ake your Thanksgiving table festive with homemade place mats. It's fun for kids of all ages to stamp the painted designs and add details with dimensional paints. Supplies are inexpensive and will go a long way. "This was a great idea for my three kids, ages 3-8," says a mom from Cincinnati. The LaClairs of New York said it was fun for all of them, ages five to thirty-nine. An added benefit of this activity is the chance to talk to your kids about Thanksgiving. "It gave us the opportunity to explain to the kids about being thankful for special people and the things in our lives," says Lynda Hannan, mom of two young kids. A family in Ohio recalled the fun of making turkey napkin holders last year for Grandma, and a family in Nebraska talked about what their Thanksgiving would be like this year. An 11-year-old boy sums it up perfectly: "Thanksgiving was a good name to call this holiday because we are thankful to see each other and the aunts and uncles and Grandma and Grandpa."

Several families plan to give these place mats as gifts to Grandma at Thanksgiving. You can bet they will be used for many Thanksgivings to come. So, pull out the potatoes, paints, and burlap to get crafty!

Here's what you'll need:

• Burlap (any color)
• Tape measure
• Sharp scissors
• Acrylic craft paints (oranges, reds, golds)
• Dimensional paints (greens, golds, browns)
• 1-2 potatoes
• Paring knife
• Newspapers, waxed paper
• Paper plates
• Paper towels

Here's what you'll do:

1. Measure and cut pieces of burlap that are 12x18 inches (this is an adult's job). You'll need one piece for each place mat.
2. Pull out 4 or 5 yarns along each edge to make a fringe around the mat.
3. Set the mats on a thick layer of newspapers covered with waxed paper. (Paints will go through the burlap.)
4. Choose 1 or 2 potatoes that have pumpkin-like shapes. Cut them in half crosswise or lengthwise. (Again, this is an adult's task.)
5. Plan your design. Here are some ideas:
   
   a.) Make a border of pumpkin shapes around all edges.
   
   b.) Put a group of pumpkins in the corner(s).
   
   c.) Run a row of pumpkins across the top and bottom.
   
   d.) Make random designs with a variety of prints and colors.
   
   (This is especially good for very young children.)
6. Put some orange paint on a paper plate. Set the cut side of the potato into the paint, and rub it around to spread paint evenly across the potato.
7. Press the painted side of the potato onto the burlap. Lift it off. Dip the potato into paint again and repeat over the first stamping. Do this several times until the design shows up clearly.
8. Wipe or rinse off the potato if you wish to use the same pumpkin shape with another color.
9. Let the paints dry completely. (To speed up the drying time, blow warm air from a hair dryer over the place mats for a minute or twoóadults only.) Then use dimensional paints to add details like leaves, vines, or words.

Other Designs to Try: Turkey: Use a potato half to outline a brown body shape. Cut notches out of the remaining potato section to create a narrow strip (about 3/4 inch wide, 2 inches long). Dip the potato strip into different shades of red, orange, gold, and brown paints, and print them outward from the body like tail feathers. Use red dimensional paint for a head and snood. Use yellow dimensional paint to draw legs, feet, and a beak. Add black spots for eyes.

Apples: Cut an apple in half crosswise for a star pattern. Cut an apple lengthwise for a regular apple shape. Use red, green and yellow paints to print apple shapes on the mats.

Other materials to try: Craft Foam: Use a 12-by-18-inch piece of craft foam for each place met. Round off the corners with a scissors, or cut them at an angle. Paint/print on this mat instead of on burlap. Air-dry only. Felt: Beth W. scalloped the ends of the felt pieces before her boys and their cousins did any painting. Their mats will be used on the family room end table. An upstate New York teacher cut felt into 4 1/2-inch squares to make coasters instead of place mats. Her students painted a little turkey in one corner of the coaster using a spool for the turkey's body (a carrot would do). She adds, "I reminded the children to keep the design in one corner to leave enough flat room on the coaster for a glassódimensional paints create a little bump. They look very cute with the glass next to the little turkey."

Notes:

• Use older potatoes and apples that might otherwise be thrown out. Shapes can also be cut from foam rather than food.
• Cut a variety of potatoes for different pumpkin sizes and shapes.
• Mix colors to make different pumpkin and feather shades.
• Overlap designs after letting paints dry a few minutes.
• Paints show up best on natural or light-colored burlaps, but dark colors are attractive too.
• Sign and date your artwork.

Other fun ideas:

• Make handprints on the place mats and turn them into turkeys.
• Use rubber stamps to add leaves or other details to pumpkin, squash or apple prints.
• Use cotton swabs for paintbrushes to add smiley faces and other designs.
• Use large plastic-foam trays in place of the waxed paper. Projects can be picked up and moved easily until they dry.

TAKE IT FROM ME:
Here's a cool project extension of the project from the Hannan family. Jack (4) liked naming all the family members who would be with them at Thanksgiving, which prompted Mom to pull out a group family picture to review names. Even little Katie (20 months) could pick out familiar people. Mom decided she'd create a family tree with stamped apples and add family pictures to it!

This article © 2001-2004 Studio One Networks.

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