DIY Holiday Napkin Rings made from inexpensive Garland

Festive DIY Napkin Rings for your Holiday Table

Happy Holidays! I thought it would be very apropos to share this easy last-minute holiday napkin ring tutorial with you all. It’s that time of year when time is short and things are busy.  The last thing we need is to stress about table settings.  If you happen to need something quick to dress your tables,  these festive DIY napkin rings will have you covered!

I got the idea for this while I was in Target. Of course, I love to peruse their home decor aisles, which are filled with holiday decor at the moment. I saw this lovely little green garland for $8! Bargain! I am picky about my faux greenery, but this one looked pretty good (especially for the price). I knew I could make this into a cool centerpiece or napkin rings.

Greenery Napkin Ring DIY

You can follow these same steps to make napkin rings out of any holiday garland.  Dollar Stores might be a good source for inexpensive garlands.  It’s helpful if your garland has a bendable wire with it, this makes shaping the rings easier.  I would also like to suggest that you use wire cutters for cutting the wire.  Strong scissors may do the job, but it can be tough. And why ruin your good scissors?

wire cutters for cutting wire garland

Let’s get started, shall we?

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

inexpensive christmas garland

Instructions:

Step 1: Cut a small piece of garland.

cut off small piece of garland

Take your wire cutters and cut a piece of garland. The length will depend on how thick your napkins are. I have these frayed red buffalo check napkins that I made for the 4th of July, and I’m reusing them for the holidays! (You can check out the tutorial for those red napkins right here.) The material is somewhat thin, so I cut about a 4-inch piece of garland.

Step 2: Bend Garland Piece into a ring

shape your garland piece into a ring

Bend your garland piece into a ring. This is why it helps to be using garland with wire! All you have to do is mold it in a circle and twist it together. Then you can fluff up the greenery on the ring any way you like.

ring of garland

Definitely ensure that your ring doesn’t have any sharp, exposed wires. If so, just clamp it down with pliers.

Step 3: Insert your napkin

Red Napkins with DIY Napkin Rings made from garland

Now for the fun. Take the whole napkin and pull it through the ring. But here’s another way to do this.

Take your napkin and lay it out flat. Grab the napkin in the center and place your napkin ring over the center fold. Voila!

close up image of green napkin rings around a red holiday napkin

I think napkin rings really add to place settings, especially if you’re like me and only have a small round table. It’s stylish without overcrowding the table. I think these extra touches really make the holidays feel special. And instead of spending $5 on each napkin ring, you spent $8 on the whole project. As a bonus, you’ll probably have garland leftover to decorate with!

If you want more great ideas for your Holiday table, check out this gorgeous Holiday Tablescape.

Christmas Table with candles and red napkins and festive napkin rings

I want to take a moment to wish you all a Happy and safe Holiday and a Joyous New Year. I’ve now been writing for Pretty Handy Girl for a year, and I couldn’t be more thankful for this opportunity to connect with you all. Thank you so much for being a reader! It means so much to me to have you here.

karen signature

~ See More of Karen’s Tutorials ~


karen from decor hintHello!  I’m Karen, the creator of the Home Decor and DIY Blog: Decor Hint. I’m a Native of the East Coast, but I currently live in beautiful Seattle with my hubby, our two wonderful children, and our spunky wheaten terrier.

You can usually find me with some sort of craft in one hand and a coffee in the other. And I’m always rearranging furniture or moving lamps from room to room. I have a passion (read: obsession) for decorating, DIY, and gardening. In short, I love making my house into a home.

Like many, I’m inspired by what I see in home decor magazines, but I’m not so inspired by the price tags.  Consequently, I love finding and creating beautiful budget-friendly home decor items. In a head to head competition, I bet you’d never know the difference between the designer items and my DIY creations!  Many of my DIY projects focus on sewing, crafting, upcycling and organizing. Some of my favorite projects have been making pretty wreaths, sewing my own tassel hand towels, and crafting these trendy wood bead garlands. I can’t wait to inspire you and spark your creativity through my DIY projects.

You can always connect with me on Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram.

