Christmas Tea: Part 3

place card tags for a Christmas tea

Place cards are such a special touch and a few details can make them beautiful.  It takes a little bit of experimentation to come up with a design.  Brown kraft paper tags were my beginning of my idea.  I had the brown twine and the metallic washi tape.  I found the leaves rubber stamp set at a local craft shop, Creative Addictions.  The set is Fossil Leaves by Inkadinkadoo.  If you don't have a craft store near, Amazon sells them for less than $5.00.  The espresso ink pad used is by ColorBox.  I had been given a package of smaller white paper doilies and I wanted to incorporate them in some way.

My Pinterest board for many of the ideas and products I used can be found HERE.

In keeping with the simplistic design, I opted for clear plastic silverware from the dollar store.  At the Christmas Tea, platters of appetizers and desserts (in small portions) are served at each table; plastic silverware would make clean up so much easier.  I've got a silver/gray tablecloth and napkins from last year.  My napkin folded design would be a small rectangle shape with a pocket.  These place cards would be tied around the napkin.

In Publisher software, I created a table 4 columns by 2 rows.  By stretching this table to fit the paper, I adjusted to the size I wanted for my tags.  I edited the table format to have a dotted line outline for easier cutting on the paper cutter.  The names were typed in Landsdowne font, size 55 with placement at the lower portion of the rectangle shaped cell.

I printed a rough draft on plain white copy paper to check the size of the tags.  When I was pleased with the size and design, I printed it on brown card stock.  The tags were cut apart on the paper cutter.  I played with a blank tag to get the angles right; that tag served as a guide to trim the other tags.  With scissors, I clipped the top corners of the tags.  The square blue punch shown is a handy tool to have!  Slip the tag in, press down and the corners are now rounded.

I don't have step by step photos of the process.  I first stamped the tag with the leaves in espresso.  Next, I added the washi tape to the bottom edge.  White paper doilies were trimmed on the paper cutter to create a lacy edge.  I glued it on with a cheap craft brush and tacky glue.  A hole punch finished off the tag.  The brown twine was added and later tied around the napkin.

Christmas Tea: Part 2

Tall glass vase with vellum wrap

In part 1, I described the beginning of the table centerpiece.  Today, I'd like to show you how I created the tall glass vase with scripture on vellum.  The vellum wrap is inexpensive and easy to make.

The tall vase looks like frosted glass with painted lettering but it's a very simple project:  With Publisher software, a piece of vellum and a printer, a vase has inspiration to share.  I'll quickly lead you through the steps I took to complete it.

First, a template was needed to know where to print the lettering.  I used a piece of plain white copy paper and a pencil.  Once I had wrapped and taped it to the vase, I loosely sketched how much space I wanted the verse to fill.

With a ruler, I measured and marked the measurements from the left and top edges.  Taking this to the computer, the guides in Publisher help me match up where the text should fit.

Here's a screen view of how it appears as I work out the font type and size.  I chose Landsdowne, size 36, for the text.  I tried fonts with flourishes but found them harder to read at a glance.

Next, I printed off a sample on the another sheet of plain white copy paper.  This step saves me from wasting a sheet of vellum.  I take this and wrap it around the vase, making sure no further changes are necessary.  The rough draft on copy paper looks great; I'm ready to send the vellum through the printer.

In the photo below, I show the plain paper copy on bottom left and the vellum copy on bottom right.  At top right, the plain white vellum (frosted finish) with its item information on the left edge.  That edge needs to be trimmed off so that it will be 8 1/2" x 11" for the printer.  Don't skip this step!  The sheet of vellum needs to be the standard 8 1/2" x 11" when it's fed through the printer.

The paper cutter makes quick work of neatly removing that edge.  Now the vellum can be placed in the inkjet printer.

I remove all other paper from the tray to avoid more than one sheet feeding through at a time.  After printing on the vellum, I leave it to dry thoroughly because it could smudge easily.  I would suggest waiting 20-30 minutes before handling the vellum.  I haven't tried printing a photo on vellum but I think it's possible.

Rubber stamps could be used to add decorative detail.  I recommend using Stazon ink.  Information from the package label: a fast-drying solvent ink, made for use on plastic, metal, glass, ceramic, laminated paper, and leather.  You'll need a special cleaner to remove the Stazon ink from the rubber stamp.

I use two pieces of tape to secure it to the vase.  The vellum had a bit of overlap but I left it alone.  It could be trimmed.  Add a candle and it's done!

To my great amazement, I have more to share!  I hope you're enjoying these tips.  I had no idea this would turn into a three part series!  Next time, the brief how-to for these place cards with rubber stamps, decorative washi tape, paper doilies, and brown twine.  You don't have to wait until next Thursday...because it's all prepared and ready to go!  I'll have it here in the next day or two.

Thanks for following along and I'll chat with you again very soon!

-Christy

because she must make art.