Splash Mat Project

Originally I was planning on keeping this blog mostly pictures of what our family is up to with a little paragraph or two.  I certainly wasn't planning on making it all crafts.  But when I'm up to lots of crafts, it's always fun to share.  Plus I get many of my crafting ideas from other people's blogs, so hopefully I might inspire someone else! :)

My crafts are usually very simple and easy.  If you know me you know that I'm very frugal (I won a cheapest wife award after all, but I think frugal sounds so much better!) so I will share how I make inexpensive crafts for even less!

I have a hard time spending very much $ on fabric.  I'm not very good at sewing, so if I don't pay much for it, I don't feel bad if I mess it up.  This has forced me to be creative since it seems that fabric is more $ than it should be.


Places to get cheap fabric:

1. Walmart isn't my favorite place to shop, but it certainly fits the bill as a college student family.  Their fabric selection is okay, at least for solid material.  Most of their prints are pretty ugly.  The clearance section often has decent fabric for $1-2/yd. 
2. Remnants!  Have you ever needed a yard or less for a little project?  Check out the remnant section at your local fabric store.  It can be hit and miss, but you can find some good things

I'll share some more places to get cheap fabrics as my projects come up.  

One of today's projects was about as easy as they come, and no-sew...my favorite!  I wanted a splash mat to put under Camille's high chair when she starts feeding herself.  I wanted some vinyl fabric with the fuzzy cotton backing (think cheap table cloth material!) so it would protect our floor from spills and also soft underneath so it wouldn't scratch. 

I was checking out the remnants at Walmart when I came across 1 1/2 yards of tablecloth fabric.  It was iridescent white with a light floral pattern.  Not too hideous, and only $3.  Perfect!

I cut a large square to be used for the splash mat.  I just eyeballed it because it's going to get food on it anyways!  The edges won't fray so there is no need for hemming it or anything.  Then I cut a small rectangle for a place mat for Camille when she is big enough to eat at the table.  I still had some fabric left, so I think one day I will use it to sew a simple little bib that covers her tummy and arms and ties on in back for really messy eating.  Anyone have an easy pattern?