This simple Vintage Milk Paint placemat is a great project for decorating the dinner table in a country or vintage theme. Vintage Milk Paint also looks very shabby chic! You can buy milk paint in almost any color. It usually comes in power form, so you have to add your own water.
The canvas lends itself well to almost any paint and any Vintage Milk Paint you might want to paint on it.
The best part of this simple craft project that is the more Vintage Milk Paint placemats you make, the less each one will cost you.
You can buy pre-primed canvas by the yard at almost any fabric store or art supply store. The Vintage Milk Paint paints, polyurethane, and primer go a long way as well!
To Make a Painted Vintage Milk Paint Placemat You will need:
1 Yards oft Per primed Canvas
Vintage Milk Paint
Polyurethane
Paint Brushes
Pencil
Painter’s Tape
Duct Tape or No Sew
Start by cutting your canvas place mat out to size. I cut mine 14 inches by 20 inches. This is a little bit bigger than a normal dinner table place mat, but this way the you can see more of the placemat at dinner.
Fold in your rough edges about 1 inch towards the back of the mat. You can simply duct tape these down since no one will see the underside of your Vintage Milk Paint dinner mat. If you prefer though you can use a product like no sew.
When you iron down the edges though, make sure you place a rag between the primed canvas and your iron. The primer will melt and burn. It will also ruin your iron. You could also use fabric glue to hem the edge to even simply sew it down with a sewing machine.
Now, time to paint your Vintage Milk Paint dinner placemat. This is the time to get creative with design.
First paint the entire placemat out in one color of milk paint. Let this dry.
I like to use painters tape to tape off a two-inch border along the outside edges of the Vintage Milk Paint placemat. Then in the middle you can paint in any design you want.
You now have a frame and a painted center. So, put something fun in the center.
This simple vintage placemat is the perfect time to get whimsical. Try copying the pattern from some vintage china. Vintage fabric is always great inspiration.
Once the Vintage Milk Paint has dried you can add a few coats of polyurethane. This will allow you to wash your placemat off without reactivating your milk paint.
You can also add vintage embellishments to really personalize this Vintage Milk Paint project. Glass Beading, faux gemstones, and almost any little vintage looking bobble you can find at the arts and craft store will work. Just remember you will need to clean this, so stay away from anything that cannot get wet.
To clean your Vintage Milk Paint dinner mat you can use a damp sponge. Water will work just fine.
Tip:
If you cannot think of a design or border you want to paint on the Vintage Milk Paint placemat try getting some inspiration from other sources around your home.
You can make the Vintage Milk Paint dinner mats match your room color. You could also paint the canvas dinner mats to match your favorite dinner plates.
