With the holidays coming up, you probably have lots of events that you need to bring a dish to.  There are potlucks, cookie exchanges, office parties, etc.  Here’s a pretty project to make that you can use to carry your dish with you.  It would also be a fun way to “wrap” a hostess gift.

I bought these placemats at Dollar Tree thinking that I would embroider them.  About 30 minutes into that project, I remembered that I don’t have the patience to embroider, so I quickly scrapped that project.  (Who knows, maybe I’ll submit it to CraftFail!)  Out of failure comes innovation, and I’m much happier with this colorful dish carrier!  The placemats I used make this carrier more suited for cold or room temperature dishes (I usually bring dessert), but you could use quilted placemats to make a carrier for hot dishes.

Project estimate:

• Place Mats, $2
• Paint, on hand
• Stencil, on hand
• Ribbon, on hand

Total :$2

Step one:  Stencil the background pattern on the place mat.  Place a small amount of paint on a roller or pouncer and dab it over the stencil.

Step two:  Stencil the monogram over the background in a darker color paint.

Step three:  Stitch three of the sides closed.

Step four:  Stitch a length of ribbon on either side of the opening to use as a closure.

This project is so quick and easy to do that you can make several in one setting.  They’d also be cute to use for packaging gifts for teachers and co-workers.  Simply slip a nice box of cookies or chocolate inside, tie the edge, and have a pretty gift carrier, too.  Have fun crafting and creating!