Napkin Rings Ex Nihilo

I don't know a lot of Latin, but I love the phrase ex nihilo. As in: God created the world ex nihilo. Now, only God can truly create something out of nothing, but it feels like I can when I use stuff that's just collecting dust or rescue something from the recycle bin and end up with something fun and new that cost me nothing. Which brings us to today's project: napkin rings. 

I can't say that I use cloth napkins a lot, which is a good reason not to spend money on napkin rings that would also not get used a lot. But, a few Thanksgivings ago I wanted to dress up the table a little bit and these were perfect. 

I cut a paper towel roll into 1 inch rounds, then cut pieces of burlap that were 2 1/4 inches by 5 3/4 inches. If you want to make yours wider than an inch, just double the size of the tube you cut to get your fabric width and add 1/2 inch to the circumference to get your fabric length.

 Next I ran a line of hot glue all the way around the inside of the tube and glued one edge of the burlap down leaving 1/2 inch unglued at one end. Then I wrapped the burlap around the outside of the tube and ran another line of glue right next to the first to secure the other side, making sure to pull the fabric tightly so that it was nice and smooth all the way around. When I got to the last 1/2 inch I folded under 1/4 inch and glued that down so there's no fraying ends. Then they looked like this.

To dress them up I tied some with a couple pieces of raffia and glued a button on top, and on others I glued a piece of ribbon and glued a button over the seam.

The possibilities of styles you could do are endless. I'd like to try these again with a different fabric. For now though I'm happy with this version. You still have time to make some for that fancy Valentine's dinner.

 Or maybe St. Patricks Day?

Thanks for reading.  Happy fancy dining or edo in optime! (I'm sure that's not right...)