This post contains affiliate links & photos. See our full disclosure here.
In this post: Make these easy DIY paper napkin rings for your upcoming holiday or event with our free cut files, free fonts. PLUS an option to make them without a cutting machine!
Make these easy DIY paper napkin rings for your upcoming holiday or event!
I’m sharing the free fonts (so you can customize your napkin rings for any occasion), and SVG cut files PLUS an option to make them without any fancy equipment at all!
Have I told you before that the best decorations are often the easiest to create? Of course, I have. It’s part of my ‘manifesto’ of decorating…no complicated crafts allowed.
Seriously.
I can’t handle too many steps in a craft or DIY project. I just can’t concentrate for that long.
Also, I’m not a fan of lots of repetitive steps…I may quit altogether (just ask the full unfinished crafts bin in my basement about that).
Anyway, these DIY paper napkin rings are super easy and don’t require a lot of work at all. My kinda craft!
Why use napkin rings?
Today, napkin rings add an elegant, and often festive touch to table decor. But that wasn’t always their purpose…
Traditionally, napkin rings were used informally and at family dinners so that cloth napkins could be reused. Each person had a distinct napkin ring. If the napkin was still clean, it was placed back in the ring at the end of the meal in order to be used again. – via GoodHousekeeping.com
They were used to save on washing!!! Can you imagine?!
I’m kinda glad we get to use them just for fun, aren’t you?
What side does the napkin go on?
Napkins typically go on the left side of a place setting at the table, to the left of the fork(s). Sometimes they are placed on the center of the dinner plate in a napkin ring, or folded flat under the forks.
How to use napkin rings
There are a few ways you can use napkin rings, depending on the napkin ring you choose to use.
Most of the time I lay a napkin out flat, place the napkin ring on the center of the napkin, and pinch the napkin up through the middle of the ring. Then I fluff out the edges as needed.
But for paper napkin rings, this approach doesn’t work because pulling the napkin through could tear the paper ring.
So, instead, we roll a napkin that’s been folded into a rectangle and tape the paper napkin ring around it.
You could use the fluffed version if you’d like, and just tape the ring around the pinched and fluffed napkin.
It’s that easy!
Finally decorate your own home – with confidence!
You’re so much closer to a beautifully-decorated home than you think. You just need a little help to get there!
How to Make Paper Napkin Rings WITH a Cutting Machine
These DIY paper napkin rings are easy to make because you just print, cut, and secure them with a little Scotch tape in the back.
You can mix fonts and napkin patterns for an eclectic look or you can choose to use all the same fonts and napkins for a more coordinated look. Completely depends on your mood!
Of course, you could also print them on plain paper or heavier cardstock instead of Kraft paper and that would change the look and feel as well.
Supplies
- paper of your choice – I used brown Kraft paper
- computer
- Silhouette or Cricut cutting machine
- clear Scotch style tape
Free Fonts I used are:
If you know your way around a cutting machine and its software, that’s the fastest way to make these napkin rings. But if you don’t own a Silhouette or Cricut or aren’t adept at using the software yet, you could also skip the cutting machines instructions and jump to the non-cutting machine instructions below.
Instructions
1. Download the SVG file here.
2. Open the file. Print with registration marks.
3. Place the paper onto the cutting matte. Select correct material settings for the paper you’ve chosen.
4. Send to Silhouette/Cricut.
5. Separate paper napkin rings and wrap one around each napkin. Tape napkin rings in back with clear (Scotch) tape.
If you want to make some napkins, you could make our super easy Cloth Napkins!
How to Make DIY Napkin Rings without a Cutting Machine
As I mentioned, you can still make these DIY paper napkin rings without a Silhouette or other cutting machine. You also don’t need any fancy editing or creating software…you can simply use Microsoft Word! Here’s how:
Supplies
- paper of your choice – I used brown Kraft paper
- computer
- printer
- scissors
- clear Scotch tape
Free Fonts I used are:
Instructions
1. Open a letter-size word document.
2. Create a text box that is 7″ x 1.75″.
3. Give the text box no fill and a 1/4″ black line.
4. Type Give Thanks or whatever text you’d like into the text box.
5. Center text in box horizontally and vertically as well. Your text should now be in the very center of the text box.
6. Change text to desired font and size.
7. Copy and paste the text box for each napkin ring. You should be able to fit 5 napkin rings on one sheet of letter-sized paper.
8. Print napkin rings.
9. Trim each paper napkin ring along its 1/4″ black text box line, with scissors.
10. Wrap one napkin ring around each napkin and secure with a small piece of clear (Scotch) tape.
And there you have it. Darn simple DIY paper napkin rings!
Customize the Napkin Rings for any Occasion
I made ours for Thanksgiving, obviously.
But you could try out all kinds of sayings for just about any occasion. Here are a few occasions that these napkin rings would be perfect for:
- birthdays
- baby showers
- bridal showers
- rustic weddings
- Christmas
- Easter
- spring
- fall
- Thanksgiving
- New Year’s Eve
- 4th of July/Canada Day
- Mother’s Day
- Father’s Day
- Grandparent’s Day
- anniversaries
- graduation
You could even use different colored paper for birthdays, or other holidays too.
Or you could customize them with questions for conversation starters around the table!
So tell me, do you change your table decor each holiday? Or do you have some old favorites that remain the same every time? Do you believe in easy crafts or are you a 100-steps to complete it kinda crafter?