 

Hand Warmers with Rice DIY

Since most of us are in the full swing of winter, I thought hand warmers would be the perfect DIY project for your weekend. Learn how to make these Easy DIY Hand Warmers You’ll Want to Take Everywhere!

How to Make Easy DIY Hand Warmers
Easy DIY Hand Warmers You’ll Want to Take Everywhere

Friends! I’m so excited to be back today with a new project for you – these cozy little DIY hand warmers. This is a great way to use any leftover fabric scraps you may have laying around. Sometimes a fabric is just too beautiful to throw away.

Hand Warmers with Rice DIY

I have tons of leftover fabric pieces that I’m always repurposing into something new. These DIY hand warmers are perfect because you don’t need a lot of fabric to make them. And they take no time at all to complete.

Read on for the full tutorial.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Materials needed for hand warmers

Instructions:

Cut rectangles out of fabric

Step One: Cut Your Fabric

Take your fabric and cut out a rectangle roughly about 3.5 inches tall by 8.5 inches wide. Don’t worry about the measurements being exact, we can even it up later. Just make sure you have a rectangle like shown above. This is the basic shape and you’ll see why in a minute.

Step Two: Fold your Fabric in Half and Sew Two Edges Closed

Fold fabric in half to make a square

Now that we have our rectangles cut, take each one and fold it in half. This will make a little square. Note: Make sure the print sides of the fabric are facing each other. (If your fabric is only one-sided, you want to make sure the non-print side is facing out, and the pattern is on the inside.

Pssst: that’s why we cut the rectangle shapes in the first step – it’s just one less side to have to sew!

Fold fabric in half

You will find that you have three open edges on your fabric square. Sew the two parallel edges closed. For added strength, sew each edge several times to ensure it is closed tightly.

Now flip your little square right sides out. The stitches will be on the inside. And now you have a cute little pocket!

Showing a Fabric Pocket for making Hand Warmers

Step Three: Fill your Fabric Pocket with Rice

Spoon some rice into the open edge of each little fabric pocket. You really don’t need too much here. Make sure to leave enough space at the top to comfortably sew the open edge closed after filling. Do not overfill your pocket.

Fill Fabric Pockets with Rice

Because I wasn’t too concerned about it looking perfect, I folded the open edge down to close it while sewing. And that leads us to Step 4!

Step Four: Sew pouch closed

Sew Fabric Edges Shut

We are almost done! All we need to do is close up that last open edge. You can sew it up by tucking in the raw edges and stitching over top. Or create a neat little fold and stitch on top, as I did. Just make sure it’s sewn tight so no rice falls out.

Sew Fabric Edges Shut

And that’s it! These little DIY rice warmers take all of five minutes to make and they are so handy during the chilly winter months!

How to Use DIY Hand Warmers

Now that we have our cozy little warmers, we need to “warm” them up in the microwave.

I heat my warmers anywhere from 10-30 seconds in the microwave. I would start with the lowest amount of time and increase the time slowly. These rice warmers can get very hot, so be careful! And please keep a close eye on them as they are heating at all times.  It takes some experimentation to find out what the perfect temperature is for you.

Easy DIY Hand Warmers

These hand warmers can last a fairly long time. I had one still giving off some heat after 30 minutes! They will naturally cool down after a while. Just reheat them as needed.

These hand warmers are perfect to take on walks. Before you leave the house, heat them up and tuck a few in your coat pockets to keep your hands nice and toasty. Or, grab a few to take to the neighborhood park with the kids. I’m always cold sitting on the park bench watching my kids play!

Hand Warmers with RIce DIY

You can also use these at home. Tuck them under your feet or under a cozy blanket for a real cozy treat! I’ve actually made larger versions of these as heating pads in our home. My kids love them. It’s the perfect soother for a bellyache or leg ache. And bonus, the larger ones hold heat much, much longer.

Easy DIY Hand Warmers

If you like this tutorial, check out my post on making scented rice sachets.

