DIY Dollar Store Valentine Table Runner

Tags

DIY, Dollar Store, Hearts, No sew, placemats, Red, ribbon, table runner, Tablescapes

I am a huge fan of table runners. To me, something down the center of the table (a runner, candles, flowers, etc.) just completes the look.

There are some really beautiful ones out there with extra large price tags, but I love finding great deals on them at discount stores (hello Home Goods!) and at flea markets or thrift stores.

I also have a lot of fun making my own. Simple fabric runners are easy to make. Most any length of fabric will work – And sewing is not required! (Who has the time?) One of my most popular posts is still the no-sew, DIY, burlap table runners I made for a party last summer.

When I saw these place-mats at the dollar store I decided that they would make the perfect runner for my Valentine’s table, the big reveal of which will appear on KristinPotPie next week. (Until then, I am giving you little sneak peeks 🙂 )

All I needed was enough of these felt place-mats to lay end-to-end the length of my table, and some ribbon. You can use any combination of colors – I used red on red so that it would pop on my white tablecloth.

Since I already had ribbon on hand, this whole project cost me only $4!

If you don’t happen to have ribbon you can usually buy that at the dollar store as well. Just make sure you have enough in length – those dollar store rolls tend to run on the short side. The correct width to string through the placemats is also important – my ribbon could have been a bit less wide but I think it works.

The other trick is figuring out how many place-mats will fit nicely on your table. Five would have been a perfect fit on my table, but I wanted a mirrored look with half the hearts facing one direction and the other half the other way, so an uneven number just wouldn’t work.

So I just used four and let some ribbon show in between each place-mat. (Make sure to place them so that the ribbon showing is spaced at the same intervals.)

Once you figure out the lengths and widths of your materials, just run the ribbon through the place-mats, leaving s tail hanging at the ends. The holes in these hearts make it very easy to string the ribbon through. I did it in sucha way that the ribbon entered and exited the back side of the place-mats.

Add our usual napkin holder and a couple of candle sticks to the table and we are done! (For now 😉 ) Yes, we always have candle light when we sit down at the table whether it’s a holiday or, well, a Tuesday. Because every day is a special occasion right?