My dear, sweet friend Vicki (who lives entirely too far away from me) asked me a question recently.  Here is an excerpt of that question:

"I'm redoing my curtains in my living and dining room - taking down the old chunky lace tablecloths I had swagged and gathered and tied and draped and replacing them with bleached drop cloths hung over old hangars ala Funky Junk Interiors (I'm a huge fan too, Vicki!) ...anyway, do you have any ideas about what I could do with all these old tablecloths. They're not in great shape - some holes, some rust stains and a bit misshapen now that they've been hung in weird ways over the years. Any ideas at all - of course, I'll have to check pinterest, but you came to mind and I thought you'd be the perfect person to ask."

Well Vicki, since reading your note to me, I just can't get your question out of my mind.  "What to do with old lace table cloths that are in "less-than-perfect" shape?  Well, I came up with a few ideas.  I hope you enjoy and get inspired!
                        (WARNING:  photo-heavy!)

Old, ripped, stained, lace tablecloth that I had just washed.

IDEA#1

What about using that old tablecloth as a table runner?  Here, I went for a mono-chromatic look.  I felt the tablecloth added softness and texture.

 IDEA #2

 How about taking an old suitcase (notice the rips and stains - ewwww.....)
and turning it into:

 A drink station!  For the holidays, it's a pretty simple thing to pull together.

 

 IDEA#3

What about a simple, romantic bunting on the banister?

 or a simple cover up for a chair
 (that-I-got-at-a garage-sale-with-dreams-of-recovering-some-day-soon)

 IDEA#4

A tree skirt?

 Or filler for a vase.
  I think the tablecloth gives this display a lot more presence.  A few twigs, Christmas balls and an old tablecloth in a (chipped) vase!  Not bad....

 Well, there are just a few ideas I had.  Some of them might be new ideas, some you may have already done yourself.  However, I have to say, it was a lot of fun to play!  Thank you Vicki, for the great question you asked me.  I sure would love to see what you ended up doing with your old, lace tablecloths.

Oh, and I do have one more idea.  I'm not sure Frodo likes it though.  He says it's for girls.

Please don't mind the stained carpet.  It's getting cleaned next week.