Friends Across the Miles: The Great Placemat Search of 2017

I did something unusual on Facebook last month. I asked for help with something silly. My Facebook feed had too many political posts and not enough things to "like." I was in a entertaining quandary and I thought my friends would like the distraction. I was right. 

Here is my post:

Placemat A.P.B.: I know you're going to Target. Would you please swing by the placemat section? I need 2-4 more of these placemats. Cream with pink, gray, gold stitching. Only comes in one color way. Bought at Christmastime. Seattle-area has zero. I'll reimburse. Thanks!

We have a new house and are using a dining table that is new to us. It a beautiful table that can extend with leaves to seat the whole family. I know, that's a lot of place mats! When I originally found these place mats at Christmas, I bought 6. When I started to think about entertaining, I realized just how many mats I'd need. That is when I tried finding more of this pretty pink, gold and gray place mat and found that our local Targets were sold out. Target is everywhere and so are my Facebook friends, so it seemed like the natural audience to ask for help.  

It was neat to see the responses from across the USA. My college friend in Tennessee looked. My friend from Junior High looked. A girl from Junior League looked. It was so fun to see them check in and identify which Target location they visited and which "we" should therefore rule out. 

In the end, another friend of mine from Junior League in Michigan (that I haven't seen in at least 5 years BTW) named Carol offered to drive to any Target to get them, I just needed to point her in the right direction. So nice! I tracked down 4 place mats online, called the store and had them hold the place mats for Carol. 

She bought and mailed them to me lickety split. Fantastic. I noted that it was a job well done on the original Facebook post and that Carol had secured 8 perfect place mats for me, on clearance, no less! For a few weeks afterward, friends would ask me, "Hey, did you ever find those place mats?" 

They thought it was fun to help in a "not so important" search. If you are looking for something, I highly recommend asking your friends to keep an eye out. 

Your quest is my quest. Love, Anne

#friendsacrossthemiles #friendship #target #interiordesign #loveofthehunt

Custom Placemats

Don't you love it?  A beautiful tablescape based on placemats that I made from an old Cavallini & Co. calendar!

I love to dress up the kitchen by using a tablecloth.  It is a wonderful way to add a splash of color and can really breathe life into the room. 

The table in your kitchen is the design equivalent of the couch in your family room.  Being able to change tablecloths to suit your mood is like being able to reupholster your couch when ever you want to - the effect can be that dramatic.

That said, one splash of milk from the cereal bowl can spoil the look of a cloth and make you wonder why you tried at all.  So...

I've made myself (and you can too!) some paper placemats out of an old but beautiful calendar.  I trimmed the day/date section and the torn spiral bound edge off and suddenly had a picture suitable for framing. 

I bought a roll of clear contact paper at the hardware store and covered each picture (a process I affectionately call "plasticizing") with a plastic barrier - just unroll a bit of contact paper, line it up on the edge of the picture and slowly unroll as it makes contact with the picture.  Smooth out the bubbles as you go and then trim off the excess.  Cover the back of the paper image too, which will ensure greater longevity. Repeat that process a few more times and the result will be a set of custom placemats. 

My table looks gorgeous and actually eating there is no longer a problem.  Voila!