picnic ideas

Posts Tagged ‘picnic ideas’

Picnic Basket Part 2: Weighting a Picnic Tablecloth

June 15th, 2010

“Never eat more than you can lift.” -Miss Piggy

Very good advice for a picnic Miss Piggy. I’ll try to remember that.

But sometimes a little weight at a picnic comes in handy…. like on a breezy day for instance.

Here’s what I did to solve the windy-day-fly-away tablecloth dilemma: This tutorial can be used to modify any cloth picnic tablecloth.

It all starts with a trip to the hardware store to pick up some 2″ heavy duty washers. Look around for the heaviest 2″ washer in the store.

But let’s face, these washers aren’t exactly attractive. I needed to spruce them up a bit.

I found a piece of scrapbook paper in my stash, that was a good match to my tablecloth. And using a 2″ circle cutter, I cut out a circle. You can also do it the old fashioned way, and trace the washer, then cut it out by hand. Be sure to trace the outer and inner circle and cut out both.

Next I made a dot in the center of my circle.

That helped me center my 7/8″ circle punch in the middle of my 2″ circle of paper.

I had some fun cutting out my circles. I even used my scalloped punch for a few. Be sure to cut out a circle for both the front and back of each washer.

Now it’s time for some Outdoor Mod Podge.

And paint the Mod Podge evenly on the washer using a foam brush.

Add the paper and paint more Mod Podge evenly over the paper, making sure to paint away any bubbles in the paper.

Set it aside to dry.

Repeat the process on the other side of the washer.

Now it’s time to modify the tablecloth to hold the weight. Cut a 4 x 20″ sections of ribbon. I used 3/8″ grosgrain. Fold each piece in half and pin one to each corner of your tablecloth about 1 1/2″ in from the corner. I made a narrow upside down “V”.

And stitch it into place. Make sure to back stitch several times. This will be holding weight. You can do it the old fashioned way with needle and thread too.

Next add a decorative button to cover up the ugly stitching.

Make sure to use a match or Fray Check to keep your ribbon from fraying.

Repeat the process until all 4 corners are done. They should look like this. I think it looks pretty, even without a washer. And on a calm day, you can leave them just as they are.

But if the wind picks up….