Five ways to make holiday placecards special
One of my favorite parts about setting a Thanksgiving table is creating a fun place card for guests. I’ve tried several different options over the years and I’m always looking for new ideas.
I thought I’d share five ideas you could try for your Thanksgiving table this year.
1. Use icing to put names on fall-themed cookies.
We created the cookies at right for our table last year. My husband baked the cookies and covered them with icing and I wrote the names. It took a couple tries to get used to writing with the icing, but once you get the hang of it, you can knock them out quickly. Our guests loved them!
Read these tips from the Sweetopia blog for help in getting the icing the right consistency.
2. Try an artichoke!
Designer Libby Langdon created this beautiful candle place setting using an artichoke. On her website, Libby explains how to do this yourself:
Snip off an 1 ½” of the top of a green or purple artichoke, trim the sharp pointed edges of the outer leaves and cut the base stem so the artichoke will sit on the table. Push open the leaves at the top with a fork and nestle in a votive candle with about ¾” of the candle sticking out on top of the artichoke. Place several of them down the center of the table for a centerpiece or incorporate them with another centerpiece. The next day you can cook the artichokes so they don’t go to waste!
Check out this Thanksgiving page on Libby’s website for more great ideas.
3. Insert a place card into a glittered pine cone.
This is such a simple, easy idea and yet so festive and fun for Thanksgiving.
Take a pine cone, spray paint on a little glitter (or leave it plain if you’d rather) and make up a place card using card stock.
Use a pen or computer to print names on the cards and slip between pieces of the pine cone.
The photo at right is from Better Homes and Gardens.
4. Make a personalized menu card.
We made these fun menu cards several years ago. I used scrapbook paper to add pattern and layered on regular copy paper printed with each guest’s name on top, the menu in the middle and a short prayer that we all read together on the bottom.
I connected the two papers together using a small brad also made for scrapbooking.
Then I played around with the napkin until I folded it in a way that created the perfect pocket for the card. It looked great and added a little color to my white china place settings.
5. Make a table topiary.
OK. So it’s not so much a topiary as a bunch of pine needles. But it’s a great idea from Better Homes and Gardens.
According to BHG, put a floral foam in the bottom of a small clay pot, tuck in some fresh pine bough ends and add a garden marker.
Write the guest’s name on the marker and place on your table.
Do you have some favorite place card ideas? We’d love to hear about them. Tell us about it in comments below and – if you can – link to a photo.
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#1 Rosey on November 24, 2009:
These are cute. The pinecone is my fave. Thanks for sharing!
#2 Lauralee Hensley on November 24, 2009:
I like the pinecone idea and can pick them up free when I’m walking the dogs at the park. Thanks.