The Toy Box Years: Dollar Tree Placemats

The Creators of the Toy Box Years

The creators of the Toy Box Years are my two beautiful daughters and wonderful, handsome soldier husband.

"Nani" (our oldest) is a 11 year old 6th grader who loves Taylor Swift, ballet, books, fashion designing and sewing. Ask her what she wants to be when she grows up and it changes daily to anything from "an artist" to "a teacher" to "a singer/dancer". Nani is also currently fighting a battle against brain cancer -- recently diagnosed in June 2016.

"Nudgie" (our youngest) is a very smiley, very happy, very giggly, very spirited 8 year old 3rd Grader who's favorite toys are anything that gives mommy an anxiety attack - ladders, stepstools, the climbing wall at the playground. Like her sister, she has a love of reading and coloring, loves gymnastics and still provides mommy lots of snuggle time!

"My Marine" is my high school sweetheart. We've been married over 20 years and met when we were 17. (You do the math....) His favorite toys are Blackhawk helicopters, the lawnmower, our steam cleaner, and microbrew beer bottles. My husband is also my hero in that he proudly serves his country as a Blackhawk crew chief (hence his favorite toy!). And need I say that there is nothing hotter than my man in uniform!

All About Me......

Once upon a time I had a career and worked in the corporate world. Once upon a time, I dreamed about leaving that all behind to follow my true calling -- being a wife and mommy.

The first part of my calling was fulfilled in 1995 when I married my Marine (now soldier) and my love. Little did I know that being a military wife would change me in so many ways and that because of that, I would have an extended family all over the world from Japan, to California, to North Carolina.

The second part of my calling took a little doing, but I finally achieved that dream in 2004 with the birth of our first child, followed 4 years later by her baby sister.

So now, when someone asks me what I do for a living - I simply smile and say proudly that I'm following my calling - I'm a mommy and a wife -- and I couldn't be HAPPIER -- I'm living in the Toy Box Years!!

Awhile back I found a cute placemat for Nani. It was in the shape of a castle and had outlines of how to set the table. Pretty cute. But it was foam and there was no easy way to clean off the food particles that would become caked on.

So I thought I'd make my own.

From the Dollar Tree, I picked up these cute felt Princess crowns in the craft section. The tag said they were wall hangings, but for me, they were perfect for my placemat idea. Once I got home, I dug through my craft supply and found the oversized foam sheets that I needed. I used white to offset the purple princess crowns.

I glued the crowns on to the foam sheets. That was the easy part.

I had to have My Marine help me with the next part - which was covering the whole thing with contact paper. I hate working with contact paper. It just never works out for me - it gets all wrinkly and sticks to everything. So I was hoping by having an extra set of hands, it would make it a little easier.....and I was right. Plus My Marine was a good sport with helping me out!

Laminate, smooth, and then set the table!

Total cost?

Foam sheets - already on hand
Contact paper - already on hand
Felt Princess crowns - $2

Not bad! AND they are easy to wipe off spills!

7 comments:

Christy Killoran May 10, 2011 at 6:08 AM: Cute! I used to have a lot of trouble with contact paper, but we use it so much now that I have kind of figured it out. I still get the occasional wrinkle, but not often.
Anonymous May 10, 2011 at 6:17 AM: Awesome! I finally invested in a lamination machine from Sams a few weeks back. I am soooo happy I did. Hopefully you'll get to at some point. Mine will do up to a file folder size - I know this because I have been making file folder games out the wazoo with it!!
MaryAnne May 10, 2011 at 7:45 AM: Super cute! My trick with contact paper is to uncover no more than an inch at a time. Still a pain to work with, though! It looks like you and your Marine worked together to get it perfect!
Anonymous May 10, 2011 at 6:29 PM: How cute and crafty! Great job :)
Alyssa @ Frugal Stepmom May 19, 2011 at 7:03 AM: Super Cute! I have not used contact paper since I papered the pantry shelves... We had a falling out after that, hah!
Rebecca May 19, 2011 at 8:05 AM: Laminate paper is a thorn in my side too. Your place mats are cute!
Pamela June 1, 2011 at 9:40 PM: What a neat idea. I saw those crowns and wondered what I could do with them. Now I know. :-)

I'm a new GFC follower from Sew Can Do.

Blessings,
Pamela