I recently hosted a dinner party to celebrate the autumn season. I’ve been dreaming of doing an autumn-inspired tablesetting for a long time. When the opportunity presented itself, I noticed that supermarkets like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods had a lot of eucalyptus. Eucalyptus smells so fragrant, and they’re quite affordable! I bought a bunch and complemented them with some mini, dark green and cream-colored gourds. On the day of, I printed little menus, gathered all the dinnerware, tablecloth, and flatware that matched the color palette of the eucalyptus and gourds I bought and produced a rather moody autumnal tablesetting. I’m really happy with how it came out!
I printed menus and produced little nametags, which I wanted to share how I made them.
DIY Eucalyptus Nametags
I wasn’t exact with measurements. I just eyeballed everything as I wasn’t entirely too sure what I wanted until the very last minute, so these instructions are pretty general:
- Type out the names of your guests as a list (include yourself!) in Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or some other text-editing app. Format the list with right-alignment and double line-height. You want spacing between the names so you can properly cut the nametags out (you can also handwrite the names on nice paper for a more rustic touch!). Print out the list on cardstock paper. Cut the names out in long strips, making sure the names are aligned to the right of the strip.
- Cut a small stem of eucalyptus, for each guest, from the branches.
- Fold over a bit of the left side of each name tag strip and wrap it around the stem of one of the small eucalyptus stems, applying glue to the inside of the nametag to keep it secure.
- Repeat with the rest of the nametags and place them on designated plates!
