DIY Thanksgiving Place Cards
Every year for Thanksgiving we have the pleasure of gathering at my
Aunt Gaye and Uncle Joe’s home. She sets a lovely table and makes food
that is even lovelier. Before the evening is over, we draw names for
our Christmas Eve gift exchange. I’m usually in charge of writing the
names down and making sure that everyone selects a name. I also have to
make sure that everyone chooses the name of someone who isn’t in their
immediate family. Whew!
Last year my cousin Christopher and I had a brilliant (beyond
brilliant) idea…instead of writing down everyone’s name, why don’t we
just use the place cards? Dah! Why not? Why did it take us twenty
something years to figure that out? Instead of scrambling for paper and
a pen and scissors, why don’t we just use the cute place cards with
everyone’s name on them that are right in front of our eyes????
So we did. Christopher and I gathered up the place cards, put them in a bowl, and everyone selected their person.
Trouble is, though, that we neglected to have everyone turn in their
chosen place card when they were done. Some people tore them in half,
some people rolled them up, and some people used them as wrappers for
their chewed gum.
Oops.
My aunt was so upset. Turns out that what seemed like an
insignificant part of our Thanksgiving festivities (names on a piece of
paper) was actually something that caused my aunt a lot of angst. She
went to a lot of trouble to ensure that all of the cards matched, that
the font size was perfect, etc. When we gathered up the cards for our
name-pulling event, we gave no thought to the time and effort that she
put in to making sure the place cards were as perfect as everything else
that day.
(I call this story “Guilt by Association” because I put the blame on
Christopher and he put the blame on me…we had no idea how much we
would hurt her feelings, so neither of us wanted to take
responsibility. Shame on us!)
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Needless to say, I have spent the last year searching and searching
for the perfect place cards to replace the ones that were ruined last
year. I have been determined to make amends.
Have you ever tried to find Thanksgiving place cards? It’s not an easy task.
My aunt’s birthday is next week (just a couple of weeks before
Thanksgiving) so I decided to make her new cards. I’m confident that
giving the gift of HANDMADE will make up for last year’s debacle and
erase the feelings of being ungrateful for her efforts that she thought we
had.
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You can make these, too!!!! Even though there are a lot of steps and supplies involved, they are pretty easy to make.
All of the supplies I used are from Stampin’ Up!. I made these a couple of years ago, so some of the exact items are no longer available, but I’ve included similar items in the slide show below. Just click on an image if you would like to order it.
SUPPLIES:
Specialty Designer Series Paper: substitute what I used with Petals and Paisleys Designer Series Paper (Item #142017)
Card Stock: substitute what I used with the Petals and Paisley Cardstock Pack (Item#142018) and Copper Foil Sheets (Item #142020)
Punches: substitute what I used with either the Owl Builder Punch (Item #118074) or the Fox Builder Punch (Item#141470)
Ribbon: substitute what I used with the 3/8″ Ribbon Trio Pack (Item #142021)
Accessories: for the top, substitute the punched hole and brad with the Gold Binder Clips (Items #141673)
Additional Items: chipboard, Mod Podge, googly eyes, sanding block
&
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First, BEFORE you cut the squares for the place cards, adhere the decorative paper to the chipboard with Mod Podge:
Next, cut squares with the rotary cutter 1-7/8″ x 1-7/8″
3) Distress the sides of each place card with the sanding blocks
4) Attach a gold binder clip to the top of each place card
5) Attach cut ribbons to the gold binder clip
6) Punch and adhere the owl or fox and decorate the place card to your taste
7) Print out names onto Very Vanilla card stock (from the Petals and Paisleys Card Stock Pack.) Punch or cut out names and adhere to each place card.
8) To make the stands, cut a piece of cardstock 1-1/2″ x 3″ and score at 1-1/2″. Fold on score line and adhere one side to the back of each place card.
