Make your own ATC-sized Christmas place settings with Fiona Beckman's easy instructions - plus don't miss the bonus blog project, coordinating napkin rings! You can see more of Fiona's finished project in the December issue of ScrapBook inspirations. Fiona used 'Good cheer' papers from October Afternoon.
These place cards are ATC-sized matchbooks, with a menu hidden inside! They’re very simple to make, and will look fabulous adorning your festive table. For best results, use double-sided cardstock-weight papers.
1. For each placecard, cut a strip of card 7.5x2.5in. Score and fold at 1.5in from one end, and 3in from the other end. If cutting from a sheet of 12x12in, first trim to 7.5x12in, and cut four 2.5in wide strips from this. You can cut a fifth placecard from the offcut, but note that the pattern will be in a different orientation. Alternatively, reserve the off-cuts for decoration.
2. Print your menu on ‘stepped’ pieces of paper to go inside. These should each be 2.25in wide, and the longest piece about 3.75in long (‘Dessert’, to go at the back). The Main Course and Starter sheets (depending on your menu) should be 2 5/8in and 2 3/8in long, respectively. I found that the easiest way to print them out the right size, was to create a ‘Table’ in Word, and specify the height and width of each cell. This way, you can adjust the font style and size until your menu fits neatly inside. Remember to allow for the 1in flap of card where they will be fixed into the matchbook.
3. Place the menu papers inside the 1in flap of cardstock, with the bottom edges aligned with the fold. Use a single staple just above the fold to hold them all in place. To close, tuck the 3in flap inside the edge.
4. Decorate the front of each card with a snowman motif, cut from the leftover patterned paper. Punch a 2in scalloped square from a coordinating paper, and trim off the corners. Ink edges, outline in white pen, and mount the snowman on top using foam tape. Highlight spots with glitter glue, and the snowman’s eyes and buttons with a black Glaze pen.
5. Print or hand-write name labels on small rectangles of card (approx 1.5in x 0.5in size). Punch another scalloped square from coordinating paper. Insert the square back into the punch part-way, and cut again, to leave a scalloped rectangle, just the right size to mount the names on!
6. To make a coordinating napkin ring, cut a strip of patterned paper 12x1in. Take both ends and twist once before joining them together, to form a double loop through which a rolled napkin will pass. Cover the join with a mounted snowman, as on the place cards.
