Place Cards for a Holiday Dinner
Thanksgiving and Christmas Dinner Table Settings are Special With Handmade Place Cards
You'll be in a rush cooking and preparing the food, so make these ahead of time or use them as a busy activity for kids who want in on the holiday meal preparation excitement. Here are a few last minute fun ideas for making table name cards for your Thanksgiving and Christmas table. Having a Christmas tea or winter month birthday party? Add place cards for charm and fun. Place cards were once a staple of the holiday table. Kids love to design and decorate with them.
You'll need a guest list. Be particularly careful to spell each name correctly. This will make your guest feel special and welcome. Don't leave anyone out. Make a couple of extras in case of last minute unexpected guests.
Leaves are always popular for the Thanksgiving table. Cut leaves of colored construction paper or make a rubbing of a leaf with crayon on colored construction paper. Cut out the leaf. Fold the leaf lengthways and write the guests name across the top. Place beside the plates when you have set the china plates and silverware on.
Edible turkeys. Use chocolate covered cherries and candy corn to make little turkeys to hold card at each place. For each turkey turn a chocolate covered cherry on its side so the top swirl faces you. See a turkey face there? Glue the cherry to a flat candy like a chocolate thin mint or a Necco. Use frosting made with a mix of powered sugar and couple drops of water for your glue. Anchor candy corn behind with the "glue" to stick up and form the tail feathers. Add a waddle of red frosting or tube icing and an eyeball dot of black licorice. Prop the cards carefully in the tail feathers.
Use very small pinecones to form turkeys. Stick real feathers or fake colored craft feathers to form the tails. Make the feathers, head and waddles of construction paper to decorate your turkey. Stand the card so it will be held up by the cone bracts. Tiny Indian corn with the name written on the dried husks laid on or beside each plate make cute cards. For Christmas use the pinecones on end to be little trees.
Cut Christmas trees of green paper and label with the guests name. Stand by gluing a piece of index card or poster board to the back. Fold in half. Cut in three sections. Glue the top half to the back near the bottom of the picture with the bottom half as the stand.
Small stones, seashells, miniature pumpkins, or squashes can have the guest's name written on them with a permanent marker, or glue a paper name card to the outside. Try planting a small candle in the top of each mini pumpkin and use a bead-headed straight pin to attach the name card to each.
A fall leaf dried can be written on with permanent marker for each card. Magnolia leaves work well if you have space for them.
Doll house miniatures, small birdhouses, tiny bottles with toothpick and paper flags bearing the guest's names or decorated to match the table settings, or small plastic cake decorating figures can be used as card holders. Any heavy card stock paper can be used to cut the cards from. Spell each name in colored markers, or cut letters from cards and magazine pages to form each name. Glue onto the cards.
Use index cards to make self-standing cards. The artist can draw holly, pumpkins, ivy, leaves, snowflakes,cranberries, or whatever he pleases on the card's top half and then write the guests name in fancy letters. Now fold the card in half lengthwise so that it will stand up by the plate.
Make index card place cards and decorate them with curouts of holday items from magazines. Another source of matching cardstock items is a box of greeting cards. Cut out nativity figures, pilgrims, turkeys, snow flakes, angels, santas, etc. and use these to glue to index cards Seasonal stickers make cute card designs. Fold the bottom half of each card under to form a stand.
Napkin rings can serve as name cards. Write the names on index card halves. Make a hole in the end of each card with a hole punch. Run a ribbon through each hole and tie the ribbon around each rolled up table napkin. If you have ceramic or metal rings, cut out small designs from greeting or invitation cards. Affix to the rings with craft putty and write the guest's names on the picture.
For Christmas dinner use tiny wreaths of dried grapevine. decorate each with a red ribbon and then glue a piece of sturdy paper across the back so that the name is centered in the wreath.
Use your imagination to craft fun and welcoming place cards suitable for any holiday table!
What do you think about this article?
More in Partners & Parents
Latest Articles