Not a confident crafter? Don’t own a glue gun? Or simply running out of time but still have the itch? I was kinda pleased with this idea I came up with: Take vintage Christmas tree napkin rings and turn them into little dioramas that can be displayed on their own or as part of larger groupings.
How to make DIY napkin ring dioramas — super easy:
- Find your napkin ring holders –These seem to be widely available, in a number of styles and colors, relatively inexpensively on ebay. Or, watch for them at estate sales or thrift stores.
- Glue on a background — I found a piece of vintage Christmas box that I had in my stash, cut it to size (turn it to the wrong side and trace the napkin ring in pencil onto the back, then cut to size a bit bigger.) Glue onto the back – a simple glue like Elmer’s should work fine as long as you give it time to harden. Also, a glue stick should work. For this background piece you also could use old Christmas cards, Christmas paper glue-sticked to a more solid substrate, e.g. cereal box … or, what else? Wanna be fancy? Make sure the back of the piece is pretty too — paint or paper it, etc.
- Add your weebit(s) — The final touch is to add your weebit inside the arch. I find these weebits all the time, too, very inexpensively. I am particularly fond of ones missing an arm or a leg or other appendage — my heart pitter patters at saving these Land of Lost Toys figures and transforming them into art. To adhere these, I would likely use my high-heat glue gun — but I think Elmer’s or a glue stick would probably work fine if you took your time to ensure the piece dried straight etc.
- Optional: Bling it up some more — I kept this one relatively simple, but you could also glitter up the base with glitter or silver or gold or other-color metallic pipe cleaners… really, the sky’s your imagination’s limit.
- Optonal: Display on its own or use as element in other, larger projects — The napkin rings are relatively small — you could also put this diorama right into other arrangements, including a vintage ornament wreath.
Carol says
Such a darn cute idea! I am very addicted to this site. It’s almost like the old days of reading the newspaper. It’s a habit I enjoy and would greatly miss if you were to become overwhelmed and throw in the towel. We all love you and greatly appreciate your efforts to entertain and inform us. Maybe you could take scheduled breaks and turn on uploaders. I would love to see interesting front doors, exteriors, bathrooms, and just rooms, collections, lamps etc….. We all love to be voyeurs of MCM. Just a thought to give you a break. You could also rerun stories from the past. Say from 3+years ago. All of us haven’t been around since day 1. The more you enjoy doing this, the longer you will do it. The objective is to keep our newspaper, even if we get delivery less often. Big hugs and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
pam kueber says
Thank you, Carol, these are some great ideas!
tammyCA says
Here’s another cheap & recycled diorama craft idea: take your empty cardboard ribbon & tape rolls, wrap them with yarn, string, ribbon, pipe cleaners or strips of fabric to resemble a wreath, then glue a wee-bit inside, and hang with a loop of string. Easy for kids to make, too.
Lynne says
Pam, I’m sorry to hear you’re feeling blue. Your trip to the Mai-Kai will soon put you to rights again!
Maybe Kate has settled into mommy-hood and could work a little part time??
Go relax, have a cup of tea, and put on some music you love.
pam kueber says
Thanks, Lynne. I’m going to just STOP EVERYTHING ELSE and make two wreaths. Slowly. Deliberately. Enjoying every burn.
Allison says
Good for you, Pam.
Its essential to carve out time to just ENJOY the Christmas-y stuff.
Personally I’ve found that being over-stressed and a bit depressed drives me to get even busier and feel more like a martyr; just the opposite of what I should do!
pam kueber says
yup. slowwwwwwww things down. that’s what i need to do! thank you all for the kind encouragement!
Markie says
Very cute! i do love the weebits!
Jay says
Laughing my arse off this morning – “Land O Lost Toys” and # 5 Napkin Wrings. Nice last minute idea.
pam kueber says
yikes. my copy-editing has gone in the toilet (with the toilet seat left open) these past few months sans Kate and with so much other stuff going on in my life. send me a hug I need it
Laurie Louise says
Lots of hugs coming your way!
pam kueber says
Thank you 🙂
Carolyn says
Land of Lost Toys – so apt! I always figured to either put damaged wee-bits up high or towards the back so the imperfections aren’t so noticeable (I find a lot of chipped angels). And, when finding something cherished or adorable got a ding, instead of saying “Aw…”, we can instead say “OH!”
This looks a lot less challenging than the wreaths, quite do-able.
The Atomic Fox says
That’s really cute 🙂
linda h says
OK, I just did that, and there were several just like yours on ebay. Some other good choices, too.
linda h says
That would be a fun favor to place at each place setting at a holiday meal. I guess I will have to look online for Christmas napkin rings.