DIY: Easy Lettered Napkin Rings [Two Styles]
A new crafty project is long overdue, so I'm giving you two in one! Today I will show you two ways to make adorable, hand-lettered napkin rings. My examples are Thanksgiving themed, in preparation for the upcoming holiday, but you can use these techniques for any season or celebration. Just switch up your colors and words to fit your theme.
I realized when I finished doing this craft that I don't own any cloth napkins. *facepalm* So sadly, I had to go with regular old paper napkins for my display images. (Please don't judge me!) These napkin rings will look even cuter with a lovely cloth napkin!
For this design, I chose to do a stamped background of leaves with lettering over top. You can decorate your background any way you choose, or select decorative paper to make it even easier! I recommend choosing a heavyweight paper so that your design stays flat and doesn't sag around the napkin.
My supplies include: white card stock paper, stamps and stamp pads, brush pens (for my example I used Faber-Castell's Pitt Artist Brush Pen), scissors, decorative twine, and a hot glue gun.
Step One: Decorate your paper. For my design I stamped different kinds of leaves in different colors randomly across the paper. Of course if you're using decorative paper, you can skip this step.
I only used one sheet of paper and had enough space to make my five napkin rings. The size and shape of your lettering will impact how many napkin rings you can make on one sheet. Therefore, you may need multiple sheets depending on the size and number of napkin rings you want to create.
Step Two: Letter words and/or phrases on paper. Leave enough room around your lettering to cut it out and have a border if desired. You can letter phrases that correspond to your celebration, or use the napkin ring design as a place card and letter each guest's name. If you don't want to do lettering, you can always cut out a shape or stamped design.
Step Three: Cut out your napkin ring designs. Again, it's totally up to you what size and shape you want your napkin rings to be.
Step Four: Make a twine loop bundle for each napkin ring. Start by holding an approximately 1" end of the twine between your thumb and forefinger. Then wrap the rest of the twine three times around your four fingers snugly.
Trim the twine with a little extra remaining, as shown below. Take that extra end and wrap it around the top of bundle once, right by your thumb.
Then tie it to the other end of the twine in a single knot. Trim off excess twine. You should have a loop, as shown above. This will be what goes around your napkin.
Step Five: Glue twine loops to the back of your napkin ring designs. First, apply a small dot of hot glue to the back of your napkin ring design. I placed my glue in the center to make sure my design would be centered on the napkin. You may want to alter the placement of your glue depending on how you want your napkin ring to look.
After you apply the glue, quickly place your twine loop on the glue before it hardens, pressing it into the glue dot. Place the knot of the twine on the glue. You can gently press the knot into the glue, but be careful not to push too hard or the glue may burn your finger. You can use a stick or other item to press on the knot to prevent burns.
Set aside the napkin ring so that the glue can finish hardening. Once the glue is dry, your napkin ring is ready for use!
My supplies include: sprigs of artificial leaves, scissors, metallic markers (for my leaf material, which was more cloth-like, I found the American Crafts Metallic Marker worked best), optional berry embellishments, and decorative twine.
Step One: Trim leaves off of branch. If your leaves are attached to a branch, trim them off. You may want to leave a slight stem on each leaf.
Step Two: Letter each leaf. You can letter phrases that correspond to your celebration, or use the leaf as a place card and letter each guest's name. I found it helped to write lightly with the tip of the marker since the leaf could not sit flat due to the veins. If you use a different type of leaf (like one made from firmer materials) you may not have this issue.
Step Three: Add embellishments if desired. I have had a bunch of foam berries I haven't used, so I decided to put them to use and embellish my leaves. I like that they add a festive pop of color. I applied the berries to the leaves using hot glue.
Add a drop of glue and quickly press your embellishments into it. Hold until glue hardens. If you are adding multiple embellishments, you may want to glue each one individually so that you don't have to worry about the glue drying too quickly.
Step Four: Make a twine loop bundle for each napkin ring. Follow the exact same steps outlined in step four above for the paper napkin ring. An alternative to a twine loop is to make a loop out of ribbon. If you go this route, I recommend gluing the ribbon into loops with a tacky craft glue or glue dot so you can press it together and not burn your fingers.
Step Five: Glue twine loops to the back of your leaves. First apply a dot of glue to the back of the leaf. For my napkin rings, I wanted the leaves centered on the napkin, so I put the dot of glue fairly close to the center of the leaf. I also chose to put the glue on the plastic vein so it wouldn't soak through the cloth of the leaf.
Press the knot of the twine loop into the hot glue. Be careful not to touch the hot glue with your finger or it will burn. Remember to orient your loop based on which way you want your leaf to lay on the napkin (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally). Your lettering will most likely determine the direction as you will want to to be readable.
