Sew Cute: Thanksgiving Napkin Rings
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, and November is one of my favorite months. Any time spent with food, friends, and a nationally televised parade and dog show is a-okay in my book. And now that I have my own place, it’s so wonderful to have people over for a big potluck dinner on Thanksgiving day. The only downside? My place is pretty small, which prevents me from getting too crazy with the decorations (that might be a good thing, actually!). I’m hosting Thanksgiving dinner again this year, and wanted to add some small creative touches to the festive spread. Since there are already going to be napkins on the table, I thought it would be fun to spice them up with some colorful napkin rings.
These napkin rings are super easy to customize, depending on the look you’re going for—just add the fake flowers, leaves, and berries of your choice! I made mine with big, cheerful orange daisies and green and red leaves. I also added hand-stitched name tags so my guests can easily tell their cutlery apart. When the rings are clustered together, they look kind of like a floral arrangement. And by having your flowers on your napkin rings instead of in a vase, you save that much more room on the table for an extra pie (or two!).
Materials:
- Floral wire
- Stem-wrap tape
- Fake flowers and leaves
- Scissors or pliers
Optional, for name tags:
- Small pieces of paper
- Brightly colored thread
- Embroidery floss or string
- Basic sewing needle
- Tapestry needle
- Pencil
Craft away:
- Make small loops with the floral wire. You can either bend these by hand, or use the bottom of a bottle as a guide. Each loop should be wrapped around at least twice. Pro tip: you might need to cut the wire with the pliers instead of just scissors. And be careful—the ends of the wire are sharp!
- Place fake flowers and leaves in the loops, winding the stems around the floral wire to hold them in place.
- Wrap the stem tape around each of the loops, making sure to fold the stems of the flowers and leaves in securely.
Optional:
- Write your guests’ names on the small pieces of paper with the pencil.
- Cut a couple feet of thread and fold it in half, then thread the basic needle and tie a knot.
- Stitch over the pencil names on each piece of paper (this might be a little tricky since the paper rips easily—go slowly and don’t pull your thread too tight).
- Cut a couple of feet of embroidery floss, then thread the tapestry needle.
- Use the tapestry needle to thread the floss through each name tag (you might find it easier to use the basic needle to poke the holes in the paper first). Cut the floss so it’s a few inches long.
- Tie each tag to a napkin ring.
- When the big day arrives, roll up napkins and slide them into the rings, and put your festive decorations on display!