Stay warm folks and I’ll meet you right back here next month!

karen signature

~ See More of Karen’s Tutorials ~


karen from decor hintHello!  I’m Karen, the creator of the Home Decor and DIY Blog: Decor Hint. I’m a Native of the East Coast, but I currently live in beautiful Seattle with my hubby, our two wonderful children, and our spunky wheaten terrier.

You can usually find me with some sort of craft in one hand and a coffee in the other. And I’m always rearranging furniture or moving lamps from room to room. I have a passion (read: obsession) for decorating, DIY, and gardening. In short, I love making my house into a home.

Like many, I’m inspired by what I see in home decor magazines, but I’m not so inspired by the price tags.  Consequently, I love finding and creating beautiful budget-friendly home decor items. In a head to head competition, I bet you’d never know the difference between the designer items and my DIY creations!  Many of my DIY projects focus on sewing, crafting, upcycling and organizing. Some of my favorite projects have been making pretty wreaths, sewing my own tassel hand towels, and crafting these trendy wood bead garlands. I can’t wait to inspire you and spark your creativity through my DIY projects.

You can always connect with me on Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram.

 

Still have some scraps of fabric? You could make these adorable gift bags.

Sew Easy Anthropologie Cloth Napkin Gift Bags | Pretty Handy Girl

Make these easy DIY tissue box covers. Use any fabric and cover up those ugly tissue boxes!

Hey Guys, happy Summer! I’m back today with another easy home project for you – a simple stylish DIY Fabric Tissue Box Cover.

I don’t know about you, but I think most tissue boxes are tacky. They stick out like a sore thumb in our house! Unfortunately, it’s not the type of thing I can just put away in a closet (believe me, I’ve tried!) Our family has allergies and young kids—needless to say—the tissues must remain out.

Tissue Box Covers - White and Striped Fabric

Until the tissue manufacturers come out with some better patterns, I’ll be covering mine up! These fabric tissue covers do just the trick. You don’t need too much fabric to make them. They blend in nicely with your decor, and you can wash them if needed!

Of course you could buy tissue box covers. But, these are customizable and you can make them with a $2 piece of fabric (or less.) So, go ahead and save some money by doing this yourself. I’ve seen some tissue box covers selling for almost $40! Yikes.

I wanted to make the process as simple as possible for you. You’ll be happy to know, I did this project over and over and over again until I found the perfect method for making them. Yes – I have over 5 tissue box covers now. Ha!

Tissue Box Covers - White Canvas and Striped Fabric

Ok, let’s get started.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Instructions:

Follow these steps to make your stylish tissue box covers.

Step 1: Cut out your Rectangle.

I’m assuming most tissue boxes are generally the same dimensions. But, measure your box to double check. For a standard rectangular tissue box, I started with a rectangle of fabric sized 16 inches by 24 inches.

Now cut your fabric to size.

Step 2: Cut a Center Hole.

Make a hole where the tissues will be dispensed. Here’s an easy way to do this. Take your rectangle of fabric and fold it in half lengthwise, then fold it in half again. Snip a little piece of the corner section – this will create a small hole perfectly centered in your fabric.

Snip corner to create a hole in the center of your fabric

 

Step 3: Measure and Mark your Corners.

Measure Squares to Make Mitered Corners

 

Place your tissue box in the center of your fabric. Hold the tissue box in place with one hand. With your other hand, use your pencil to mark a square at the corner of the tissue box. Repeat for all four corners.

It should look like this …

Create a hole in the center of the fabric

Step 4: Cut Out the Corners.

Cut your Squares out of Fabric

To make nice mitered corners, cut out the squares marked above. But, to allow for your seam, subtract about 1/4 – 1/2″ from the marked lines. Essentially, you’re cutting slightly outside where you made the pencil lines as shown below.

Tissue Box Cover before it's sewn together

Step 5: Sew Your Tissue Box Hole.

Remember the little hole we cut out of the center earlier? Now you can cut it slightly bigger to accommodate your tissues. Cut, a skinny rectangle and fold flaps toward the inside of the fabric tissue cover. Iron them to keep them from folding back. It doesn’t have to be super neat. The tissues will help cover it up!

