Craft Project - Fabulous Fourth Foam Placemat by Wen Zientek-Sico Make this fast and fabulous project for your upcoming Fourth of July party or picnic. The attractive pattern nicely frames your place settings and provides a perfect solution for ugly and uncomfortable picnic table tops.

Fabulous Fourth Foam Placemat

We made a series of these festive foam placemats for our Fourth of July get-together and they were really popular. Easier to handle than tablecloths that blow in the wind, and a fun keepsake for your guests, these foam placemats are very easy to put together. Even your kids can help! The supplies below are what you will need to make one placemat, just multiply as needed to make additional placemats. We used precut foam shapes, but you can easily cut your own shapes from sheets of foam as needed.

1 12 inch by 18 inch sheet of thin blue foam

4 large red foam stars

7 large white foam stars

5 large blue foam stars

1 large white foam circle

1 large red foam circle

2 medium red foam circles

2 small red foam circles

4 small blue foam circles

4 small white foam circles

2 medium red foam stars

2 medium white foam stars

2 medium blue foam stars

3 small red foam stars

2 small white foam stars

5 small blue foam stars

Glue

Choose the most unblemished side of the foam to be the top of your placemat. Arrange the stars on the placemat as shown in the photo. We started with one large red, white, and blue star arranged in a semi-circle in each corner. Then we added a large white star in the center of each side and topped it with a small blue circle. On the top, we added a large white circle in the center of the placemat. We topped the white circle with a large blue star and small red star. We added, in order, a small blue circle, a small white circle, a medium red circle topped with a small blue star, a small white circle, and a small red circle to each side. Make sure each side is balanced evenly. On the bottom we added a large red circle, large white star, and small blue star in the center. We then added, in order, a small white star, a small blue star, a small red star, a medium white star, a medium blue star, and a medium red star to each side, gently arching upward to form a semi-circle to hold the plate. Once you have a layout that you like and everything is balanced and centered, glue on the foam shapes. Let the glue dry thoroughly before using.

Project Developed, Styled, and Photographed by Wen Zientek-Sico.