Make This: DIY Watercolor Napkins for a Summer Dinner Party or Backyard BBQ

I don’t know about you, but I am definitely giving summer a big, fat hug this year to celebrate the most laid-back and color-filled season of seasons.

There will be plenty of tasty popsicle treats, geo drink stirrers, and watermelon donuts for me this year. I’m going all in. And to keep the ball rolling on DIY summer entertaining ideas, I am working with CreativeLive on a little summer series.

I’ll be sharing four colorful DIYs for summer: two on CreativeLive and two here. And it all kicks off today!

So, you can make a set of colorful watercolor napkins here and then pop over to CreativeLive here to learn how to make those cute, edible place cards you see in the photos, for summer parties.

Paint a set of wooden picnic utensils or buy some awesome handmade ones, like mine from Mr and Mrs P, and just like that, you have your place settings covered for a summer get-together with friends.

Here’s how to create a custom set of watercolor napkins in under an hour (including drying time).

Materials:

set of napkins (I used this metallic set from West Elm – they’re on sale) // paint brush // paper cup // fabric paint (or acrylic paint and textile medium) // bowl of water // iron (optional)

How To:

1. Unfold and soak each napkin in a bowl of water and wring out excess water. You want the napkins to be damp but not soaking wet.

2. Lay each napkin out flat (and completely unfolded).

3. Add a little bit of water to a paper cup (just enough to cover the bottom of the cup) and mix in your fabric paint. This waters down the paint to give you more of a watercolor effect. Since your napkins are already damp though, you don’t want to add too much water and over dilute the paint.

4. Begin painting each napkin in your desired design. I’d recommend keeping any design ideas kind of loose for this project though, just to keep things gestural and unfussy.

5. Once a design has been painted on each napkin, take them outside to dry naturally in the sun. On a sunny day, this will help speed up the drying times considerably and is a good excuse to step outside for a few minutes and enjoy the weather.

6. Once dry, iron out any wrinkles and fold. Done!

Concept, photography, and styling by Brittni Mehlhoff

How do you celebrate summer? Any tips, tricks, or DIY ideas you want to share? Let me know in the comments below. And be sure to visit CreativeLive for the corresponding DIY tutorial for today’s post: how to make edible place card kabobs.