DIY Touch of Gold Napkin Rings

During the holidays, there’s so much to do. Starting with Thanksgiving, you have to plan your meal, clean your home, decorate for the occasion, actually make the food, and entertain guests. It gets even more complicated if you have people visiting from out-of-town, especially if they stay with you.

Thanksgiving is a really great reason to be busy and so worth spending the time with family, but you want to make sure you’re actually spending your time with your family, not just doing one chore after another.

In years past, I’ve found myself spending so much time preparing for the holidays that I don’t get to just enjoy them, and they pass by much too quickly. This year, I’m determined to slow down and enjoy the season. I’m not going to cut out my tasks (most of them can’t exactly be cut out, and some of them are fun traditions in our family) but I can work to create shortcuts and make things easier on myself when I can! One of the ways I did that this year was by making really easy DIY napkin rings!

I don’t have a very large table, but I want to make sure it’s all dressed up and decorated for Thanksgiving. Rather than having an elaborate tablescape or a big centerpiece, these DIY Touch of Gold Napkin Rings allow for some fall-colored sparkle that adds a little extra oomph to the place setting without taking a lot of money, space, or time. I was able to complete my entire set in under ten minutes! Here’s how to make them:

You’ll Need:

-Plain wood napkin rings

-Metallic gold acrylic paint

-Paintbrush or foam dauber

-Baby wipes or wet paper towels

-Gold glitter nail polish {I used Essie luxeffects Summit of Style multidimension top coat}

Directions:

1. Paint your napkin ring with one layer of paint. Touch up spots that you can see through by immediately adding another light coat until it’s decently covered.
2. After about 2 minutes, use the wet paper towel or baby wipes to wipe the paint off. Yes, seriously. You’ll be left with a light gold hue, and the cracks and imperfections in the wood should have gold in them as well.
3. Repeat steps 1 & 2 as desired to achieve the level of gold you’d like. I only completed this step once, but if you’d like your napkin rings to be shinier you can add more layers.
4. Allow paint to dry until tacky. While still somewhat sticky, apply a layer of gold glitter nail polish {in a well-ventilated area}. Allow to dry completely.
5. Carefully thread your napkin through your ring, making sure not to lose any glitter on the napkin!

I’m not the craftiest person, but I love how these came out. They are perfect for fall, but would be great for the winter holidays as well- saving you even more time!

How do you save time on your never-ending to-do list during the holidays?