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VanessaVH
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| Posted: Dec 02 2010 at 2:47pm | IP Logged
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I have some table cloths, just for the reasons of prettiness and seasonal/ liturgical flair, but I stopped using them because with 3 boys (ages 5 down)It seemed like I needed to wash them after every meal. The only solution I could think of was vinyl cloths, but I tried it and that just felt tacky. So for now I just have a little centerpiece, (right now it's our advent wreath) that gets rotated seasonally.
Any ideas on how to have a prettier table that can stand up to toddlers??
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JennGM
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I'm in the same boat. My solutions:
::tablemats and bare wood for daily use. I like having a table to wipe down. I get colors that match the liturgical year.
::For those times that I want to use tablecloths, I buy several in one color so I can rotate. I keep my eyes out for vintage/used/antique ones for cheap (nothing over $12, mostly under $5). These I can wash and wear and replace easily -- they don't require lots of ironing and starching and stressing.
So for the week of Holy Week Easter we have tablecloths. I put out a white on Holy Thursday, and back on again for Easter and Easter week. The week of Christmas to Epiphany will be tablecloths, some of the festive Christmasy ones. Pentecost I have some red ones I can rotate, also.
Also, use vinyl placemats OVER the tablecloths. That way the tablecloth stays and the mats can be wiped.
Other ways I was thinking:
::tablerunners
::oilcloth tablecloths which aren't exactly vinyl but wipeable
In my dining room I put a clear vinyl over a tablecloth so I don't have to change it, but we don't eat there. I use it for our map underneath it, and the table is used for our Liturgical room. It's a luxury, I'm sure. It sounds nicer than it is, but for the big seasons: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter I set up a variety of things that can be viewed there. I guess I could call it my little atrium, but it's not that sophisticated.
When we visit my mil she always has tablecloths, and a tablerunner on top of that for our daily meal and the dining room. We use the vinyl placemats. I have found that she keeps the same tablecloth up for a few days, even if there are a few spills and such. Major ones it gets replaced, minor not so much.
But with wiggly boys longer hanging tablecloths are a hazard and a stress. While I like the look, I can only take so much of the food and plates being dragged around with every movement. It's okay if they wipe their mouths on it, but the movement. Oiy!
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Jennifer G. Miller
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Dec 02 2010 at 3:13pm | IP Logged
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Pretty when in use? or pretty in between uses?
you could put a tablecloth on that you take off when you set the table for a meal but will look pretty on the table the rest of the time for instance.
A "doilie" type of cloth (I actually have crocheted doilies I could use that my grammy made) under your centerpiece could give a bit more to it as well.
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Dec 02 2010 at 3:36pm | IP Logged
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I find the wood table to just be most practical with children, and I do like the way it looks. It is a specific chore of one of my children to polish it weekly to keep it looking its nicest...even with that it's still a very loved on/daily used/character filled table!
Efforts toward a pretty table:
** A table runner in the center with a simple floral or seasonal bouquet or arrangement. Table runners are easy to sew yourself and liturgical colors can be used; they don't require much material and can really add color and decor.
** Candles on the table
** Pretty vintage dishes. Vintage meaning thrift store finds...if they're broken it's not a big deal. I found a whole 12 piece place setting of lovely creamy, white Ironstone at the thrift store once for $45 and it is so pretty!! I feel like Maureen O'Hara in Quiet Man...having my pretty things about me! I love to bring it out for nice meals.
** Thrifted tablecloths and cloth napkins for special occasion meals. This is one of my favorite things to watch out for aside from vintage aprons! I've found lovely vintage linen tablecloths and napkins just watching out for them over the years. I never pay more than $10 for a tablecloth. Many don't fit my table, but that's fine, I just drape the small pretty tablecloth over a utilitarian cream or white and it looks nice. I don't iron tablecloths or napkins - I do pull them out of the dryer and hand press and put them away. In short, I don't put an exorbitant amount of effort into it.
** I enjoy looking at vintage lace/crochet window treatments as possible tablecloths as well. I have a pretty creamy lace tablecloth that started life as a window panel. It was old lace and quite pretty. I adjusted hems so that it was square and it looks very pretty set at a tea table over a solid cream cotton sheet!
Everyday table/meals --> wood with table runner, candles, flowers or seasonal bouquet, and sometimes special dishes.
Special meals --> special dishes, wash and go tablecloth and cloth napkins that get tossed in washer, folded and put away.
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
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stefoodie
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This isn't the most elegant solution, so not for special occasions, but okay for everyday. I have my really pretty tablecloth on the table, and a sheet of plastic (available by the yard at craft stores -- got mine at Walmart) on top. I have the pretty, AND wipeable.
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stef
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Dec 02 2010 at 4:14pm | IP Logged
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stefoodie wrote:
| This isn't the most elegant solution, so not for special occasions, but okay for everyday. I have my really pretty tablecloth on the table, and a sheet of plastic (available by the yard at craft stores -- got mine at Walmart) on top. I have the pretty, AND wipeable. |
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My mom used to do that and it was nice! She made her own tablecloths from fabric and then would just lay the clear plastic cover over the top.
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Jen Mackintosh
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Wildflowers and Marbles
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leanne maree
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stefoodie wrote:
| This isn't the most elegant solution, so not for special occasions, but okay for everyday. I have my really pretty tablecloth on the table, and a sheet of plastic (available by the yard at craft stores -- got mine at Walmart) on top. I have the pretty, AND wipeable. |
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This was exactly what I was going to suggest. I used to do this with my littlies. 
