crafting - christmas place cards

dec 24

Yesterday my mother-in-law decided that maybe for this Christmas dinner we should have place cards at the table. You know, so there would be no last minute jostling for position at the grown-up table, with all the young adults trying desperately to avoid being stuck at the kiddie table. This way it would already be decided for them :)

I Googled and Etsyed and came up empty handed for something I loved and could just print out on card stock from my computer...

So, I decided to get crafty. I didn't have a lot of supplies to choose from, so I had to work with what I could find around my in-law's house or had packed to bring with me. Here's what I made and how I made it:

Needed: white card stock, ruler, scissors, red, green & black markers (I used my kids' Crayola markers), satin ribbon ( I used red 1/2" wide ribbon left over from gift wrapping), tape

Optional: a warm cup of tea

First I measured and cut the card stock into rectangles. I made mine 2.5" by 3.5," and then folded them in half to make tents. Then, I cut lengths of satin ribbon just a bit longer than the width of the cards. I laid the ribbon across the front of the card and folded it around each side, taping it down on the back.

All the pretty cards with ribbon across the front.

I decided to make a simple leaf pattern with little red berries on the font, so I started with a rough rectangle outline for the leaves using the green marker. (The idea being that it kind of looks like a vine, right?)

Then I started adding easy little leaves all around the vine.

And finally added a few berries by making clusters of red dots among the leaves. And there you go!

It took a while longer than I had planned, but they sure are cute. I'm going to have my daughters write all the names with a black marker, and I'll be sure to post a few pictures of the finished cards on the table!

Have you crafted anything fun this Christmas?

p.s. here they are on the table :)