Burlap Tic-Tac-Toe

This burlap tic-tac-toe game is perfect for my girls' little table, or for on the floor. I used their initials instead of the traditional x's and o's, and they love having their own letters to play with. How FUN would this be for a personalized gift? It's also perfect for taking in the car, or tucking in a bag to take on errands to entertain little ones.

ITEMS YOU NEED:

• burlap, cut in a square--mine is around 2 1/2 feet
• craft paint and foam brush
• painters tape
• foil
• ribbon--I used 7/8 inch
• heat 'n bond
• felt
• scissors

DIRECTIONS:

• Tape off your burlap like this:

Make sure you place aluminum foil or wax paper underneath your burlap, because the paint will soak through. Make the tape long enough so it goes past your burlap and sticks the to the table--this will keep the burlap secure and in place to paint.

• With the foam brush, paint down the middle of the pieces of tape, using a blotting motion.

• After the paint has dried, remove the tape. Then tape again, for the lines going the opposite way:

• Paint as you did before:

• After the paint has dried, remove the tape.

• Following package directions, apply heat 'n bond to the ribbon--paper side up. Do one side at a time--planning ahead which ribbon you want to be on top of the other (overlapping on the corners).

• For one side, I just cut the ribbon a little longer than the burlap, and ironed it on. That side was going to be the one with the ribbon on the bottom. On the side that was going to be on the top, I folded the ribbon over, and ironed it flat. I then applied the heat 'n bond on top of the fold, and ironed it down. Don't worry about having excess burlap --you will trim it off later. It's most important to get the ribbon straight.

• It will look something like this when all the sides are done:

• Trim off the excess burlap, cutting right next to the ribbon.

• Print a template for the initial you need. I used the Century Gothic font, sized to 400. Trace your template on to the felt. Since the felt is the same on each side, it doesn't matter if you trace your letters on backwards or forwards. However, I prefer to trace mine backwards, so there is no evidence of my pencil on the front side when I cut it out. It's much harder to get rid of pencil lines on felt than other fabrics. Cut your letters out.

Ta-da!