Napkins for Mary

Mary, one of my closest friends in the world, asked me to make some napkins and place mats for a couple of people on her Christmas list. Here's what I did...






You can see more napkins I made here. The place mats are just something I came up with in my head.

I just love these napkins. The ones with the linen look (I can't actually afford real linen) are my favorite. They just look more elegant to me. Simple, yet sophisticated.

I also did some napkins for people on my Christmas list, but can you believe that in all the craziness of Christmas and making Christmas gifts that I forgot to take pictures of those? I know, it surprises me too. Oh, well...a napkin is a napkin.

Friendly Napkins

I made these napkins for a friend's birthday. My inspiration is from Purl Bee (see my inspiration and a tutorial here). [Molly makes napkins for Thanksgiving every year (for her big she-bang) - scroll to the middle of the page from the link above to see her past napkins.]

I used a linen look fabric and a chocolate brown fabric (neutral tones). Then I embroidered the first initial of her last name in one corner in chocolate brown.

I would love a bunch of these for myself in the beautiful, vibrant, fall colors that Molly from Purl Bee made. My husband's family is large and we rotate having holidays at each other's houses. If I start now making a few each year, I will have enough by the time it is my turn to have Thanksgiving here again.

I think (even without the embroidery) they would make great hostess or wedding gifts. Maybe even Christmas gifts. You could make a set of 4 or 8 in red this year for a friend and then next year make her a set in green. She could mix and match.

You could make a bunch of these to have on hand for a last minute birthday gift, hostess gift or whatever. [A friend of mine used to buy dish towels from the Dollar Store. She would buy one or two every time she went and kept them on hand as a hostess gift. Even if she just went over for coffee, she would take a dish towel as a hostess gift. She never went anywhere without taking something for the hostess. She kept the dish towels displayed in a basket in her home until she was ready to give them.] You could do the same with these napkins.

Freezer Paper Stenciling

Freezer Paper Stenciling is showing up all over the blogosphere. There are tutorials everywhere. I have been dying to try it. So, I just did it. (Got the idea for the monogrammed napkins here, can't remember where I got the tutorial.)

I tried to monogram cloth napkins as a wedding gift. I did a set of 4 napkins and then tied with a coordinating ribbon. [Sorry about the picture. On the way to deliver the gift, I realized that I had not taken a picture and did so on my lap in the vehicle - don't worry I wasn't driving, DH was.]

I love the tone-on-tone look, so I chose white napkins and an off-white paint (color: linen). I think this is especially important since this is for a Bride-To-Be and I don't know the colors of her new kitchen (white should go with anything).

I used regular acrylic paint (with no fabric medium). I couldn't find fabric paint in the color I wanted and I couldn't find the fabric medium to add to the acrylic paint. I washed one napkin after painting, drying and heat setting with iron and it still looked as good as the others (couldn't tell them apart).

Turning Ordinary Napkins Extraordinary

Start with a plain ordinary napkin and an embosser (my mother purchased mine for my birthday several years ago).



Put the plain corner (if some of the edges have a border) into the hand embosser. Gently squeeze the handle (not too tight or you will tear the napkin, but it has to be firm enough to leave the impression). You may have to try it a time or two.


Ta-Da!! Your embossed napkin, simple yet ellegant and expensive looking.