Create a Center Hole for Tissues

Step 6: Sew your Corners.

Take your piece of fabric and fold it so the corner pieces line up as shown below. You want to make sure you sew the pencil mark side on the underside so they don’t show. When you fold the fabric, the pencil marks should be facing out. Stitch along the pencil line.

Repeat and sew all four corners the same way.

Step 7: Trim the Bottom.

Woot! Your little tissue box cover is taking shape now. Turn your cover right side out and place it over your tissue box.

Tissue box cover with excess fabric at bottom

The ends are long, huh? Well, we can easily just cut those down and sew a clean seam all the way around! You may be wondering why I started with a larger piece of fabric only to have excess at the end.

Trim excess fabric from tissue box cover

Trust me – I did this five times over! Having excess fabric ensures all your ends meet nicely and cover the tissue box entirely.

Let’s finish up by cutting away all the excess fabric minus 1/2″ to create a nice seam.

Iron Down a Small Seam on the bottom

Fold over the excess. Iron the seams. Now stitch along the edge of the folded seam.

Sewing Tissue Box Cover

Step 8: Flip your Tissue Box cover Right Side Out.

White Tissue Box Cover on Table

You are all done! Flip your tissue box right sides out and place it over your tissue box.

Soooooooo much better. Right?

These fabric tissue box covers look great everywhere and you can customize them with fabric of your choice. Place one in your bathroom, in your bedroom, and in your living room. Anywhere you want!

DIY Tissue Box Covers - Easy and Simple Tutorial for covering up those ugly tissue boxes!

No more ugly tissues boxes.  And my husband doesn’t have to ask – “where are the tissues, now?” LOL.

DIY Tissue Box Covers - Easy and Simple Tutorial for covering up those ugly tissue boxes!

Even though I prefer a sturdier canvas or heavy cotton fabric for this project, you can make these tissue box covers with any fabric.  Add some embroidery for a personalized touch!  Or get out some fabric markers and create a Scandi design on plain canvas.  This is a fun project allowing you to get creative with different looks.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial for a DIY fabric tissue box cover.   For more fun sewing projects for your home, check out these sewing posts from Pretty Handy Girl. Or these 21 Sew Easy Gift Ideas:

21 Sew Easy Gift Ideas You Can Make Yourself | PrettyHandyGirl

Or learn how to make some of my popular projects from Decor Hint:

I’ll see you right back here next month! Enjoy the start of Summer!

karen signature

~ See More of Karen’s Tutorials ~

 


karen from decor hintHello!  I’m Karen, the creator of the Home Decor and DIY Blog: Decor Hint . I’m a Native of the East Coast, but I currently live in beautiful Seattle with my hubby, our two wonderful children and our spunky wheaten terrier.

You can usually find me with some sort of craft in one hand and a coffee in the other. And I’m always rearranging furniture or moving lamps from room to room. I have a passion (read: obsession) for decorating, DIY, and gardening. In short, I love making my house into a home.

Like many, I’m inspired by what I see in home decor magazines, but I’m not so inspired by the price tags.  Consequently, I love finding and creating beautiful budget-friendly home decor items. In a head to head competition, I bet you’d never know the difference between the designer items and my DIY creations!  Many of my DIY projects focus on sewing, crafting, upcycling and organizing. Some of my favorite projects have been making pretty wreaths , sewing my own tassel hand towels, and crafting these trendy wood bead garlands . I can’t wait to inspire you and spark your creativity through my DIY projects.

You can always connect with me on Pinterest , Twitter or Instagram.

Tutorial for making these DIY oilcloth, water resistant drink coasters for Summer!

DIY Drink Coasters - Water Resistant fabric and perfect for Outdoor Use and Summer Parties!

DIY Oilcloth Drink Coasters

Hi there!  I’m so thrilled to be back today with this super quick and easy project.  The weather in Seattle has been totally amazing lately and it’s got me thinking about summer.  And, summer entertaining is on the brain! This project will look great on your patios and outdoor spaces. Bonus, it’s totally water resistant too. Let’s take a mini-break and learn how to make these adorable DIY oilcloth drink coasters for gifting or entertaining.

