Water Colored Placemats: Tutorial

I like to decorate with useful things...things you can make, eat or will be of use at a later date. I made this little placemat for Carson's birthday party last year. The theme was "Under the Sea/Mermaid"

And I made them again this year...sticking to the Princess/Dress up theme.

I got the idea when a friend of mine made me water colored gift tags. I knew I wanted to make placemats for her party, but wasn't sure how I wanted to decorate them. I married the two ideas and got water colored placemats!

It is a fairly quick and cost effective party decoration and favor. I had all of the scrapbook paper on hand as well most of the other materials. The only thing I had to buy were the letter stickers and pay to have them laminated. If you are interested in making them for your child's next party...here is how you do it!

Materials: Water color paints, scrapbook paper, letter stickers, glue stick, coloring pages from the Internet, scissors, computer, printer and a place where you can laminate. I laminated them at our local teacher store (Lakesore Learning Center). It cost me $6 to laminate 28 placemats.

1) Google a coloring sheet of your choice. I googled "Prince Coloring Sheet" and ended up using a frog prince and I also googled "Princess Coloring Sheet."

2) Print out your coloring sheet. I just printed them out on regular paper, but water color paper would look even better. My printer is super sensitive to printing paper with different textures and weights.

3) Water colors your pictures and let them dry.

4) Cut them out and set aside.

5) Use 1 piece of scrapbook paper for the placemat itself and a half of a piece of coordinating scrapbook paper for the matting in the middle. Glue the two together.

6) Glue the watercolor picture to the placemat.

7) Add the child's name with your letter stickers.

Lastly, laminate them for durability...

And Enjoy...

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