This is a fun project that children would enjoy. Everyone can make their own place mat or you can make a set of custom mats. This project is fairly easy.

First decide what you want the background of your place mat to be. If you want these to have some stability, poster board cut to size, will work really well. These can be made so many different ways, it’s really up to you. If you chose to use poster board, you can draw or stencil on it. You could also glue silk flowers or pictures to the poster board.

Once you have the poster board the way you want it to look, you can either apply clear shelf paper or have it laminated at your local copy store. If you want to avoid having these laminated, you can purchase a role of clear plastic shelf liner. Cut 2 pieces of liner per mat to fit your project, leaving about 1 inch on all sides. Start by laying the back piece sticky side up on your work surface. Make sure you have your project lined up properly, allowing 1 inch on all sides. Slowly lay the poster board on to the sticky sheet, starting with one side, slowly working to the next, trying to avoid air bubbles.

After you have everything in place, flip it over and carefully remove any air bubbles ( a spatula or credit card work great). If you have any bubbles that you can’t get rid of, take the tip of a sharp needle and lightly puncture the bubble. Drag your spatula across the bubble, allowing the air to escape. Once you have the back of the mat smooth, flip it over. Carefully lay the other piece of sticky paper on to the mat, working one side at a time, making sure everything lines up. Remove any bubbles, as you did for the back. Trim off any edges, leaving at least 1/2 an inch on all sides.

Another way of making these without poster board, is to lay a piece of the shelf paper sticky side up on your work surface and just place the items you like directly to it. Place another piece of the sticky paper directly on top ( sticky sides facing each other). Remove air bubbles and trim the edges. Now you have a personalized place mat.

*NOTE: I would avoid putting any plate that may be too warm on these place-mats.

Supplies Needed:

• Clear sticky back shelf paper (omit if having laminated)
• Pictures, silk flowers, any flat item you chose
• Poster board (optional)
• Scissors
• Paints (optional)
• Stencils (optional)

I made one of these for my mother who collects birdhouses. This turned out really cute, they can be used as ornaments for the holidays or for anyone who likes birdhouses.

A hot glue gun is required for this project. First, it is best to have a pattern. I used a piece of cardboard for my pattern. I drew out the walls and ceiling the size I wanted( approx 6 small craft sticks for each wall) on to the cardboard. I then cut the pieces out. I drew a line on the sticks, the height I needed and simply cut the sticks with a pair of heavy duty scissors.

After you have cut all your pieces, glue the sticks to the cardboard pattern. To assemble, stand the walls of the house up to each other, run a bead of glue inside, between the walls, attaching them. The roof of the house was done in a similar way, by gluing the sticks to the roof pattern. In order to get a slanted roof, I cut out two small triangular pieces the size I needed. If you can’t get the craft sticks as small as you like, due to splintering, just paint the card board the same color you are going to paint the bird house.

Attach the triangle cardboard pieces to the front and back wall of the bird house. Then attach the roof pieces by gluing them to the triangles. Once the birdhouse was assembled, I painted it and added the opening of the house by painting a black circle on the front. I finished up by gluing a piece of raffia to the back for hanging. This technique is not just for bird houses, you could make these in various sizes and make your own little village.

Supplies Needed:

• Wooden craft sticks (Popsicle sticks)
• Craft paint
• Heavy scissors
• Hot glue gun
• Glue sticks
• Cardboard
• Raffia or ribbon ( for hanging)
• Small mushroom birds