The Kids Table

A couple of years ago, we purchased a Farmhouse Table and kids chairs from Pottery Barn Kids for our "eat-in" kitchen.  The kids needed a place for snacks and for doing art projects, and a kids table was the perfect solution.  Plus, the table is a miniature version of our Farmhouse table in the dining room, and I have always been drawn to kids products that are miniature versions of "the real thing". 

The kids love the table.  The table has become the perfect place for art projects, playing games, eating snacks, having breakfast, and doing their homework.  After several years of constant kid use, the table was in sad shape.  We actually thought that we were going to have to replace it.  Several months ago my husband, Mr. W sanded the top down to bare wood and painstakingly undertook the task of restaining the tabletop to match the existing stain color on the rest of the table.  Needless to say, matching the stain proved to be a difficult task.  After about four trips to Lowes, many coats of stain and several layers of polyurethane, the table looks better than it did when we purchased it from the store.  The added layers of polyurethane should allow it to withstand several more years of kid use. 

The table looked so nice, I thought that it would be cute to make some "kid sized" placemats and napkins to decorate the table.  I used some leftover Heather Ross fabric to make the placemat front and some coordinating Amy Butler orange polka dot fabric for the back of the placemat.  I used a turquoise polka dot fabric to create the napkins and dressed them up with a little grosgrain ribbon.  I followed this tutorial on Skip To My Lou to create the napkins, which I found very helpful.  http://www.skiptomylou.org/2009/04/20/make-your-own-cloth-napkins/  Making those mitered corners proved to be more difficult than I had originally thought.  I think they look really cute on the table.  Hopefully, I can make some more sets to decorate for Halloween and Christmas. We shall see:)