how to make a napkin card (and be the hit of your own party)

Here's a Christmas card or party invitation that gives you a big bang for your buck. Did you know you could adhere paper party napkins to card stock for an instant card? Think of all the cute napkins out there for holiday parties, baby showers, wedding showers, and birthday parties. This awesome technique makes it easy (and super cheap!) to coordinate your party invitations with your party decorations! Or send a coordinated thank-you card to your guests using leftover unused napkins. Now what domestic diva could pass that up?

One napkin can yield 2-4 cards each, depending on the design and size of your card. Paper napkins, even cute ones, are pretty cheap, from $.50 on clearance to a few dollars, and there are usually 25 napkins per package. You could easily get 50 or more cards from one package of napkins. That's a whole lot cheaper than printed decorative paper. And the texture is almost like fabric once it's adhered to the card stock. No one will guess it's a napkin! Many napkin designs even include a border, so you may not need to add any additional embellishments for a gorgeous card. Here's our easy tutorial to make your own napkin cards, just in time for your holiday party.

Napkin Card Tutorial

What you'll need:
*Decorative paper napkin
*Pre-cut card stock (cut to the size you want your card to be)
*Pad of paper
*Iron, heated to the Wool setting (medium high)
*Plastic wrap
Okay, let's get started!

1. Your napkin will probably be 2-ply or 4-ply. You want only one ply--the decorative one. Separate the layers. It can be tricky to get it started, so you may have to rip a tiny bit of the corner off to do it. Pull completely apart and discard the other layers.

2. Lay your pre-cut card on top of the open pad of paper, face up. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap a little larger than your card, so it hangs over the edges.
3. Position the napkin over your card in your desired position. Make sure the part of the napkin you want on the card is where it should be.

4. Cover the napkin with a sheet or two of the paper pad. Using the "no steam" setting, press the card with firm pressure, holding it for 15-20 seconds on each part of the card. Allow to cool about 1 minute.
5. Carefully pull back the paper and inspect the corners of the card to ensure the napkin has adhered to the card. If not, put the paper back over it and iron again.


6. Cut off the excess portion of the napkin, trimming it to the card size.
7. Leave as is or embellish further. That's it!


Here are a few other napkins we "re-styled" into fun cards.






Looking for more holiday card ideas? Check out Anne Beale Yancey's blog, Mukibug, for video tutorials of gorgeous techniques to make beautiful Christmas cards. Just click on "video" at the top of the screen. They even feature Christmas music so you can get in the holiday spirit while you get inspired!