Add fanciful reindeer place card holders to your holiday table.
No table setting is complete without a personalized place card directing your guest as to where to sit. Completing a seating plan ahead of a party or sit down dinner allows you to subtly direct conversations and steer clear of any hurt feelings or arguments that may occur between your guests. Holidays are the one chance you have to give your place cards a fanciful look. Adding some of Santa's reindeer to your table decorations is an easy and fun way to accomplish this for the Christmas season.
Instructions
1. Purchase your supplies. Wine corks should be made from real cork and can be found in your local craft store. Ribbon should be very narrow and either in red or green color. Bells, googly eyes and puff balls should all be very small. The pipe cleaners should be brown but can be substituted with black if needed.
2. Lay the cork down on its side. Check if the cork is wider on one end than the other. If so, the wide end of the cork is the bottom. Glue either a red or brown puff ball on the center of the cork. This is your reindeer's nose. Above the nose, glue a googly eye just off center of the nose. If desired, glue 1/2 of a false eyelash right above it, touching the eyes. This will make a lady reindeer.
3. Set the cork upright. Make note of the center of the cork. To the back of the center point, make a slice with the craft knife straight across that is about 1/4 inch deep. This will hold your place card. In front of the center, close to the edge, poke a hole using the blade of the knife. Insert one 3-inch piece of pipe cleaner into each hole.
4. Bend the pipe cleaners into antlers. Starting at the base, make a right-angle bend about 1/4 inch from the bottom. Approximately 1/2 inch from the end, make another bend so that the end points up. Cut a piece of ribbon that will fit around the cork with a slight amount of overlap. Thread a bell onto the ribbon and bring it in to the center. Wrap the ribbon around the cork with the center bell section in the front so that the bell rests nicely on the cork. Place glue on the ribbon and press to the sides of the cork. Place a dot of glue about 1/4 inch from the tip of each end of the ribbon. Bring both ends to the back of the cork and overlap them at the glue dot. Press onto the cork. This will give the ribbon two tails and a nice finish at the back. Allow it to dry. Insert your place card and place it on the table.
Tips Warnings
Use a stick pin to hold the ribbon in place until dry.
While this craft project can easily be done by a child, only adults should handle scissors or craft knifes when making the cuts needed.
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