Unplugging and a Napkin Tutorial

So on Friday I joined Kimba from A Soft Place To Land for a day of being unplugged from the internet. No posting on my blog and no reading the blogs of others. It was good for me to do. The internet can be a huge time suck for me. I could spend half my day checking email, posting, and reading other blogs. Not a good thing for a wife and momma of three young boys. Friday sort of turned into a weekend of being unplugged(mostly) and it was nice. Mostly I just did some things I had been wanting to do but "hadn't had time to do."




Reading(a book), cleaning out some clutter with John and the boy's help, just being together, making bread, watching the boys build and fly Lego space ships, and sewing these suh-weet napkins. These napkins are something I've been wanting to make for months but have been too scared to try. Well, after finally trying them I feel a bit ridiculous and hope to save others who have also longed for but have avoided making cute, "green", frugal napkins that can coordinate perfectly with your china pattern or home decor the same embarrassment. In a word: EASY. Even for a novice. Really. Check it.




Step 1: cut out 14x18 inch rectangles from some coordinating fabrics. Step 2: Iron the edge of one side of the rectangle over about a 1/4 of an inch. Then fold over the same edge another 1/4 of an inch and iron so that the raw edge is now hidden(after I got the hang of this I started just double folding it and ironing it only once, saved me quite a bit of time). Step3: repeat step 2 on the opposite edge of the one you just folded and ironed.



Step 4: Sew along each of the 2 folded edges, back-stitching at the beginning and end.




Now you should have two finished edges and two raw edges opposite of each other.




Step 5: Repeat steps 2-4 for the two remaining raw edges.




Now you should have four finished edges and one beautiful napkin. Go ahead and make a few more for a complete set. I made 15 over the weekend. I'll probably make 10-15 more to cover all the napkin needs for my family for an entire week, then I'll only have to wash them all once a week.

This was honestly one of the most fulfilling Immediate Satisfaction Projects I've ever done. Tonight at dinner I showed my little boys how to unfold the napkins and put them on their laps and their little eyes just sparkled with pride in being so grownup. An unexpected bonus was that their table manners improved immediately. My heart sighs with pleasure whenever I think about that stack of 15 napkins and my temporary unpluggedness. Simple. Good.