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: Dec 02 2010 at 6:19pm | IP Logged
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JennGM wrote:
| It's okay if they wipe their mouths on it, but the movement. Oiy! |
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MicheleQ
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JennGM wrote:
| It's okay if they wipe their mouths on it, but the movement. Oiy! |
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I know it!
I was thinking this could be solved by putting a metal eyelet in each corner and attaching weights. I can't think of what those drop weights are called but I can see them in my mind. Covered with tassels they could look very pretty and if you attached them to a hook you'd only need one set to use on all your tablecloths --though you'd have to put the eyelets in each of them. You could do just a buttonhole but I would be afraid it would tear the tablecloth.
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Michele Quigley
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MicheleQ
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MicheleQ wrote:
| I can't think of what those drop weights are called but I can see them in my mind. |
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Sinkers! They're called sinkers. Like this 
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Michele Quigley
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JodieLyn
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if they're moving all the dishes on the table would a sinker be enough to hold it still? 
But what about those non-slip mats for under rugs or in kitchen cupboards?
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
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CrunchyMom
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JodieLyn wrote:
| if they're moving all the dishes on the table would a sinker be enough to hold it still? |
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Or how about when they literally PULL the table cloth, not on accident? I don't think they make 35 lb sinkers. 
I'm pretty sure I'll never be able to use or convince dh to use a plastic cover over the table cloth. My MIL has one on her table ALL THE TIME (even though it is just the two of them, no small children), and my dh hates it. As Stef admitted, it isn't all that pretty, and it shifts on top of the cloth and is always having to be readjusted.
However, I think it wouldn't "bother" him if it weren't *always* there, if that makes sense. For them, it is all in an effort to protect the wooden table top which you never, ever, ever see. Well, I've actually seen it once, briefly, and it was indeed perfect, but why??? If you are going to keep the table cloth on all the time, why does it matter? You may as well have an ugly table, to my way of thinking.
Anyway, I promise not to judge anyone who uses a plastic cover!!! I can actually envision it working really well as a compromise, it just carries too much family baggage for us. 
I'm sort of moving in the direction of Jen with the runner or place mats for "pretty" and I like a table cloth for a special occasion when it will be washed after just one meal or day. And yet, I also go through phases where I really like a table cloth and then they just start to bother me and make me feel the space is too cluttered or cumbersome. I'm pretty sure I'm fickle. 
I saw these French tablecloths at a local gift fair thing a few years ago, which I really, really wanted at the time. They are 100% cotton but you can get them with acrylic coating. It seemed such a classy alternative to vinyl, but when my little ones started pulling the cloths off, I sort of lost the desire to spend so much money in order to send my dishes crashing to the floor.
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CatholicMommy
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My grandmother uses those non-slip mats in her own home - but not for the grandkids - to protect her puzzles! She has a large non-slip mat that she keeps rolled up in the corner; when she's been working on a puzzle on the dining room table (she LOVES puzzles) and company comes over, she unrolls the mat right over the puzzle; then lays a thin cushiony thing over it (like a foam thing); then lays her tablecloth over the whole thing.
But then, she's a funny lady (I like to emulate her in every way I can!)
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CrunchyMom
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CatholicMommy wrote:
My grandmother uses those non-slip mats in her own home - but not for the grandkids - to protect her puzzles! She has a large non-slip mat that she keeps rolled up in the corner; when she's been working on a puzzle on the dining room table (she LOVES puzzles) and company comes over, she unrolls the mat right over the puzzle; then lays a thin cushiony thing over it (like a foam thing); then lays her tablecloth over the whole thing.
But then, she's a funny lady (I like to emulate her in every way I can!) |
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Okay, now, well, that's just SMART.
Over the holidays, we were so jealous of dh's brother's family and their being able to use the kitchen table for puzzles and then the main table to eat--just dreaming of our new house some day with TWO tables Little did we know, you can have your puzzle table and eat on it, too!
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Dec 02 2010 at 8:41pm | IP Logged
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would the clear vinyl work better if it was cut to fit the table top vs laying over the edges like a table cloth? or is that the way everyone else invisions it and it's only a new thought to me?
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
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VanessaVH
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I'm really enjoying all the brainstorming! Thanks
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CatholicMommy
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CrunchyMom wrote:
| you can have your puzzle table and eat on it, too! |
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I'm calling Grandma first thing in the morning to share this line with her! (of course, then she'll ask me to cross-stitch it for her for a Christmas gift....)
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CatholicMommy
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JodieLyn wrote:
| would the clear vinyl work better if it was cut to fit the table top vs laying over the edges like a table cloth? or is that the way everyone else invisions it and it's only a new thought to me? |
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The one time we did this, that is just what we did - cut the plastic to the size/shape of the table. It worked great as far as our situation went. If it had hung, it still would have been pulled off, so it was better this way.
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Erin
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I do use tablecloths, I tend to flip over for the next meal if I can. So yes I am washing one at least a day. At one stage I bought a thick clear plastic to go over the top, the trouble was the children didn't always wipe properly and so I felt it was greasy and smeary.
You could use a table runner and placemats. And a nice vase of flowers dress up the table.
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stefoodie
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One solution, altho' I don't see it at all used here, is glass. That's how our tables were in the Philippines. Tablecloth, then glass top cut to fit (it usually came with the table). So the top is always wipeable, and the glass heavy enough to withstand the occasional banging from kids. I'd love to have a similar setup here, except our table is one that folds down, and the leaves aren't completely straight anymore.
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stef
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Topic: Table Cloths (spin off pretty ways..)
