How to make festive floral napkin rings for Christmas

For many people and families, Christmas is the perfect occasion to bring everyone together under one roof and spoil them with the most decadent meal. The table will be decked with the most amazing food and beverages. Not to mention the wonderful festive décor. Apart from the Christmas centrepiece, you can add even more colour and joy to your table by using Christmas napkin rings. Here’s how to make them yourself:

You need:

  • Christmas wrapping paper (choose a firm variety and be prepared to double up if need be)

  • Clear glue or clear tape

  • Double-sided tape (optional)

  • Colourful Christmas flowers of your choice

  • Ruler

  • Scissors

Method:

  • Cut your wrapping paper into 8cm x 20cm strips. If the paper is not as thick as you’d like, you can use two strips to make one napkin ring. Thicker paper only requires one layer.

  • Fold about 2cm from each end in so that you have four smooth edges.

  • You can glue or tape these edges down depending on your personal preferences. None of the edges should stick up once you are done.

  • If you choose to use glue, you should wait for it to dry before you continue.

  • Now fold the strip into a ring and adjust to make it the right size to hold your napkins. You might want to use a napkin as a guide for the size.

  • Once you reach the perfect size, use double-sided tape or glue to secure it in place. Again, I you choose to use glue, you should let it dry before you continue.

  • When you are ready, you can then decorate the ring with a holiday flower. Some great accessories you can use include gerbera daisies, poinsettias, holly, or mistletoe. Remember, some of these plants are toxic so it’s better to use artificial rather than fresh.

A good tip to remember is that you can make your napkin rings even stronger by using cardboard and wrapping the Christmas paper around it. You will need to cut the cardboard in strips 4cm x 16cm and cut your Christmas paper larger so that it completely covers and conceals the cardboard.

If you have some old napkin rings laying around, here’s another way of putting them to good use for Christmas:

You need:

  • Old napkin rings

  • Tinsel in various colours and as long as possible

  • Clear glue

  • Christmas flowers

Method:

  • Take one napkin ring and secure one end of a piece of tinsel to the one end of the napkin ring.

  • Wrap the tinsel around the napkin ring by threading it through the middle, wrapping it around the exterior and then back through the interior. Wrap tightly to ensure that all sides of the napkin ring is convered with tinsel.

  • When you reach the other end of the tinsel, you can cut any excess off and secure this end to the napkin ring to complete the tinsel coating.

  • Let the glue dry completely before you continue.

  • Attach a holiday flower or something like mistletoe or poinsettias to your napkin rings for that final festive touch. Again, you need not use fresh flowers. You can definitely use artificial flowers so that these napkin rings can be used year after year.

Take your pick from one of these two easy methods and make your Christmas dinner or lunch that much more colourful and festive!