Christmas Clearance = Valentine Place Mats

I am a big fan of Christmas clearance sales. A big fan. How can you pass up the idea of 75-90% off? Really...90% off!

I was running errands near Home Goods the other day, and I just couldn't resist peaking in to check out Christmas clearance items. There wasn't much. I had avoided the after Christmas madness and had also missed the good stuff. However, I did come across this cute pack of place mats.


They were sweet and simple. Solid red with a ruffled border around the edge. Perfect for Valentines Day. Perfect, but $12.99...that's not perfect.

But I saw a glimmer of hope. Tiny snowflakes danced across the tag on the package. Snowflakes on the package...who cares? The scanner might care. I know the package would be thrown away and I would be left with adorable Valentine place mats...but the scanner doesn't know.

And then I saw an even brighter glimmer of hope...3 little words..."Timeless Holiday Collection." Yes! The title was agreeing with me...these place mats were timeless. Christmas was over, but they were perfect for Valentine's Day too. However, that one little word...Holiday...just might buy me a big discount.

So, I put on my big girl panties, took the place mats to the cash register and asked. Yikes! I felt like an idiot. I knew I wanted the place mats. I could see the project in my mind. I also knew I really didn't want to pay $12.99. I half expected the lady to laugh and tell me that Valentines Day was also a holiday...my Mom did when I shared the story with her. (I love you Mom!) However, she politely said she would check the price for me.

So there I stood...alone. Alone and feeling about two inches tall for trying to get them to mark down an obviously use able, very non-Christmas looking product. And yes...all because it had snowflakes on the paper tag. So what, do I assume that no one can use the color red ever again after Christmas? I knew it sounded ridiculous. But I also knew, the discount was possible.

Back she returned with the package in hand. She was expressionless. That's not good. She handed me the place mats...


YAHOO! I couldn't believe my eyes. It worked! That's $1.25 per place mat. Those are practically Dollar Store prices!

Do you know what was even better? The sweet lady said, "I am so happy for you. I knew you would be so excited." She was celebrating my victory. I know felt 10 feet tall. It was really sweet. I pretty much wanted to wrap her up and bring her home with me, but I was pretty sure Home Goods would frown on that.

When I got home I took out my Cricut machine and a sheet of vinyl adhesive. I cut out four copies of the word Love, each one 4 inches tall. I peeled off the first word and stuck it to the corner of my place mat.


Next I added the important inside pieces.


I took out my bottle of Martha Stewart Fabric Medium and Martha Stewart black acrylic paint. I mixed a small amount of paint with the fabric medium according to the directions. The fabric medium is very thin and milky looking. It definitely changed the consistency of the paint.


After making sure my adhesive was pressed down really well, I dabbed the paint on with a fairly dry brush.


I peeled the vinyl piece off, and look how cute it turned out...


Now all it needs are some cute Valentine plates to serve up a table full of love.