if spacing is slightly off.
  4. Pour small amount of paint into bowl (recycle Greek yogurt cups for paint bowls). Dip stencil brush in paint and dab excess off onto paper towel.
  5. Hold stencil in place with one hand, begin painting in a tapping motion. Tap stencil brush on fabric in an up and down tapping motion for best results. Let each letter dry before moving to next and wipe stencil clean with damp paper towel to remove excess paint and prevent smudging.
  6. Let dry. Spot clean only to prevent further fraying.
Notes
Use your imagination and see what greetings you can come up with!

Drop cloth placemats

Drop cloth placemats