My mother went all out on holidays. She decorated generously for all of them. She was a more-is-more kind of woman, and I loved her for it! I certainly inherited some of that, but not so much for holidays. My decorating is sparse by comparison, and probably by most standards. Now that we have children (hooray for three!) it's much more fun to make a deal over Halloween. I am not quite to the point of sewing hours on costumes (but admire those who do); maybe that will come. But, it is fun to put out carved pumpkins and a few other things in October. Audrey helped me do it this year.
The tabletop seems like an easy, reasonable, and high-impact way to do up the current season. I have always loved linens, plates, serving pieces, etc.. So for Halloween we have bat placemats! They are eat-and-wipe-it-down vinyl (have to be honest here about all the issues surrounding PVC--these aren't food safe, so don't forget the plate, and some would argue not kid safe either...). My mother made these identical placemats when I was a child, and some for other holidays--you can probably imagine the possibilities. Such a simple and clever way to make mealtime fun.
A few years ago when my siblings and I were going through her holiday things we found the bats and made a template. Now I think we all have bat mats at Halloween. If you would like to make some for your table you can download the free template here:
Bat Placemat Template_AestheticNest.com_Oct 2010
They aren't bad for playing with either...
8 comments:
I love the bats! Reading that post made me miss your mom. What an awesome woman! I love seeing her in each of you.
Bring on the holidays!
How cute! What a great idea!
They are really cute! My mom was the same way. She decorated for every Holiday even the lesser Holidays like St. Patrick's Day (we aren't even Irish). She had table settings in the formal dining room and at our table in the kitchen. I definitely am much more of a minimalist, and my decorations for the Holidays are very subtle. These bats are cute! I think it is cool to share things from your childhood with your own kids.
They're so pretty! Thanks so much for the how-to, I'll be linking.
I love your blog and this great idea for Halloween decor! I'm linking up to it over on my Friday Favorites.
Thank you! I now have 5 placemats sitting on my Halloween Table looking awesome that cost me less than $5! Fabulous!!!
Hi there,
I came upon your post on the Bat place mats. I am planning on doing something similar for a fundraiser but I have no idea where to find this vinyl material that you cut the bats out of. Would you have any suggestions where to find it or what its called?
Thanks!
Mike Davis
www.ottawaurbanarts.com
info@ottawaurbanarts.com
@Mike: This is PVC vinyl. Some shops might stock it as "faux leather." You can find it in the upholstery section and I'm sure major online sellers, such as fabric.com, would have some too. Good luck wiht your fundraiser!
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