Lately I have been really into really beautiful table tops and setting the table just to add a little bit of cheer. I fell in love with the Brooks of Bohemia Tablecloth from Anthropologie but definitely did not love the price tag of $228. I had been thinking of a way to make something similar with Oh Happy Day posted a tutorial and my wheels started turning, I had to make this! I did mine slightly different than Oh Happy day so here is what I did and what you will need.
Supplies:
Dropcloth
Acrylic Paint
Fabric Medium
Painters Tape
Paintbrush
(an optional supply: a super cute helper, my cousin Emry)
The dropcloth was $10 dollars at Home Depot and you could probably use fabric paint similar to what Dharma Trading sells but it gets a little pricey with shipping so I used a fabric medium. You just buy this at any craft store and you add it to your paint and it makes the paint washable and it won't fade. I have used this before on other fabrics and it works great so you can use whatever paint you want. The acrylic paints were on sale at Michaels for 3 for a dollar and I bought 2 of each color and had more than enough. Instead of using pinks, which I loved but didn't think would be totally practical or match anything in my house, I used shades of blues but I think any hues could be pretty. The total spent on supplies was only about $16 which was way better than the $228 on the original Anthro tablecloth.
How To: First, I washed the dropcloth to make it a little bit softer, its kind of rough when you buy it but washing it makes it a lot softer. What I did was lay the drop cloth out and measured out the stripes. It is easier if you have another person with you, my mom was on one side and I was on the other measuring and marking. My stripes were roughly 4 inches wide and I probably could have done wider. I did a total of 5 stripes 2 light colors and 1 dark color. We then took the painters tape and laid out the stripes, this is also easier if you have another person because one person can hold the tape while the other pulls it across. The stripes don't have to be perfectly straight, I think it adds a little bit of movement if there isn't.
Then I took it outside and started to paint. I just used any old brush but I think a thin roller brush would have been a faster method. Have fun with the strokes because it makes cool effects on the fabric. I only did one coat of each color and it turned out just fine but you could do 2 coats if you wanted. After it has dried for about 24 hours take off the painters tape then iron it to set the fabric medium that was added to the paint and to get the wrinkles out. Then ta-da! You have a super awesome and inexpensive tablecloth that is so unique!
