Some posts contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy for more information!
Wedding season is in full bloom! I’ve always really enjoyed weddings, especially when the bride and groom put their own personalities into their celebrations. It’s also fun to plan and host wedding showers-there are so many themes and unique ideas out there!
I always like seeing personalized napkins at events, but the cost doesn’t always fit the budget, especially if you are just hosing a shower or party.
While at Ikea recently, I took notice of their big packages of napkins. They come in packs of 100 and have a variety of colors to go along with any color scheme. I wondered if it would be possible to print on them myself. When I brought them home, I decided to take it a step further and gold foil them.
For the foiling application, I used the brand new Minc machine from Heidi Swapp. It’s an amazing machine! Once you start using it, you will want to foil everything. Plus, they have a variety of colors and you can make your own projects by using a laser printer.
If you don’t own aMinc, put it on your list! It’s definitely worth the investment.
You can still print on the napkins if you’d like, the foiling is just an extra step. Printing them in color would be a lot of fun too!
Here’s what to do (I used my laser printer for this because I was going to be adding the foil to it later).
Grab a sheet of cardstock. Lay out your napkin and smooth out any wrinkles.
Once you have your image ready, print a test page on regular paper so you know where to line up your napkin. Once you know that, tape a couple of pieces of tape on the cardstock and line up the napkin over the tape. Check again to make sure it’s lined up correctly. I found my images just googling wedding quotes and clipart. I’m including them as downloads at the end of the post.
Send your image to print and watch the feed to be sure it doesn’t jam. As long as the napkin is smoothed out and taped down, it should be fine. It may depend on your printer. If I wasn’t adding the gold foil, I would have chosen to do an image in color but, for this, it’s in black and white. In order to add the foil, the image must be printed on a laser printer.
When it comes out of the printer, it will look something like this. It’s a little wrinkled but that can be smoothed out. If you add the foil, the machine will smooth out the wrinkles for you! If you are not adding the foil, smooth the napkins out over your knee and you’re done! Print as many napkins as you need.
To add the foil, leave the napkin taped to the cardstock. Choose your foil and cut out a piece that covers your image. Turn on the machine and choose your heat setting (the instructions tell you what setting to use-I put mine on 2). Place your paper and napkin in the sleeve that comes with the machine and feed it through according to the machine’s instructions. When it’s done, lift the foil.
It’s like opening a present! The foil is there and you have a beautiful napkin ready to dazzle! The pictures really don’t do it justice.
Removing the tape is a little bit of a pain. I honestly wasn’t too concerned about it because no one looks at the back. If you are careful, you can remove it without tearing it. I ended up cutting the back layer off when I did tear them and they still looked great! No one knew. It took about 8 minutes to do one napkin and about an hour to do 10. Once you get going, things move faster.
The fun thing about this project is that it really adds another level when it comes to personalizing an event. I can’t wait to do this for future wedding showers and it would be adorable to do on pink or blue napkins for a baby shower.
For other fabulous wedding ideas that take only 15 minutes or less, check out the Craft Lightening series with links to all of the projects!
And here are the downloads:
Bridal gown clipart:
Mr & Mrs Quote:
