On one of my very first trips to Hobby Lobby, I found this ribbon….

I bought it for the specific purpose of adorning baby Onesies I sell online. Over the past months while working on crafting, I’ve realized this particular ribbon out of the many I 0wn, is the one that always catches my eye first. Often, my eye lingers on it. It never ever dawned on me to use such bold colors in my home. I’m not sure why. In many ways (probably most of my ways) I’m bold. I’ve just never done anything like that in my décor. I took a step out in faith in bright colors, and added a piece of this ribbon, about 10 inches long, to a sort of art piece I have in my kitchen. From that little tiny step, I made multiple baby steps. Then, I made a couple of small puddle jumps, finally leaping into the china cabinet in the dining room to add some color. To some, it may not seem like a leap at all. For me it was huge. Now, I don’t know if I can be stopped!

I’m not saying these colors (all of which by-the-way, look like they escaped from my Aunt Betty’s 60’s kitchen) are going to be plastered all over the house. But, I am saying they are going to be a lot more prevalent in our home’s décor. I’m loving them so much and they just make me smile! How could I not want that happy happy joy joy to come from every-other-here-and-there?

For this series, I was inspired by some chargers I saw that were covered in burlap, so today on a girl’s day out, some friends took me to the big city. Imagine my delight, when we were in Hobby Lobby, and in the 30% off fabrics were coordinating fabrics that go with my ribbon! I couldn’t believe it! I almost didn’t get even any of the fabrics that match, but my friend Ruth stepped in. She pointed out that I could do more than one print on my chargers. I am so serious in telling you, this had never crossed my mind. People are always saying I’m so creative, but truly, moments like Ruth finding 3 coordinating fabrics that I love, but can’t even envision in my home, just humbles me. I was walking all over the fabric department, like a crazed loon (we had girls waiting for us in the car!), searching for just the right fabric. I had one bolt in my arm that had jumped out at me. As I looked at it more though, while carrying it around, it just seemed a little boring. It had fun colors in it, but it wasn’t fun colored…. ya know what I mean? Well, I went back over to Ruth’s picks and realized the main one is the exact same pattern as my now favorite ribbon!

I jumped in all the way! I became bold about designing my dining room table settings, and I’m going to enjoy the jump! I’ll bring my camera and keyboard along for the ride so that all of you can share in the joy that IS color in our home!

Here’s what you’ll need for this project….

SUPPLIES~

• Chargers
• Fabric (3/8 of a yard will cover 3 chargers)

(The coordinating ribbon, twine, and embellishments  are for part 2)

TOOLS~

• Spray Adhesive
• Scissors
• Pen/Pencil/Marker

First, place your charger upside-down on your fabric, like this….

Make a circle around your charger about one inch away from the outer edge, like this….

Following the directions of your spray adhesive, coat the charger. The brand I used said to use a medium coat. Further, the directions said to adhere items together permanently, put them together quickly, after spraying. I sprayed a medium-heavy amount on my chargers and the fabric until I could kinda see the glue on it everywhere. To place the fabric on the chargers, I started in the middle by folding the fabric in half, glue side out. Here’s what it looked like when I first put the fabric on the charger….

Starting from the center, and working your way out, press the fabric down. Make sure to work quickly and press out any wrinkles as you go. If you make a mistake, don’t fret. You can remove the fabric and start over. I did 😉

Note: This could probably be Mod Podged. I’ll probably try it another day. If/when I do, I’ll let you know how it turned out. If you get to it first, you can let me know!

When you get to the edge, you have options. I did the first one so that it was finished like this….

I cut the fabric right up to the outside edge of the charger. To hide the raw edge of the fabric, I covered it up with two strips of twine I glued (with a glue gun) right over it. This is my favorite look.
On the rest of the chargers, I simply sprayed around the edge of the under side of the fabric and outer edge of the chargers. Then I pressed the fabric to the bottom, like this….

I finished the rest of my chargers with this method. It was late, and I needed to get to bed. Now, I wish I would have taken the extra effort and done them with the twine. It really did not take much longer and the finished look on the underside of the chargers is so much better. Not that my guests will be lifting up the chargers and looking at my finished edges (although, if they are readers of my blog, they may!). I just know the little bit messier crumpled edge is there. Live and learn, right?

Here’s so more pictures of my finished chargers.

They are super super SUPER cute! I can’t wait to have company to show them off to. Until then, I added to my china cabinet vignettes. Now it has even more color and I can’t stop looking at it! You can see how I added color to my china cabinet without spending a fortune by checking out this link….

Look for part two of this series to find out how I made the napkin rings!