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Cute Thanksgiving place cards DIY using brown paper grocery bags

DIY Thanksgiving place cards from recycled brown grocery bags

Transform brown paper grocery bags into cute and easy DIY Thanksgiving place cards that double as napkin rings. How useful! My Thanksgiving place cards DIY uses craft supplies that you probably already have at home so they’re super easy to make last-minute. Keep reading to download my free printable Thanksgiving place cards template.

Simple Thanksgiving table decor from brown grocery bags

This year, we made our Thanksgiving table decor using upcycled brown paper grocery bags. Elise and I went grocery shopping for Thanksgiving dinner and I totally forgot to bring our cloth bags. We walked out of the store with about 8 big brown paper grocery bags and I instantly felt a little guilty about it. So I thought I’d recycle the grocery bags by incorporating them into napkin rings for our Thanksgiving table decor (and if you don’t have a grocery bag you can always use Kraft paper, butcher block, or brown paper).

Cutting strips of paper to make DIY napkin rings

Cute Thanksgiving place cards that use paper scraps

And another bonus? I used up some of the scrap paper that I’d saved from making Elise’s birthday party hats. Yeah, I kept the scraps from her birthday party. I have a serious pack rat problem. But when things like these napkin rings actually turn out cute then I’m glad I hoarded all that stuff. To save even more time, I re-used my free leaf shape template from our past Thanksgiving. Remember these Thanksgiving place cards?

DIY Thanksgiving place card on the Thanksgiving table

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Supplies for making DIY place cards for the Thanksgiving table that double as napkin rings:

How to make DIY place cards for the Thanksgiving table that double as napkin rings:

Step 1: Cut strips from a brown paper grocery bag

Cut open a brown paper grocery bag so it lays flat. Try to choose a brown grocery bag with few wrinkles.

Brown grocery bag

Cut strips from the brown paper bag that are 7″ wide x 1.5″ tall. Use good paper scissors or a self-healing mat, craft knife, and metal ruler. (I was a little lazy as you can see and I used my rotary cutter and clear plastic ruler from my sewing stash.)

Cutting strips of paper to make DIY napkin rings

Step 2: Cut slits in the paper napkin ring

Measure 1/2″ from the left side of the napkin ring and cut a slit halfway through (so your slit will be half of the 1.5″ tall like mine below). Repeat on the right side, and make sure the right side slit is opposite like in my photo below.

DIY paper napkin ring template

Step 3: Print out guest names for Thanksgiving place cards

Download my free printable name pattern and open PowerPoint. If you want to use my font, then you’ll need to download and install the free Goudy Bookletter 1911 font from The League of Moveable Type or change the font to one that you prefer. Print names onto white cardstock paper. Use your 1″ circle craft hole punch to punch out names. You will need to do a little trimming to get the craft punch close enough to punch the inner rows.

Making personalized place cards Thanksgiving table decor

Step 4: Cut out paper leaves using my free template

Print my free printable leaf template. Now here’s a neat trick if you’re using scraps: Just put the leaf pattern on top of the scrap yellow paper that you want to cut. Trace around it using a ballpoint pen with firm pressure. The ballpoint pen will press a trace line onto the yellow paper below.

Tracing a leaf shape onto paper

Here you can see the faint trace lines. Cool, yes?

Printable leaf template to make DIY Thanksgiving napkin rings

And now you just cut! This technique is great on scrap paper and also avoids messy printer lines around your cut leaf.

Printable leaf template

Step 5: Cut out circles from scrap paper

Use your 1″ circle craft punch to punch assorted circle colors from scrap paper.

Making DIY place cards for the Thanksgiving table

Step 6: Glue the paper circles to the leaf

Glue three together with the name circle on top using a glue stick. Slip the leaf between two circles. Let it dry.

Making DIY place card holders for Thanksgiving

Peel the backing off of a VELCRO Adhesive Dot and press onto the back of the orange circle. Peel the other side of the backing and press onto the brown paper bag napkin ring.

Gluing DIY place card holders for Thanksgiving

Step 7: Wrap the DIY place cards around cloth napkins

Wrap your DIY napkin rings around rolled fabric napkins. Hook the two sides together using the slits like the photo below. Happy Thanksgiving!

Securing DIY place card napkin rings around a cloth napkin

DIY paper napkin ring template

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Be sure to pin my DIY Thanksgiving table decor idea:

DIY Thanksgiving place cards from recycled brown grocery bags

And see more Thanksgiving craft ideas like my DIY felt napkin rings, DIY fall wreath using Polaroid photos, and DIY Mayflower snack cups for the Thanksgiving table.

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