Bevy of Burlap Party/Picnic Table Setting

Designer Crafts Connection Designer Group were challenged to design with burlap from BurlapFabric.com.

We are always excited for a new challenge, and if you haven't already noticed, burlap has been around for a while and has proven to be very popular for wedding decorating, home decor and more!  Hope you enjoy the Blog Tour today.  Make sure to enter the Give-Away at the end of this blog.

About a week ago I received a box with a bunch of burlap goodies in it!  There was some red yardage, a little bag with handles, burlap ribbons and a couple of little burlap bags.  My first thought was Christmas, but it is July!  I am reserving some yardage for some Christmas fun, but for now I wanted to celebrate Summer with some easy, colorful and fun table decorations.  I think they are perfect for the picnic table and entertaining on the deck!

I unpacked everything and laid it out.  Had to figure out just what and how I would make using as much of the burlap booty that I could.  I decided to start by showing you how to cut the burlap so that you will get straight lines everytime.  I used this technique for making the flowers you see on the decorations and for the table runner shown in the finished set.  I have pictured the steps below.

I thought that this party needed a little something more, so I found a wooden frame that I got at the craft store and went to work.  To complete these projects, you will need the supplies listed below.

You will need:

Burlap:  red yardage; 3-1/2" woven ribbon with red threads; 1-1/2" natural ribbon with fringed edges; 

burlap bag: 8" high (from top of handles to bottom) x 8" wide x 4" deep (from BurlapFabric.com)

Chalkboard labels by Darice

Natural jute bakers twine

Kraft cardstock

Needle and carpet thread

Round sponge pouncer; paintbrush

Americana acrylic paints by Deco Art:  Sand, Foliage Green

Black beads, 1/4"

Recycled soup cans (thoroughly cleaned and dried)

1/4" round paper punch

Glue gun, glue sticks

Scissors, paper cutter

First you will remove the cardboard from the middle of the frame.  Reserve this piece for a little later.  You will cut a piece of Kraft cardstock to fit and adhere to the cardboard heart.  Below are the steps to cover the frame.  Cover the front of the frame with a piece of burlap about 1-1/2" larger than the frame.  Turn the frame over, wrap up and adhere the corners.  Repeat with the edges.  Cut the center out of the burlap heart leaving a 1" border.  Snip into the curves of the seam, wrap up and adhere to the sides of the heart.  When finished, cut a piece of burlap to fit the back of the frame and adhere.  You can use the middle space to write the name of the happy couple, or use it for a menu.

Up-cycled cans:  Refer to the photo below to see the set.  I recycled some soup cans by washing them thoroughly and making sure there were no sharp edges.  Cut a piece of burlap to fit around the can and adhere.  Pull burlap threads to make a small fringe around the top edge.  Apply paint dots using the sponge pounce r.  Use finished cans for plastic silverware, napkins, straws, etc.

Flowers:  I thought the gathered burlap would make a great poppy-like flower.  Using a heavy thread and a needle, I sewed a running stitch along one long edge of a 1-1/4" x 10" strip.  I pulled the thread to gather it into a circle and whip-stitched the edges together to secure.  There is a small round hole in the center of the flower.  Roll a 2" piece of natural burlap ribbon (with fringed edges) and poke one end into the hole. Adhere. Glue a black bead into the fringe as shown.

Finish:  Refer to the photo given and adhere burlap ribbon to adjacent corners of the frame. 

Chalkboard labels:  Adhere label to a larger piece of Kraft cardstock.  Cut out around the label, leaving a 1/8" border.  Punch a hole in each side of the label.  Thread one end of the twine through one hole and pull the tails up even.  Repeat for the opposite side.  Tie the twine tails together on the back of the frame.  Repeat for each of the chalkboard labels; cut a smaller length of twine for the cans.

Add a little extra pizzazz to the containers!  Paint the clothespins; let dry.  Adhere a burlap flower to the

top of the clothespin. I made burlap poppies and roses. Clip the decorated clothespin to the edge of the can container or use it as a decorative chip clip or gift bag embellishment.  I think a set of these decorated clothespins would make a nice gift!

Table Runner:  Follow the instructions given above to get a straight edge on the burlap.  After cutting the width and length that you need for the size of your table; pull the burlap threads on the sides and ends to make a fringe all the way around.  For this runner, I unrolled a matching length of 3-1/2" woven burlap ribbon to match the length of the table runner. Cut a V in each end of the woven ribbon.

Participating DCC blogs:

Michelle FraeCummings  faeriedustdreams-michelle.blogspot.com/

Sue Eldred   sueeldred.com

Susan Brown  sbartist.com
Terry Ricioli   terryriciolidesigns.blogspot.com
Angela Holt   angelaholtdesigns.com 
Anita Scroggins   theflamingochronicals.blogspot.com
Beth Watson   bwdesignstudio.blogspot.com
Carmen Flores Tanis  florestanisstudio.com 
Cherish Flieder  somethingtocherish.com
Cindi Bisson   fatcatcreations.blogspot.com
Jennifer Priest  hydrangeahippo.com
Julie McGuffee   juliemcguffee.blogspot.com
Kristi Parker   kristiscreativecafe.blogspot.com
Lisa Fulmer   lisalizalou.com
Madeline Arendt   madelinesthoughts.blogspot.com
Marilyn Gossett   marilyngossett.blogspot.com

Check out the following website url for more awesome products!

http://burlapfabric.com/

For more information on Burlap products available and social media sites to follow, check out the following links:

http://www.pinterest.com/burlapfabric/

https://www.facebook.com/burlapfabric

https://plus.google.com/+BurlapFabric/about

http://instagram.com/burlapfabric

https://twitter.com/BurlapFabric

https://www.youtube.com/user/BurlapFabric

BUT THERE'S MORE!  Would you like an opportunity to win a $100 selection of burlap products

 that includes a nice variety of natural and colored burlap yardage, ribbons, embellishments and totes?  Go to the following link and enter!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/73bd0b11/

Whether you like Diet Coke or not, you must admit the marketing campaign they have on their cans right now is pretty cool!  I think you are a Star and wish you a wonderful day and lots of crafty fun from the inspiration you get on the Blog Tour today!  Be sure to enter to win the $100. worth of burlap products give-away!  Please leave me a note if you have any questions about the projects featured here today!

Live Life with a Flourish,

Marilyn