DIY Fall Place Cards

Thanksgiving is a few days away and that means I get to set a pretty table for the family and cook a fabulous turkey with all the trimmings. This year I’ve ordered a fresh turkey for my family from Reams Meat Market, which is well known throughout Chicagoland. I decided to customize our Thanksgiving table with DIY Fall place cards.

I love using natural elements to decorate because it’s inexpensive and pretty.

If you don’t have any pretty leaves from Fall still around, you can cut some from decorative scrapbook paper.

 

I gathered these shortly after the leaves started falling.

It’s best to get leaves that have just fallen off the tree because they’ll still be soft and supple.

You can also pick them right off the tree, too (which is what I did with a few of these).

 

Next, you’ll want to preserve your leaves. You can press them the old fashioned way, or use Mod Podge. Last year I pressed my leaves and then coated them with Mod Podge, but this year I decided not to press them. That way they’d retain some of their curvy texture.

 

Spread a thin coat of the glue mixture on one side of the leaves (I had a piece of wax paper underneath). Wait for it to dry, and then lightly coat the second side. It doesn’t take long for the glue to dry. Mod Podge seals the leaves and they will keep until next year if you want to re-use them.

 

While the leaves dry, it’s time to work on the place cards. You’ll need wooden tags, stencils, acrylic paint, book pages, and twine.

 

Using Raw Umber acrylic paint, I painted a border around each tag. Next, rip small squares from book pages. Use Mod Podge or glue to adhere the page to the wooden tag. Then, using a very light hand, smudge a little more paint onto the exposed parts of the tag.

 

At the last minute I changed my stencil. These are stick-ons from JoAnn Fabrics. You can do a regular stencil or even write free hand if you’re artistic. Everyone in our family has a different first initial so using initials works for my table.

 

Loop a piece of twine through the hole at the top of the tag. Layer two leaves and tie the tag onto the leaf stems. Make sure you use a long piece of twine if you want to wrap it around a napkin.

 

S is for Stephanie, my oldest daughter.

You can see in this photo that I purposely made the book page square crooked.

 

Your guests can keep their personalized Fall leaf place cards.

They could even use them as an ornament on their Christmas tree.

 

These colorful DIY Fall place cards are a great way to personalize your table setting.

And I love the fact that I can keep the leaves until next year to use for another decor project.

 

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