DIY Place Cards for Entertaining

Today, I'm sharing a fun little DIY project we created and originally posted over on the Rebecca Rose Creative blog last year. Special thanks to Style Me Pretty Living for sharing this too!

This DIY project is the perfect creative cheat for non-painters who love the colorful look and feel of hand-painting and we’re demonstrating how to pull off the look of hand-painted paper products for your next party. Anybody can do this! If you love the look of hand-painted lettering or calligrapher, but haven’t mastered the arts of calligraphy or painting, this is a great detour to achieve a similar look without professional-level skills!

MATERIALS

Cardstock – cut to any desirable size (we used 2.5″ squares for place cards!) 

Craft Paint – any color, or selection of colors

Small Paint Brush

Small Wooden Dowel with a pointed edge – available at craft stores

STEP 1

Prep your cards and paint. Be sure to have a dish of water on hand to dip/clean your brush as needed.

STEP 2

Use the paint brush to make wide strokes across the card. Leave at least one quarter of an inch of space around the edges. Don't worry about creating neat edges - the brush strokes show your handiwork!

STEP 3

Before the paint is dry – use the pointed edge of the wooden dowel to hand-letter your guest’s name. The dowel will remove the paint leaving the cardstock to show through…so much easier than trying to paint somebody’s name, right?! If you mess up, paint over your work and start again!

Let the cards dry fully and voila! You now have personalized, hand-painted and hand-lettered place cards. Place at individual table settings for your guests. 

We also love this idea for food and beverage signage! These little cards are the perfect size to tray-pass with your favorite lemonade or cocktail. The same idea also works for escort cards. Just add a table number to the back side of the cards and display in a festive way!

Photography by Nancy Ray

Special thanks to the team at The Merrimon-Wynne House for hosting our team to shoot on location in their beautiful property.