Adding a Little Spring

I have a love of pretty placemats...but the funny thing is there actually aren't any placemats on the tables in my house. Instead we have placemats on our couch, and now we have placemats on our porch and in our yard!

I saw these really pretty placemats a Target a few weeks ago and knew that they were just the pop of spring color that I was missing in my front yard. I picked up three of them at $2.99 each, and for less than $10 I created a new garden flag and covered two outdoor pillows.  Let me start by saying that these were a little more heavy duty than the placemats I have bought previously, so I have a feeling they were made for outdoor use...and so far so good. 

 To make the garden flag, all I did was fold over one of the short ends of the placemat and sew in place making a loop to hang the flag. I didn't add any embellishment to the flag because I love the pattern of the placemat, but you could easily sew or glue on an initial or monogram.

 I also covered my outdoor pillows that sadly still had the black and orange covers on them from fall!

 To cover the pillows, I simply used my seam ripper to take out the seam from on of the short sides of the placemat. Then I slipped the placemat over the pillow and folded down the extra fabric.

I think these were just the thing my front yard needed to get ready for spring!