I first saw a stone placemat in May 2005. I remember the date because we were on a ferry from Vancouver, B.C. to Victoria, and the ship's gift shop was selling an assortment of placemats, table runners, trivets and coasters made from white, black and assorted brown river rocks. I had my eye on them, but for whatever reason, didn't make the purchase. Then I promptly forgot about them.
Skip forward 6 years and we're back on that same ferry, except traveling in reverse from Victoria to Vancouver... my first thought was "must check out gift store... maybe they still have those stone placemats??". Of course they didn't. So when I got home, the first thing I did? Why I headed to our local craft and garden stores of course!
[product list]: shelf liner (sold by the yard at fabric stores), decorative river rocks, tiger bond adhesive
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**for trivets and coasters, i would suggest adding a stiff nylon mesh to make the project more hardy and easier to pick up. this can be found at your local hardware store by the drywall supplies.
since the shelf liner is porous, i used 2 layers so the adhesive wouldn't soak through. i also worked on a baking rack in hopes that the project would dry faster and also protect my countertop in case there were any leaks. tiger bond is a cream and very easy to use... no mess!
the finished stone mat --
i started from the middle and worked my way out, covering as much of the liner as possible. there's no right or wrong way... just pick a rock, glue, pick a rock, glue...
the stone mat is currently hanging out on a side table in our family room. it'll eventually find a home in the center of our round kitchen table.
[project low-down]
This project is simple, but a little time consuming... especially if you're like me and treat the thing like a mosaic. I spent a lot of time fitting the rocks together like a puzzle. Not really necessary, but that's just me.
project size: 15 inches in diameter. it took 2 small bags of rocks and 2 tubes of glue to complete.
time spent: It took about 4 hours in total to assemble. But it was a pretty large area to cover, so don't let that scare you away. Smaller projects will come together much more quickly.
next up: I'm thinking of a chevron trivet for my family room, made with black and white rocks. And perhaps a project with larger rocks... much faster.
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