I love to buy placemats at the local discount and thrift stores. Ross and TJ Maxx seem to usually carry an interesting assortment. But I buy them wherever I find them. Usually one placemat will cost between $1.99 and $10 depending on the material it is made from. But you will get over 100 pieces from one mat. I also buy purses, trivets, coasters etc. from thrift stores and garage sales and deconstruct them for the pieces.
These beads were made from a placemat made with wooden circles. They had brown and black, I bought one of each. I punched out circles with a circle punch sized to fit on top of the wood circles. I glued them down with Gel Medium, and when they were dry, I topped them with Crystal Laquer. You can use Diamond Glaze, gloss gel medium, polymer acrylic, spray varathane, or any kind of glossy sealer. I am so excited to make something with these beads. I will post some projects with them later in the month. Bear in mind when using vintage papers, sometimes the gloss finish changes the look of the paper significantly. You never know what you will get, which is part of what I find so fun about this project. Check out my etsy site if you would like to purchase these beads.
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