Christmas Card Placemats

So today, we are doing another one of my favorite activities.  We are using old Christmas cards to make festive placemats.  This is a really simple project that is lots of fun.  Last year, we discovered that Hobby Lobby sells silver posterboard.  One piece of posterboard can be used to make two 12 inch x 18 inch placemats.  Once the posterboard is cut, I just turn the kids loose with old Christmas cards and glue sticks.  They love looking through all of the old cards and choosing which ones to use. 


Grace making her placemat last year.



Sam working hard on his placemat last year.



Sam's placemat from last year.

Helpful Hints:

• Be sure to date the placemats and to write the names of any friends and family who end up featured on the placements on the back of the placemats.
• After the kids are finished, have the placemats laminated.  The first year that we tried this, our placemats were too big to fit in the standard laminating machine which made them too expensive to laminate.  This is why we now stick with 12 inches by 18 inches.
• With older kids, you might add some embellishments.  This year, we might try to add a rickrack boarder and maybe some scrapbook paper as backgrounds for the various cutouts.

Pictures from Today