If you are the hostess for your family and friends’ next Christmas feast, then there are many items to consider. You must plan the menu, buy all of the ingredients, purchase the decorative poinsettias and create a fabulous centerpiece. If you want to add an extra touch of elegance to your Christmas dinner, why not have name holders or place cards present for each guest to direct them where to sit at the dinner table. Instead of going to your local crafts store to buy pricey place cards or name holders, why not design and create your own.
Purchase some red and white felt or some white fur at your local crafts store. Cut the red felt out in the shape of a Christmas stocking and then glue a small strip of the white felt or the white fur on the top of the boot. If you use the white felt, using glitter and glue, you can spell out the name of the guest on the white part. If you decide to use the white fur, be creative and write your guest’s name on the red part of the stocking. Feel free to decorate the stocking any which way you want with fabric paints or glitter and glue. For an extra treat you can make the stocking an actual felt stocking with an extra red piece of felt. Inside, you can put some candy or a small $5 gift certificate for a restaurant or movie rentals.
If you and your family usually bake cookies for neighbors and friends, bake an extra batch of gingerbread cookies. Once they are baked and cooled, using white frosting, spell out your guests’ names on the stomach part. Be creative and decorate the rest of the gingerbread man however you see fit. The best part about this name holder or place card is that after dinner is done, it is completely edible!
Although this place card holder might take a little extra work, it is completely worth it for the effect. For each guest’s name holder, buy two Styrofoam balls, one being a little bit smaller than the first one. You will not want to buy Styrofoam balls that are too big, however. The larger ball should be the size of a tennis ball and the smaller ball just a tad bit smaller than that. Cut off a thin slice from the bottom of the larger Styrofoam ball so that it can sit on the table without rolling around. You can spray paint these balls silver or gold for an added Christmas effect. Once they have been spray painted, stick a toothpick in the center of the larger ball (the round side) so that it is halfway in. Carefully place the smaller ball on top guiding it onto the toothpick. This will create the body of your snowman place card. Decorate the body as you would a snowman. You can put buttons down the front of his body, or maybe find some pronged twigs for his arms. You can get as creative as you want. Depending on which person the snowman will belong to, you can create a male or female snowman (or, snow-person, rather). Cut out some glittery fabric and create a small skirt for the female snow-women. This place card idea assumes that you have small pictures of the friends and family members who will be coming over for Thanksgiving. Glue a toothpick behind the small picture and then guide the toothpick through the top of the smaller Styrofoam ball. This creates the head of the snow-person! If you do not happen to have a picture of one of your guests, you can simply write out their name with a calligraphy pen on some nice card stock and stick this on top of the smaller Styrofoam ball.
