Last Minute Tricks For Your Holiday Table

The clock is ticking down – Thanksgiving is quickly approaching. Feeling like you may have dropped the ball on some of the smaller details? Don’t fret – try using some everyday household items in a new way to add personality to your table.

To make these place cards, I cut a wine cork in half lengthwise and scored the rounded side with a knife so it could hold a name card and stand up straight. I used black pastel paper and a white pencil (both available at art supply stores) to make my card.

I used a die cutter to get my tag shape, but you could cut out a rectangular shape from any card stock weight paper - even use an index card or reuse a greeting card.

These are so easy to make - you could crank out a dozen in less than 20 minutes. You could also use these to mark the different varieties of cheeses on a cheese tray.

Laundry line rope (available at The Home Depot) is cut and tied around a napkin to create a ring and also a holder for a place card. When entertaining a large crowd - I don't always have enough matching napkin rings - this solves that problem in a flash and inexpensively too.

Fresh bay leaves (available in the produce section of my supermarket) are punched with a hole puncher, stamped with rubber stamp letters and tied to the stem of a glass to create a fresh and unique wine charm. You can make these the night before or the morning of your event - but not much earlier than that as the leaves will dry and curl after a few days.

Try clipping a clothespin to your napkins to hold a place card in place along with a clipping of rosemary.

Comments (2):

  1. Jennifer

    November 22, 2010 at 2:50 pm

    Love the stamped bay leaf. What a fresh idea!

  2. david

    November 22, 2010 at 3:03 pm

    So gorgeous. So simple. Love all of these – and the photos look great.

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