The Dollar Tree DIY Placemat People Will Swear Is From Pottery Barn

When decorating your home, high-end decor stores are a great place to go for inspiration. But the prices at places like Pottery Barn simply aren't in the budget for everyone. Luckily, with a little effort, you can use materials from the dollar store to make dupes of almost any home decor piece, including a fresh approach to DIY placemats that will protect your table and brighten up your space. It's surprisingly easy to upgrade your place settings with rope mats made with items from Dollar Tree, and they look just like the popular Malibu Handwoven Seagrass Placemat from Pottery Barn.

For this project, you will need two cardboard rounds about the size of a plate, Crafters Square Natural Jute Cord, Floral Garden Decorative Nautical Rope, and some hot glue. If you don't want to buy new materials, this project is a fun and easy way to repurpose twine around the house. Really, any type of rope you have could be used, though the jute rope more closely resembles the Pottery Barn placemat. As a beginner-friendly project, you can quickly make multiple placemats to fill your dining table.

Start by cutting your first cardboard round into three pieces that fit together like a puzzle — a small circle in the center followed by a medium ring, then a larger ring. Leave your other cardboard round whole and set it aside for now. Then, put a dab of hot glue in the center of the smallest circle. Start creating a spiral of jute rope from this center point, attaching it to the cardboard with hot glue until the entire cardboard circle is covered. Next, begin wrapping jute rope around the middle ring. To keep the rope as straight as possible, work in small sections, and fill in the gaps. Think of it this way: If the cardboard ring was a clock, you would wrap the rope around 12, 9, 6, and 3 to start. Repeat this process for the largest cardboard ring.

Now, glue the largest jute-wrapped ring to the solid cardboard round. Glue the middle ring and the center into place as well. Then, attach the nautical rope to cover the placement's raw edge and the gaps between the concentric circles. If you're trying to mimic the Pottery Barn placemat to decorate your dining table, you can stop here. If you want to add a little extra interest, use the nautical rope to create two handles for your placemat. Simply cut two piece of rope the same length, and glue the ends to the bottom of your placemat. Since placemats are meant to stand up to spills and other table messes, try gluing your rope-covered cardboard pieces to an existing placemat if you're concerned about the exposed cardboard bottom. These Rinpon Round Vinyl Placements would work well, giving you a durable base for the stylish design on top.