• 0 items$0.00
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Hands Occupied

Colorful knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame from craft book author & designer Heidi Gustad.

  • BLOG
    • Knitting
    • Crochet
    • Latch Hook
    • Macramé
    • Punch Needle
  • ABOUT
  • Shop
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • YouTube

How-to: Toothpick-Stamped Place Mats

November 18, 2013 1 Comment

How-to: Toothpick-Stamped Place Mats | Hands Occupied

Thanksgiving can be a hard holiday to craft for. I’m always finding myself inspired by great vegetarian recipes or autumn leaves, maybe more than by Thanksgiving itself. Today, though, I was inspired by midcentury glassware designs to create an uber-simple set of stamped place mats. These take about 10 minutes apiece to make, but if you want an added challenge and aren’t afraid to sew, you can try your hand at sewing your own place mats using this tutorial from Centsational Girl.

Supplies

acrylic craft paint
toothpicks
fabric place mats
waxed paper or silicon crafting mat
scotch guard (optional)

How-to: Toothpick-Stamped Place Mats | Hands Occupied

Directions

Sew up your place mats if you are so inclined. If not, wash some premade fabric place mats before beginning.

Squirt some acrylic paint onto waxed paper or a crafting mat to protect your work surface. Holding a toothpick between two fingers as shown, coat one side of the toothpick in paint. Don’t go crazy – if you use too much paint, your stamps will come out looking less like subtle, tapered lines and more like a Rorschach Test. How-to: Toothpick-Stamped Place Mats | Hands Occupied

Carefully place your painted toothpick approximately at the center of your cloth place mat.

How-to: Toothpick-Stamped Place Mats | Hands Occupied

Place 3-5 more, slightly staggering their position up and down from the place mat’s center for a relaxed look.

Remove them in the order applied. My tips for removing these without messing up your work:

  • Make sure your hands are clean and dry. You don’t want to transplant some paint into an undesired location on your place mat.
  • Press down on one end of the toothpick and lift up the far end with a finger tip. Toothpicks are tapered, so they see-saw nicely off of your place mat when you remove them in this way.

How-to: Toothpick-Stamped Place Mats | Hands Occupied

 Continue stamping all the way across your place mats and let dry completely. If you’d like to keep your place mats protected from a potentially greasy gravy stain, apply a layer or two of scotch guard to both sides, following the package’s directions. Let dry, set your table, and you’re ready for an ultra-chic Thanksgiving spread!

How-to: Toothpick-Stamped Place Mats | Hands Occupied

Filed Under: How-to, Thanksgiving Tagged With: craft, dinner, diy, holidays, place mats, placemats, Sewing, stamping, thanksgiving, toothpick stamped place mats

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. She specializes in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macramé, and her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now!

Previous Post: « Weekly Reader
Next Post: DIY FYI: Starting a Skein of Yarn »

Reader Interactions

DID YOU LIKE THIS POST?
Visit similar articles...

  • Knitting Needle Case DIYKnitting Needle Case DIY
  • How-to: Back Seat Pet Protector How-to: Back Seat Pet Protector
  • Twinkle in Your Eye Sunglasses Twinkle in Your Eye Sunglasses
  • Easy No Slip HangersEasy No Slip Hangers

DON’T MISS ANOTHER UPDATE

Comments

  1. Gargi

    November 19, 2013 at 2:57 am

    Great idea!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), a craft book author & pattern designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. Really anything with yarn! ❤️  My work combines vintage and modern design elements, featuring bold colors and graphic motifs.

UPDATES BY EMAIL

Monthly highlights sent to your inbox.

Find Me Elsewhere, If You’re There

  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
Latch Hook by Heidi GustadDiscover Unique Items

Footer

INSTAGRAM

handsoccupied

Yarn craft designer & author. Into intarsia knits, latch hook, color & vintage-modern style.
❤️ Email for pattern support
👇🏻 Book, Patterns, Tutorials

Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
If you look closely, you’ll see I’m casually k If you look closely, you’ll see I’m casually knitting from one sweater into another here, no big deal. (What can I say, I lost a game of yarn chicken. 😂) I almost didn’t post this because I was worried someone might have some nonsense to say about my ability to knit. Then I remembered I can’t care about that. Silly me, I almost forgot myself! 
.
Speaking of which, dang it’s good to have my mental health back consistently after the past couple of years. The anxious parts of my personality are just chilling, rather than constantly screaming that my work isn’t good enough to share. The confident parts of me that matter have me creating (and starting to share my creations & process with strangers and friends) again! 
.
Anybody else feel like they are beginning to return to themselves, so to speak, this spring?
I’m feeling better, & all my [big, bad bug] proj I’m feeling better, & all my [big, bad bug] project needs is a couple of short sleeves! I’ll be finishing this sweater *just* before it gets too warm to wear, but isn’t that always how it goes? 🫠🧶 
.
#knittersofinstagram #soldotnacrop #handsoccupied #knitincolor #springknitting
Just divided the sleeves on this quick sweater, wh Just divided the sleeves on this quick sweater, which has unsurprisingly turned into a love letter to primary colors. ❤️💛💙 The heart stripe is a wee tweak I incorporated, and I don’t regret it! 
.
 #handsoccupied #soldotnacrop #strandedcolorwork #knitting #yokesweater
I am unfortunately home bound for the near future I am unfortunately home bound for the near future thanks to the big, bad bug. So far I’ve knit half a sweater, consumed about a gallon of ginger tea, & plowed through 3 seasons of Pit Bulls and Parolees. 
.
June doesn’t understand why I’m suddenly so boring, but she seems to like watching animal planet. 🤷🏼‍♀️
A bit of Saturday swatching. 🧶 I am working in A bit of Saturday swatching. 🧶 I am working in greyscale today to practice designing “without color”. Kinda cool, kinda weird. We’ll see if it yields anything interesting! 😆
.
#intarsia #intarsiaknitting #stopswatchandblockit #handsoccupied #knittersofinstagram
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2022 / Foodie Pro Theme On Genesis Framework / Branding by Ink + Mortar
All Site & Shop Policies / Privacy Policy / Cookie Policy