What in the world is Oilcloth?

Oilcloth is a type of fabric.  It has vinyl on one side and kind of a soft mesh of cotton on the other side.  Vinyl has a slippery and plastic-like feel to it. The best part about vinyl is you can wipe it clean and it’s water resistant! This makes oilcloth a perfect fabric choice for outdoor items like tablecloths, COASTERS, beach bags etc.

The other great thing about oilcloth is that it just happens to be made in a multitude of funky patterns and bright colors.  This fabric was made for Summer!  When you get a minute – run a google search for ‘oilcloth fabric’ and you’ll see what I mean.  Such pretty patterns!

So this is the perfect little accessory for all those Summer fiestas and BBQ’ s you have in the works.  Or even for gifting away as little favors.  Tie a cute burlap string around them and presto! You have a lovely handmade housewarming gift.

Perhaps you own a pool or live near the beach?  Or know someone who does?  These coasters make a fantastic DIY gift idea for them.

Here’s the best part: these stylish oilcloth coasters took me 10 minutes to make – start to finish.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Gather materials needed to make oilcloth drink coasters

  • Oilcloth Fabric – I chose these hot pink stripes from Fabric.com
  • Sewing Machine
  • Pinking Shears – these are simply scissors with a serrated edge.  They are used to cut a zig zag pattern in fabric to prevent fraying.
  • Tape Measure (for measuring your coasters to a perfect square)

Instructions:

Start by folding your oilcloth in half.  We need two exact squares to make one coaster (both front and back will be the vinyl, water-resistant side).

Fold your oilcloth fabric in half

Step 1:  Measure out a perfect square on your oilcloth fabric.

measure out your coasters using a tape measure or ruler

I measured approximately a 4 inch square coaster.  (It’s totally up to you on sizing. Most drink coasters are between 3-5 inches square.  For fun you can also cut circles instead of squares. Use a bowl or circle template to make a perfect circle.)

Step 2 :  Use your pinking shears to cut out your measured square.

Cut out the two squares of oilcloth fabric that you previously measured

Since your fabric is folded in half – you can pretty much cut two squares at once.  You can also use regular scissors here and even them with pinking shears after sewing.

Step 3:  Line up your two squares and sew them together vinyl sides out.

sew both layers or oilcloth fabric together

Use use small binder clips (another little sewing trick I use a TON) to hold your two pieces of fabric together while sewing.  I wouldn’t suggest using pins because the holes will be visible even after removing them.

A straight stitch is fine, but feel free to try something fun like a zig zag stitch.

Tips for sewing and working with oilcloth fabric :

Gently feed oilcloth through your machine so it doesn't stick to the presser foot

  • Because oilcloth is vinyl and kind of plastic feeling, it will stick under your presser foot.  To combat this,  use two hands to feed the coaster through.
  • An alternative is to purchase a Teflon presser foot – they are fairly inexpensive and won’t stick to the vinyl fabric as easily.
  • DO NOT IRON OILCLOTH.  It will melt and the mess won’t be pretty.  If your oil cloth is wrinkled, lay it out and throw some heavy books on top for a few days. This usually presses the wrinkles out.  Oilcloth also “releases” more wrinkles when warmed up a bit.  Therefore you can try laying it by a sunny window.  Don’t microwave your oilcoth. 🙂

Step 4:  Use your pinking shears to clean up the edges of your coasters

Even up the edges of your newly sewn coasters with your pinking shears

Simply snip along the edge without cutting through the seam to straighten and clean up the ends.

Guess what?  All done!  See how fast it was making these DIY oilcloth drink coasters?

These coasters look so cute and are perfect for Summer! Pin this image to share with a friend:

Tutorial for making these DIY oilcloth, water resistant drink coasters for Summer!

I don’t know about you, but I may need to mix up a batch of margaritas tonight.  I hope you guys enjoyed this tutorial!

Tutorial for making these DIY oilcloth, water resistant drink coasters for Summer!

