Unique Ideas for Decorating the Holiday Table

Recycled Greeting Card Centerpiece
Don’t let beautiful greeting cards go to waste! Create pretty greeting card balls that can be placed in a bowl as a unique centerpiece or hung from a dining room chandelier for magical dining room décor. Add your own special details like family photos or candy stashed inside and let guests take one with them when they head home as a remembrance.

MATERIALS
Old greeting cards
Drinking glass with a 2” diameter (for a smaller ball trace a 1” diameter circle)
Flat cardboard or cardstock (not corrugated)
Ruler
Scissors
Pencil with eraser
Glue stick
Hole punch (optional)
Ribbon or thread (optional)

1. Place your drinking glass onto the piece of flat cardboard or cardstock. Using the pencil to trace around the base of the glass to create a circle. Use your scissors to cut out the circle.
2. Repeat the first step, but after tracing the circle use your ruler to draw an equilateral triangle in the center (so each point touches part of the circle). Cut only the triangle out, using scissors.
3. Using your circle template, trace lightly around your favorite portions of the greeting cards and cut out. Look for complementary colors and patterns or mix and match for a more vibrant look. Erase any pencil marks that may be visible. You’ll want to do 20 circles for each greeting card ball.
4. Once you have your circles cut out, place the triangle template in the face-up center of the circle. Carefully, fold the edges of the circle that peek out up around the triangle, making tight creases. Do this with each of your greeting card circles. You’ll have 3 folded up areas on each circle.
5. Once you have all your circles creased and ready to go, you can start gluing it all together. Start with 2 pieces and use your glue stick to glue two folded edges together with the top points of the triangles pointing up, pressing lightly to adhere. You’ll keep repeating this process to form the top and bottom of the ball.
6. Think of it as a group of 5 greeting card circles on each end with all triangles facing up and 10 greeting card circles running through the center with triangles alternating up and down. The center should form a band instead of a circle.
7. If you want to hang your greeting card balls, on a light fixture or as ornaments, simply use a small hole punch to create a hole in one of the folded up portions and pull a piece of ribbon or thread through.

Tip: If you plan to incorporate family photos, simply print on photo quality card stock and follow the same steps as you would with your greeting cards.

Tip: To add candy, leave an opening large enough to fit a few small pieces or one large piece and insert inside before gluing your final greeting card circles together.

Wish Tree
Create a beautiful centerpiece for your next holiday celebration using a Natural Sculpture Arrangement as the tree base. Reuse greeting cards by cutting into small squares and hole punching at the top so your guests can write down and share wishes and goals they’d like to accomplish this winter holiday season and in the year to come. Attach the wishes to the tree with ribbon or small clips for meaningful table décor.

If you plan to attach clips to the branches of your Wish Tree, use a little bit of hot glue to adhere the clips or simply attach to the tips where the branches are slender.

Personalized Painted Plates
Add a personal detail to simple white
plates by painting family initials or names on each one and baking in the oven.

MATERIALS
White porcelain plates
Porcelain paint
Porcelain paint, clear (used as the varnish)
Porcelain outline pen, fine point
Paintbrush, fine point
Water
Cotton swabs
Letter stencils (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Even if the plate is new, wash it thoroughly before painting. It should be free from any residues.
2. You’ll be using your paint pen to create the outline for the name or initials you plan to add. Do a few practice rounds with the pen on another surface to get a feel for it.
3. When you’re ready, choose an area on the border of the plate where you’d like the name or initials to go. Use your stencil or freehand an outline of the letters with your paint pen. If you make any mistakes, quickly wipe away with a wet cotton swab.
4. You can now fill in the outline with your desired color. Following the directions on the paint bottle, let dry. Once dry, fix any outlines with your pen if needed.
5. Add a coat of the clear porcelain paint over top as a varnish. Let dry according to instructions on the bottle, approximately 4 hours.
6. Next, you’ll put the plate in a cold oven and set the temperature to 325ºF for 90 minutes (if instructions on your paint bottle differ from these be sure to follow those). Be sure to keep an eye on it to prevent burning.
7. Carefully remove from the oven using an oven mitt and let cool. Your painted plate is now microwave and dishwasher safe. Wash and save for special occasions or put on display in the kitchen.

Tip: Using a dark, solid color such as black or deep purple, will provide an elegant contrast with the white plate. However, you can feel free to experiment with bright festive colors as well.