Placemats are usually about 13 X 18 so adding strips to the sides would give you that shape. The wise men fabric is so cute, I would try to keep it light. Personally, I wouldn't use the brown but the final decision is yours. Whatever you decide, they are great gifts.

I would get rid of the green and brown and go with a green that is more in line with the fuchsia and yellow. maybe a limey green. if you didn't use the fuchsia I think that the brown and green would have gone wonderfully with it. I am not a large fan of the fuchsia or yellow. But I love the wise men fabric. If you take out the brown and green and do a thin lime green or blue on the top and bottom and thicker on the sides it will help rectangleize it. hope this helps.

Thanks for all your input! I'm back to the drawing board...did quite a bit of ripping today and will sleep on this another night and see what inspires me tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have a final post for this in a few days!