Wedding DIY: Burlap table runners

I'm currently loving the fact that it's only 3:00 on a Sunday, I haven't spent a single second of the day studying -- which still is taking some getting used to -- and I've already spent hours on DIY.

I'm 1/2 done, but done enough to where I can update you on the how-to. 

You may remember last week I posted this photo of my 100 yards of burlap that came in the mail: 

TJ is a very hands-on cat when it comes to wedding decor. 

Some day last week I decided to start on my table-runner project. I had emailed the venue coordinator to find out how long the tables were, but seeing as how I have no patience, I measured and cut all of these before getting a response. I cut them to 6 feet, and then found out 2 days later the tables are 7 and a half feet. Which is fine, they just won't dangle over the edge. 

So, I rolled out the burlap like so:

 And measured it out with a tape measurer. TJ provided quality control.

 I cut it straight across, and then went back and cut all the ends into a "V" like so: 

 I had seen the "V" on Pinterest and loved the way it looked. The only problem was, the Pinterest runners were professionally produced, so they were a bit cleaner than my scissored V's. Also, I know burlap has very rustic connotations, and while I wanted the texture of the burlap, I still wanted it to have a classy element to it, since our reception location is more modern than rustic. 

TJ agreed

 SO, I picked up some ribbon from Michael's-- the point of my trip the day I bought invitations. 

It's a pretty half cream, half creamy sheer ribbon, with a teeny tiny sparkly/shiny stripe separating the 2. Super technical description. 

I cut the end of the ribbon so it'd but up against the edge of the runner without any overlap, and also cut it so the 2 sides would meet at a perfect V at the tip. 

From there, I laid out a small strip of glue and put the edge of the ribbon down. Like this: 

 The trick is, since burlap is kind of porous, I'd have to lay the glue, lay the ribbon, press the ribbon down lightly, and then pick up the burlap and ribbon and squeeze it with my fingers as it cooled. Otherwise the whole thing would wind up glued to the notebook underneath. 

Here's what the first half looked like:

 Repeat on the other side, and voila:

 I repeated the process with all 25 table runners. We're shooting to invite 250, and hoping around 225-230 or less show up. I'd rather be safe than sorry in making more, and having to scramble to make a tables worth of DIY's after the RSVPS all come in. 

Here are a few more lined up

 I only did one end of all the runners. 

TJ and I decided it was time to quit after that, and relax. 

I swear I don't pose him for these photos. He wouldn't sit still if I bribed him. He does, however, take inordinate amounts of joy in diving into the plastic bag full of ribbon I had next to me.. and then he started to attack the scissors. 

Anyway, those are the table runners! Here's the cost breakdown: 

100 yards of 8 inch burlap + shipping = $60

6 spools of ribbon at $1.50 a pop = $9

hot glue gun = $4

glue gun sticks $3

That boils down to $3.04 a table. 

When I googled "burlap table runners" to see what they'd go for retail, to make sure this project was in fact saving me money, google told me people pay $10-$12 a runner. woof on that. 

Not to mention I'm using the burlap, ribbon, and glue gun for a few other projects (a "Thank You" banner for our Thank You's, and a "Mr <3 Mrs" banner for the head table) which I will bring to you at a later date! 

-Kelly