Thanksgiving is a holiday that’s all about family, friends, and food. There is nothing better than gathering around the table for a delicious meal with loved ones, and I love to add personal touches to my table that make the meal even more special – like DIY napkin decorations! My favorite way to personalize our Thanksgiving dinner is to decorate each napkin with a personal touch. Each year I try something new, and this year I’m going full force on the Thanksgiving theme. These DIY crafts are not only cute and festive but they are also easy enough for anyone to make during the hectic holiday period.
DIY #1: Origami Cornucopia Napkin
Origami is a Japanese art that involves folding paper. You’ve probably seen it in people’s offices or homes, where there are paper cranes hanging from the ceiling, or a few birds perched on a table. Origami napkin rings are easy enough for children to make, but they look sophisticated and beautiful when displayed at your Thanksgiving table!
You can use any kind of paper you have lying around—paper napkins, newspaper pages, magazine inserts—but some origami papers are more decorative than others. How-To Geek recommends using origami papers with designs that match your theme (like fall leaves) or colors (like red and white).
Repurpose leftover origami papers you may have lying around by turning them into napkin rings for Thanksgiving! These are great for kids because they can be made with just two sheets of paper; one sheet gets folded into an oval shape before being wrapped around itself as shown here:
DIY #2: Indian Corn Napkin Ring
Indian corn is a traditional decorative element for Thanksgiving, so why not use it to dress up your napkins?
To make:
- Cut a piece of wire, about 2-3 inches long, depending on how big you want your napkin rings to be. Thread the wire through two pieces of Indian corn and twist the ends together to form a loop. Repeat this step with more pieces of Indian corn until you have enough loops for all your guests’ napkins.
- Glue each end of the wires onto opposite sides of an index card (or anything else that will hold them in place). You can use tape or glue if you prefer something more temporary than glue; either way works fine! When everything is set up and dry, remove the card from its holder and attach one end of an elastic band to each side with hot glue or superglue (some kind of adhesive). The elastic band should overlap itself slightly when pulled taut—this will create tension on both sides where they meet at the bottom edge so they stay closed without having anything holding them shut except gravity (which isn’t very strong!). You might want someone nearby who knows what they’re doing when handling hot tools because these get really warm really fast!
DIY #3: Pine Cone Napkin Ring
- Pine cone napkin ring:
This is one of the most popular DIY Thanksgiving decorations. They’re easy to find, simple to paint and glue together, and they look great when hung from the dinner table. You can even glue a ribbon onto them for easy hanging.
- All you need is some paint or markers, some fabric scraps for the bow, glue sticks (or hot glue gun), pine cones and something to hang them with (like wire or ribbon).
DIY #4: Acorn Napkin Ring
You can make this napkin ring with acorns from your yard or at a craft store. The best way to do this is to use a small hole punch and make holes in both sides of the cap, then tie twine through one side of the cap. If you don’t have any twine handy, you could also just glue on some googly eyes (I mean, who doesn’t want to eat their food off of a plate with googly eyes?). After that, all you need is a glue gun to attach the acorn caps to your napkin rings!
DIY #5: Fall Leaves Napkin Ring
Materials needed:
- paper
- glue
- scissors
- pencil
Instructions to make it:
Cut out the leaf shape from your paper and fold. Glue the back of each half of your leaf together, creating a circle with two points on top. Decorate with markers or other design ideas you have! Use this craft as an accent piece for fall-themed napkins or in place of real leaves for a quick and easy decoration that won’t wilt away!
You can decorate your Thanksgiving table with handmade napkin rings that you make yourself.
You can also make napkin rings out of pine cones, acorns, and leaves. One option is to tie a piece of string around the pine cone and then secure it with a glue gun. Another idea is to use an acorn as a base for your napkin ring by cutting off its top with scissors, then securing it to the table using hot glue or floral wire. You can also use origami paper to make an origami turkey shape that you can strategically place on your table as a decoration.
If you don’t want to spend too much time making holiday decorations for Thanksgiving dinner, these ideas will help you get started in creating something festive without having to spend much time at all!
Conclusion
This Thanksgiving, I hope you’ll try your hand at some of these DIY napkin ring designs. Not only are they super simple to make, but they’ll also look fantastic on the table and will be the perfect conversation starters for all your guests. Best of all, once the holiday season is over, you can store them away and reuse them again next year!
