This is a sponsored post. I was compensated for my work, but the opinions are 100% my own.
Do you own cloth napkins? I think we may have received a set as a wedding gift year ago, but I am not sure if we have ever used them. They seem like something that should only be brought out for important meals with the fancy china (which we don’t have either). The truth is that cloth napkins are smart to have on hand for any dinner. Not only do they look nicer on the table, but you can toss them in the laundry after the meal and save a little bit of garbage from the landfill. You can make your own patterned cloth napkins easily from inexpensive tea towels and leftover wine corks! I will show you how today.
Begin by ironing one of the flour sack towels to remove the biggest wrinkles. Then use the scissors to cut a small notch at the middle point of two of the four sides, as well as just inside any hems there may be. Rip the fabric at each of these points, so that you have four pieces of cloth – each with four raw edges.
Next you can decide what kind of pattern you would like to make with your stamps. If you want to do a simple polka dot pattern, you can just use the end of one wine cork as is. If you would like a rectangular stamp, carefully cut the cork lengthwise – removing about 1/3 of the cork. You can then cut a design into the cork, if you choose. You can also bundle several corks together with duct tape to create a group of circles.
You can then the cork stamps to create patterns on the cloth with fabric paint. I chose blue and goldish-yellow for my napkins so that they would coordinate with our blue and yellow dining room.
After you have finished stamping the napkins, allow them to dry flat a few hours before handling. Then you can use and wash them as normal.
Instead of using regular napkin rings, I tied up the cloth napkins with strips of scrap fabric to continue the raw edge theme. The frayed edges of the fabric keep the cloth napkins from looking stuffy or fussy.
I am excited to set a nice table and serve some Snoqualmie wine with dinner. They sent a few of their varieties to try out, and I can’t wait to decide on my favorite. Snoqualmie is a Washington winery that focuses on sustainable practices from the winemaking process to packaging. Keep up with them on Facebook and Twitter for updates!
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- wine corks
- craft knife
- duct tape
- flour sack towels
- fabric paint
- scissors
Check out these other DIYs:
I LOVE how these turned out – so fun!
Cute! I love the colors you picked!