If you enjoyed this tutorial, you might want to check out my tutorial on DIY frayed napkins.  They also make a nice gift and pretty setting for your tables.  And for even more inspiration – be sure to check out Brittany’s amazing backyard and patio reveal, what a beautiful space!

Outdoor Garden Patio Party Decorating Ideas | Pretty Handy Girl

You may also like this tutorial for making mosaic tile coasters

Mosaic Tile Coasters | Pretty Handy Girl

…or DIY personalized wood slice coasters.

I’ll be back here next month and I’m looking forward to connecting with you all again soon.

karen signature

~ See More of Karen’s Tutorials ~


karen from decor hintHello!  I’m Karen, the creator of the Home Decor and DIY Blog: Decor Hint . I’m a Native of the East Coast, but I currently live in beautiful Seattle with my hubby, our two wonderful children and our spunky wheaten terrier.

You can usually find me with some sort of craft in one hand and a coffee in the other. And I’m always rearranging furniture or moving lamps from room to room. I have a passion (read: obsession) for decorating, DIY, and gardening. In short, I love making my house into a home.

Like many, I’m inspired by what I see in home decor magazines, but I’m not so inspired by the price tags.  Consequently, I love finding and creating beautiful budget-friendly home decor items. In a head to head competition, I bet you’d never know the difference between the designer items and my DIY creations!  Many of my DIY projects focus on sewing, crafting, upcycling and organizing. Some of my favorite projects have been making pretty wreaths , sewing my own tassel hand towels, and crafting these trendy wood bead garlands . I can’t wait to inspire you and spark your creativity through my DIY projects.

You can always connect with me on Pinterest , Twitter or Instagram.

wall quilt title

Today on the Rockstar DIY stage is Jaime, with the tutorial to make this drop dead gorgeous Framed Wall Quilt.

Rockstar DIY Series

If you can sew a straight line I promise you can make this framed wall quilt.  You all are familiar with Jaime from That’s My Letter, I’m sure! She’s one of the regular band members here on PrettyHandyGirl.com. I can honestly say that she is one of the most gifted and talented DIY rockstars I know. She can build, she can fix, she can craft and she can sew. She also balances a job blogging and being a mother. Enough said.

Jaimes_headshot

With that, I turn the stage over to Jaime and her tutorial for creating a Wall Frame Quilt!

page_break_2

Gather up your favorite fabrics and we will make this statement wall art that would be great hanging nearly anywhere. And, it makes a wonderful gift idea.

wall quilt 3

Although the pattern looks to be a little tricky, it’s actually four of the same pieces sewn together in an X format.

wall quilt detail

wall quilt collage

Materials:

  • 1/4 yard each of 4 cotton fabrics
  • Basic sewing supplies: sewing machine, thread, pins, scissors, pencil, iron & ironing board
  • rotary cutter, clear quilting ruler and self-healing mat
  • 24″ x 24″ cotton fabric (for backing)
  • 24″ x 24″ batting
  • safety pins
  • 1/2″ plywood @ 21″ x 21″
  • 1x2x8 pine board
  • staple gun
  • wood glue
  • miter saw
  • nailer & 1 1/4″ brad nails
  • clamps

Instructions:

Step 1: Begin cutting the fabric into 2″ wide strips.  Looking at the diagram below, you will need multiple lengths of each fabric. I suggest cutting very long 2″ strips which you can cut down later.  I like to fold the fabric in quarters then cut off a 2″ wide strip using a rotary cutter and clear quilting ruler.

wall quilt step 1

wall quilt layout

Step 2:  Sew strips together using a 1/4″ seam allowance.  Determine your pattern, start from the middle longest piece (bright green) then add strips on either side.  With each additional strip, line up the strip with a ‘step down’.  Press.  Eventually you will trim edges with a 45 degree angle which is marked on the quilting ruler.

wall quilt step 2

Step 3: Make 4 identical pieces.  Sew the top square to the bottom squares.  Press. Then sew the middle seam together to make one piece. Press. Be sure to line up the seams. Read more