Fall Napkin Rings (from Shower Rings!)

Another simple and inexpensive craft. Do you know how cheap plastic shower rings are at the thrift store? Under $1 for 12 of them. So, I decided that 6 would make a nice set of fall napkin rings to be used for Thanksgiving.

Pretty, right?

I used some twine and a glue gun to cover them, but you could easily use jute, too, which might even give better coverage. 

Begin with a dab of hot glue to secure your beginning end of twine.

Make sure that the ring is "unhooked" so that you can slip the twine through that space in order to wind around your shower ring.

I wound around loosely a second time in order to insure full coverage - no one likes icky white plastic peaking through.

When finished winding, seal the rings shut. You can then begin to add your embellishments for the top of the ring.

I chose to add some cold porcelain leaves that I shaped and painted myself. You might remember my tutorial for cold porcelain here. You'll also need some floral tape to cover the remaining visible plastic portion on the ring and provide a smooth surface on which you can attach your leaves.

 

  

All that's left now is to place your lovely napkins through those rings and serve up some dinner (maybe even Thanksgiving dinner?).

Leafy Runner for Fall

I love this fall table runner, made from an old sheet and stamped with leaves from my yard. The colors are beautiful and it's just the thing to spruce up the dining table or the buffet this fall.

To get the effect, I collected leaves from the yard and lightly brushed them with paint. Though I chose colors traditional to fall, it would be lovely in any colors you like.

Once the leaf was painted, I placed it (paint side down) onto the sheet material I had sized for the purpose. I placed a napkin over the top of the leaf and then used my rolling pin to imprint the leaf on the fabric. Rolling over the leaf only a couple of times is enough to leave a detailed imprint.

Experiment with the amount of paint you brush on the leaves as well as the pressure with which your press your rolling pin.

As you might be able to see, my fabric was folded length wise into a long rectangle. When the paint was dry and I was ready to sew, I simply folded it length wise with right sides together and sewed up the raw edges (no pictures for these steps, sorry). I then turned it right side out and ironed it flat into its long rectangle shape. I decided to top stitch each side so that it would lay nice and flat.

In order to close the ends (which were still raw at this point), I decided to use a small piece of fabric which I folded and ironed to be the width of the runner. You can see below how I prepared the small piece and then attached it to either end of the runner.

With all the edges sealed up and hemmed, it was time to choose its home.

It's such a nice and easy way to bring your outdoor leaves inside.

Valentine's Day

I made this really simple and small runner for the dining room table. It's a very easy to sew rectangle that I then stamped with some stamps from my small collection.

One end is a French love saying:

The other end is an Italian love saying:

We're so cultured. :)