TEMPTING TABLE MATS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 247, 9 January 1928, Page 5

TEMPTING TABLE MATS

BY CYNTHIA BANE A short time ago I spent the day with an old friend at her house in the country. It was a charming old-world place, and as we sat down to lunch I could not help noticing how attractive the table looked. The china was beautiful certainly, and the tablecloth had a charming coloured border, but there was something else which gave the table its distinctive appearance. I puzzled for some time and then I realised that it was the table mats. They were ordinary cork mats but decorated with a cheerful little motif exactly in keeping with the rest of the table and the room. At “Thy remarking on them she told me that she had made them herself, and I came home determined to do some to harmonise with my own rooms. The mats are plain circles of cork, ; and can be obtained at any fancy shop. In choosing, see that the cork has a fine grain and is free from flaws. If you cannot get plain mats, you must either work on the reverse side or else remove the pattern with fine sandpaper. For decorating you will require a few paint brushes and* some tins of enamel. Any y of the advertised brands of enamel will be suitable and are not expensive. The pattern and the colours that you use will, of course, depend on the colour scheme of your rooms. Simple floral or geometrical patterns are best; but as you get more used to the work elaborate multi-coloured designs- may be introduced. The pattern should first of all be drawn out carefully on a circle of paper the same size as the mat. "When complete and the details touched up, it should be transferred to the mat itself with a sheet of carbon paper. If desired, a colour background may be used, but, as a rule, the natural colour of the cork makes an attractive setting. The pattern is then filled in, using the enamel just as it comes from the tin. Use a moderately-fine brush and apply the colour smoothly but not too thickly. . _ .. If a second colour is required the first must be allowed to dry thoroughly before it is applied. The time taken to dry varies with the kind of enamel; usually it is about 24 hours, although special quick-drying enamels can be obtained which are dry in half an hour. The second colour is put on in the same way as the first. A third or fourth colour may be used either as part of the design or painted over tho others for shading purposes. Most enamels - are waterproof and will withstand heat, so that these mats last indefinitely. The mats may be given a more distinctive appearance by buying a size larger than is needed and cutting the edge to make an octagon. In cutting use a sharp knife with a thin blade dipped in cold water.