Wingull Place Mat

It's been a while since I made - by myself - a physical creative project involving Pokémon; I've had some free time to get it done, and I did. Actually, it couldn't have come at a better time, since it really needed to be done and I was on the verge of losing its raison d'être (that is, its reason for being) that would make it difficult for me to complete it otherwise. It's still a neat project regardless in how it pools together different kinds of resources to create something great.

That something would be a place mat with images of Wingull featured on it. I have a set of place mats that have been in my family for decades; these have pink diagonal lines from the upper left to the lower right, and on the lower right quarter there are accompanying silhouettes of flying seagulls in the same color. Thus, the inspiration becomes quite clear: in the Pokémon world, these flying seagulls would be Wingull instead, and they would be present on the place mat accordingly.

An example of the original place mat in good condition.

I also have one of these place mats in regular use, but it's been in a sorry state for quite some time. The lines and silhouettes have faded, and some parts of it have chipped off or utterly and completely broken off. Particularly, the lower right corner has been loose for a good deal of time while I haven't been able to mend it; it was this corner piece that became the initiative for fixing up and renewing the place mat before it becomes lost forever and hard to replace as a result. Some of the other corners have broken off but have been mended in time, yet I've never been happy with my efforts. Clearly, it was time to fully fix up the place mat before worse things happen.

The place mat that I use.

A design was conceived quickly - or not so quickly, as it was in between all other things that I have to do. The design closely mirrors the original place mat design and proportions, with the addition of relevant Pokémon elements. When it came time to print the design, a local print shop printed the design after I sent the design to them by e-mail. All I had to do was to pick it up once it was done. They suggested that the design be printed on sticker paper with a glossy coating due to the moist nature of the finished product - a place mat - and to make application easier, which turned out to be true, especially during assembly.

How the design looks like.

Before applying the design, I had to fully fix up the place mat, which I accomplished by a combination of a couple of methods. Broken pieces were glued back together, and chips and fractures were filled in with more glue as best as possible. Then, the fractures, chips, and edges were covered up first with masking tape and then strong plastic tape as the glue sets, before being left to cure overnight. This should ensure that the place mat stays together for as long as possible.

The mended place mat.

The next day, I then applied the design. I purposefully made it larger than the place mat in order to make sure the entire place mat is covered, and it was. The application, though, did not proceed smoothly; the first time I applied it, I missed a part of one edge and wrinkled the sticker badly at the end - likely also due to poor procedure and slightly rushing. I was dissatisfied, so I took off the sticker and reapplied another one; luckily, I had printed two copies in case such a situation happened. Armed with a second one, a new procedure, and some Pokémon Unite music to help me relax, I successfully applied the design with minimal defect.

The resulting place mat.

After tidying up the edges, the place mat was more or less complete. As a result, the place mat also looks as if it was new again, with the exception of bumps from the mending and cup marks from years of prior usage that also show through the sticker. It was also ready for its first meal test, which seemed to work out nicely. Though my crafting resources are meager, the resulting place mat seems to be quite well done, but those who are more crafty than me should come up with even better results.

I'm extremely pleased with this creation, even more so since all the elements span a long period of time (the place mat decades old, Pokémon newer, creation recent) and represent a compilation of resources to make things work before they don't work at all. The hope is that the place mat lasts as long as Pokémon continues to last, with Wingull accompanying my meals today just as the seagulls did prior.

One year ago: PokéJournalists

Two years ago: A Story of Bands

Three years ago: Cosplay: Manga no Kiseki & Japan Pop Culture 2018

Four years ago: Heroes, Veterans, and Special Ones