A Simple Silhouette
While a simple silohouette can get you kicked off of Lifetime’s Project Runway, using that of a small bird is a creative way to add some spring festivity to your Easter place setting. Start with robin’s egg blue cotton placemats (a steal at BigLots for $0.50 each!), pair with natural-colored linen hemstitch napkins (see my other post for another place setting using these napkins), and add chocolate brown felt birds perched atop paper-wrapped wire napkin rings. Paper Source provides a printable bird silhouette that, with some adaptation, is perfect for this project.
Here’s what you need:
- Brown felt
- paper-wrapped wire
- wire cutters and jewelery making pliers
- sewing machine and contrasting thread (I used white)
- glue gun and glue sticks
Here’s what you do:
- Print a copy of the bird silhouette and cut out. I removed the legs and branch for ease of sewing.
- Fold felt and pin paper bird to felt, cutting out two birds at once.
- Sew the pieces of felt together, trying to follow the shape of the bird as closely as you can. Clip loose threads.
- Take two wires and twist them together. Repeat with another two wires.
- Twist the doubled wires together, then form a ring.
- Use wire cutters to clip to desired length. Remove any sharp edges and use jeweler’s pliers to bend free ends. You should be able to make two napkin rings from each braided strand.
- Use hot glue gun to secure felt bird to napkin ring, making sure to cover area where ends of wire came together.
Tips: Eco-Fi brown felt was purchased at Joann’s in the remnants section for 50% off – I always peruse this bin and pick up whatever I think I might use for future projects – it is an abundant resource! I only used an 8×10 piece for this project, so I have leftover felt for future projects. Paper-wrapped wires can also be found at your local craft store. I happened to have some in my crafting stash from my sister-in-law’s wedding – they were used to create inexpensive, artificial monkey tails for flower arrangements…I kept them because I knew I could use them for some type of craft project! Always keep stuff that has creative potential!
