Ta-dah! Tuesday - chalkboard placemats

Thanks to everyone who linked up their crafty makes, delicious bakes, awesome outfits and thrifting holy grails last week - if you missed it there are some really clever ideas to steal. If you have a something to share this week I'd love you to add your thumbnail to the linky at the end of this post.

A little while ago the Not on the High Street catalogue dropped through my letterbox, and whilst it is a lovely treasure trove of independent makers of stuff - erm, that isn't on the high street, what it isn't is cheap. Look at these chalkboard placemats - great fun, but a set of six is £64.99! Yes, you read that correctly. If you want matching coasters, the total would be £91. Blimey. Clearly 'Claire' moves in more exalted circles than I.

This is not just any strawberry cheesecake...

photo credit:  Not on the High Street.com

Anyway, last week I found these at the bottom of the kitchen drawer - I used to use them all the time but as you can see they've got a bit battered and scratched over the years so they were relegated for visiting toddler use and then forgotten about. However, if you don't have any mats ripe for a makeover you quite often see hideous ones at your Granny's house charity shops or car boot sales, you know, nasty ones with scenes of fox-hunting or twee thatched cottages.

I used a tester pot of Annie Sloan chalk paint in 'graphite' and gave each mat a few coats. It dries very quickly so didn't take very long at all. A quick scribble with my pastel pencils - I know, posh - and I had my own version ready to wow my guests.

Ta-dah!

                                                                                                                          

Of course, if you're not a gastronomic wizard like myself, you can just use them for playing hangman between courses, writing instructions for your butler, shopping lists, or perhaps improving slogans for the benefit of your offspring.

What would you doodle? 

 Lakota x

Also linking up to Nifty Thrifty Tuesday