Set aside your leaves so that the glue can finish hardening. Once the glue is dry, your napkin ring is ready for use!
I would love to hear what types of creative projects you would like to see. Please leave a comment and let me know!
I realized when I finished doing this craft that I don't own any cloth napkins. *facepalm* So sadly, I had to go with regular old paper napkins for my display images. (Please don't judge me!) These napkin rings will look even cuter with a lovely cloth napkin!
Paper Napkin Ring
For this design, I chose to do a stamped background of leaves with lettering over top. You can decorate your background any way you choose, or select decorative paper to make it even easier! I recommend choosing a heavyweight paper so that your design stays flat and doesn't sag around the napkin.
My supplies include: white card stock paper, stamps and stamp pads, brush pens (for my example I used Faber-Castell's Pitt Artist Brush Pen), scissors, decorative twine, and a hot glue gun.
Step One: Decorate your paper. For my design I stamped different kinds of leaves in different colors randomly across the paper. Of course if you're using decorative paper, you can skip this step.
I only used one sheet of paper and had enough space to make my five napkin rings. The size and shape of your lettering will impact how many napkin rings you can make on one sheet. Therefore, you may need multiple sheets depending on the size and number of napkin rings you want to create.
Step Two: Letter words and/or phrases on paper. Leave enough room around your lettering to cut it out and have a border if desired. You can letter phrases that correspond to your celebration, or use the napkin ring design as a place card and letter each guest's name. If you don't want to do lettering, you can always cut out a shape or stamped design.
Step Three: Cut out your napkin ring designs. Again, it's totally up to you what size and shape you want your napkin rings to be.
Step Four: Make a twine loop bundle for each napkin ring. Start by holding an approximately 1" end of the twine between your thumb and forefinger. Then wrap the rest of the twine three times around your four fingers snugly.
Trim the twine with a little extra remaining, as shown below. Take that extra end and wrap it around the top of bundle once, right by your thumb.
Then tie it to the other end of the twine in a single knot. Trim off excess twine. You should have a loop, as shown above. This will be what goes around your napkin.
Step Five: Glue twine loops to the back of your napkin ring designs. First, apply a small dot of hot glue to the back of your napkin ring design. I placed my glue in the center to make sure my design would be centered on the napkin. You may want to alter the placement of your glue depending on how you want your napkin ring to look.
After you apply the glue, quickly place your twine loop on the glue before it hardens, pressing it into the glue dot. Place the knot of the twine on the glue. You can gently press the knot into the glue, but be careful not to push too hard or the glue may burn your finger. You can use a stick or other item to press on the knot to prevent burns.
Set aside the napkin ring so that the glue can finish hardening. Once the glue is dry, your napkin ring is ready for use!
Faux Greenery Napkin Ring
My supplies include: sprigs of artificial leaves, scissors, metallic markers (for my leaf material, which was more cloth-like, I found the American Crafts Metallic Marker worked best), optional berry embellishments, and decorative twine.
Step One: Trim leaves off of branch. If your leaves are attached to a branch, trim them off. You may want to leave a slight stem on each leaf.
Step Two: Letter each leaf. You can letter phrases that correspond to your celebration, or use the leaf as a place card and letter each guest's name. I found it helped to write lightly with the tip of the marker since the leaf could not sit flat due to the veins. If you use a different type of leaf (like one made from firmer materials) you may not have this issue.
Step Three: Add embellishments if desired. I have had a bunch of foam berries I haven't used, so I decided to put them to use and embellish my leaves. I like that they add a festive pop of color. I applied the berries to the leaves using hot glue.
Add a drop of glue and quickly press your embellishments into it. Hold until glue hardens. If you are adding multiple embellishments, you may want to glue each one individually so that you don't have to worry about the glue drying too quickly.
Step Four: Make a twine loop bundle for each napkin ring. Follow the exact same steps outlined in step four above for the paper napkin ring. An alternative to a twine loop is to make a loop out of ribbon. If you go this route, I recommend gluing the ribbon into loops with a tacky craft glue or glue dot so you can press it together and not burn your fingers.
Step Five: Glue twine loops to the back of your leaves. First apply a dot of glue to the back of the leaf. For my napkin rings, I wanted the leaves centered on the napkin, so I put the dot of glue fairly close to the center of the leaf. I also chose to put the glue on the plastic vein so it wouldn't soak through the cloth of the leaf.
Press the knot of the twine loop into the hot glue. Be careful not to touch the hot glue with your finger or it will burn. Remember to orient your loop based on which way you want your leaf to lay on the napkin (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally). Your lettering will most likely determine the direction as you will want to to be readable.
Set aside your leaves so that the glue can finish hardening. Once the glue is dry, your napkin ring is ready for use!
I would love to hear what types of creative projects you would like to see. Please leave a comment and let me know!
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