The end of October is upon us and the holiday season is fast approaching! As much as I enjoyed the lazy days of summer fun I will have to admit I equally enjoy these fast paced productive days. And most of all the beautiful fall weather!
I am currently sipping hot tea and admiring the new anti-fatigue mat I recently completed.
This project has been in the planning stage for a couple months but nothing like dinner guests and birthday parties to motivate one to follow through with their plans. :)
I started with some foam puzzle mats that had seen better days. We got these when our first baby was crawling around on our rental's concrete floors. They were one of the best baby items we've invested in. We also have the alphabet set in primary colors and they are still in pretty good shape considering the amount of use they have had over the last seven years.
This wood look print started to peel and flake off a few years ago but overall most of the pieces are still in decent shape. I sorted through and got some of the ones that had some of the tabs torn off or the pattern worn down. I assembled it in multiple configurations until I found one that worked best for my space. I ended up with a 3' x 4' mat that remained in the kitchen, as is, for several weeks. I will go ahead and claim that it was a trail period to test efficiency. ;-)
I was planning on keeping
this project as close to free as I could by using a solid teal fabric I had in my stash. However, after having recently painted the side door a shade of blue I didn’t like the look of the big teal rectangle hitting you right after you walked through the slate blue door. I also decided I wanted something with a pattern to help hide the wear. So I headed to Walmart and picked up this fabric. It is one of my favorites and happens to match the memo board I made several years ago and recently relocated to the kitchen. At $5 a yard it didn't stretch the budget too much.
After cutting the outer tabs off, I hot glued the pieces together and then covered the seams with tape. I used spray adhesive to adhere the fabric to the top side of the mat and hot glue to secure the edges and underside. Being careful to smooth out the fabric with each step.
I sprayed Scotch Guard over the mat and after a few minutes it was ready to go.
I love how it turned out and it is oh so comfortable to stand at the stove and cook or the sink to do dishes.
So if you have some old puzzle mats that are looking less than 100% don't throw them out! Just up-cycle them into a beautiful new mat. So simple and no DIY experience required! You could even use double stick tape if you don’t have a hot glue gun.
I still have so many things I would love to post about but they will have to all come on their own time. These boys are growing up fast and I don’t want to miss a minute!
Until Next Time,
Sonja
