Fabulous Step-by-Step Holiday Napkins
Add a special touch to your Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations with dressy cloth napkins. Follow these step-by-step instructions to fold your linens in festive ways.
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A fanned napkin adds height and dimension to holiday place settings. See the next four slides to learn how to make it.
Fold the napkin in half vertically from right to left. Press. Fold the napkin up 1 1/2 inches from the bottom edge.
Fold the creased bottom edge to the back. Press. Continue folding the napkin accordion-style to make pleats to within 4-5 inches of the top edge.
Hold down the right side and then fold the napkin in half.
Take the top upper right corners and diagonally fold them. Tuck them deep into the pleats to create a triangle that will act as a stand for the fanned napkin. Set up the napkin on the triangle base and allow the pleats to fall open to form the fan.
Coordinate the color of the cloth napkins with your dinnerware for instant elegance.
Wow your guests with folded napkins fit for royalty. The next four slides show you how to create it.
Fold the napkin in half diagonally, then fold in the two corners so their top edges align with the sides of the first triangle.
Fold up the bottom of the napkin.
Fold down the front edge as shown.
Flip over the napkin. Bend to the back and interlock the left and right corners to form a tube. Stand up the napkin and gently pull down the side points.
The Bishop's Hat napkin helps set the scene for a festive holiday dinner.
Editor's Note: Napkins with decorative edges will form an accent crown on the points of the Bishop's Hat.
The Water Lily folded napkin creates an original table setting. The next four slides show you how to create it.
Fold the four corners to the center. Press.
Fold the four new corners to the center. Press.
Hold together the folds, and flip over the napkin. Fold the four corners into the center.
Firmly hold down the center, and gently pull the folds from below each corner out and up to form petals.
The Water Lily napkin helps create a stunning place setting.
Editor's Note: Place a holiday bauble marked with each guest's name in the center of each Water Lily.
Display a Towering Diamond folded napkin in a piece of stemware at each place setting. The next five slides show you how to create it.
Fold the napkin in half from left to right and then bottom to top.
Diagonally fold the upper right corner of the top layer down to the bottom corner.
Diagonally fold down the next layer, leaving a gap between the corners. Pull down the next two layers with shorter diagonal folds so the corners are evenly spaced.
Flip over the napkin. Fold in the left corner so it reaches two-thirds of the way across the triangle.
Crease the right corner in so it nearly touches the left folded edge. Roll in the left and right edges. Turn the napkin over and place in a piece of stemware or secure it with a napkin ring.
A pounded-metal napkin ring with a flat edge also makes a stylish and sturdy base.
Diagonally fold the upper right corner of the top layer down to the bottom corner.
Diagonally fold down the next layer, leaving a gap between the corners. Pull down the next two layers with shorter diagonal folds so the corners are evenly spaced.
Flip over the napkin. Fold in the left corner so it reaches two-thirds of the way across the triangle.
Crease the right corner in so it nearly touches the left folded edge. Roll in the left and right edges. Turn the napkin over and place in a piece of stemware or secure it with a napkin ring.
A pounded-metal napkin ring with a flat edge also makes a stylish and sturdy base.





