On my first day as director of an after-school program, one of the kindergarteners was making an absolute mess during snack. I looked at her and told her that she should only make as much of a mess as she's willing to clean up. She looked right back at me, and without skipping a beat said, "My mom says, 'If you didn't get messy, you didn't have fun." In the last five years, or so, I have completely embraced that phrase as a life philosophy.

In order to embrace that kind of philosophy, though, you have to be willing to make certain changes in your life. The first and probably most obvious is that you have to be willing to clean UP the mess. I tend to know just how much fun we've had in an activity at the shop, or in life, by how long it takes me to clean up. My best dinner parties aren't fully cleaned up for days. If I have no clean-up, people must have been bored out of their minds.

I have also, though, learned to love certain products that make my messy life easier and slightly faster to clean up. One of those is laminated fabric. Last week we showed you some great bags that you can make out of laminated cotton. This week, though, we're going to talk getting messy. Laminated fabric protects you, your children, your furniture, your car, and so much more! It's also easy to clean. It can be wiped clean, or it can be thrown in the washing machine. Laminated fabric couldn't possibly make your life any easier unless it grew legs to walk itself to the washing machine.

When people see the rolls of laminate, they often think of making little rain jackets. But, what about something even simpler? Mary has whipped up a couple of rain poncho samples for the shop, one for the kiddos, and one for the adults--because why should only the kiddos get to jump in the rain puddles?

Our young friend Rin is modeling Fig Tree Quilts' Raindrops Rain Cape made in Wildflower laminated fabric by Dear Stella. Aren't the cape (and Rin) darling?

And don't you wish you had your very own rain poncho, modeled here by Jeanne? It's made using the Partly Cloudy Poncho pattern by Indygo Junction and Kaffe Fassett's Plink laminated fabric.

We also have a sample laminate table cloth (made with Teardrops laminated fabric by Dear Stella) in the shop right now. These are so easy to stitch up for both indoor and outdoor use, and they really brighten up any table. And for quick spills? Just wipe them up! No need to throw in the wash each time!

Be sure to check out all of the messy-repellent laminate tutorials we found. Now the tough part: which project should you start with?