No-Sew Paper Table Runner

Hi Everyone! I'm coming off a crazy week, how about you? This week I am going to concentrate on party prep and house cleaning.  Did I tell you, Healthy Chick's MIL wanted to host a baby shower?   We are going to co-host it and it will be held here.  I'm really going to make an effort to keep the cutesy baby-oriented things to one post, and share some all-purpose ideas along the way.  Meet my taped and hot glued table runner!

If you've visited CCH for any length of time, you know I have a slight obsession with table runners.   Since I'm going to attempt to keep the guests in the living and dining rooms, I wanted to make them food and drink friendly.  I also want to have a drink station on top of a wooden table, which means I'll want to protect it from spills.  When I need disposable tableclothes, I like to purchase the ones that have a napkin-like top, lined with plastic.  I looked for softer colors for the shower, but those only came in all plastic.  Anyway, I am getting side-tracked.  This one happened to be in my pantry, so I thought I'd give my idea a try.  If you want to make your very own no-sew paper table runner, this is what you'll need:

No-Sew Paper Table Runner

Supplies:

• plastic backed tablecloth
• hot glue gun (I used a low-temp one.)
• scissors
• masking tape

How to:

1. Measure the dimensions of your table.  
2. Cut the paper tablecloth adding two inches to the width and however much drop you want on the ends.  (My coffee table was 50" and the width of the tablecloth was 54", so I used the width.)
3. Cut 6" strips for the ruffle (you will need approx. double your runner width).  I used a little over two 54" strips per end. 

    4.  Turn the runner over one inch on the sides, fold and use masking tape to "hem."  (If you are a neat cutter, you could skip this step.)

5.  Run a bead (2-3") of hot glue and pinch/gather up your ruffle strip, continuing down the entire end of your runner.  Repeat with other end.  Keep your hot glue gun tip away from the plastic backing, as it will melt it.

6.  Let the ruffle hang over the edge of something, so you can check for gaps.  Add a couple more dots of hot glue.

7.  Place on table, smooth out the paper as best as possible and relax--no need to worry about drips and spills--just pick up and toss when the party's over.

See?  I told ya I was obsessed.  This took no more than 15 min. to make and I already had the supplies.  Yes, it's totally unnecessary and you could use a washable cloth one instead, but sometimes disposable is good.  And, I have enough of my paper tablecloth to make another runner.  That adds up to $2 per runner.

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