That’s so sweet of you – taking care of the elderly couple down the road. It’s very thoughtful of you to take them some warm food now and then, to go check on them once or twice a week. The poor things are unable to do everything for themselves anymore. They’re probably sitting there, waiting on the next meal you’re bringing to them. If it’s a casserole – or even another dish – it will be much tastier upon arrival if it’s still warm. You can ensure that it will be when you make a quick place mat casserole tote.
It’s time to change your place mats anyway, right? Once you get the new ones in place use the old place mats to make the casserole tote. It will only take two of them and, although you’ll have to do a little sewing, it’s really quick and easy. The best place mats are cloth ones and, ideally, ones without ruffles or cord around the edges.
Put the two short ends of one place mat together so that you fold the mat in half. Mark the two halfway points, just on the edges, with pins or even with a dot from an ink pen. Do the same to both place mats. Cut a piece of wide, cloth ribbon to be two or three inches longer than one place mat is wide.
Lay the first place mat on a table so that the right side is facing upwards. Lay the ribbon across the middle of the mat so that the ends of it align with the pins or ink dots on the sides. Lay the second place mat on the stack so that the right side of it is facing downwards. Pin it all together and sew it. Just stitch, starting from one corner where a long and short side meet, and sew around three sides. Leave one short end open.
Turn the casserole tote right-side-out and make a closure for it. Just cut two pieces of cloth ribbon to be the same size – six inches or so. Attach one ribbon to one side of the open end of the casserole tote – right in the center. Do the same to the opposite side. Then, whenever you need to tote a dish, just slide it into the open end, and tie the ribbons shut. Use the ribbon on top to carry it and you won’t have to take pot holders along with you.