Looking to a fun way to impress guests at your next dinner party? Need a colorful way to dress up meal time, and a fun project to keep the kiddos entertained? Then this project is for you!!
Start with the cheapest (most boring) cloth napkins you can find, pre-wash and dry (no fabric softener)….
Fill spray bottles with a 50/50 mixture of acrylic paint and water — invite the kids to “spray paint” the napkins outdoors (wear play clothes and shoes for painting).
It’s GREAT colorful messy fun!!!
Note: It helps if Mom or Dad joins in too — I totally couldn’t resist this much fun!
Line dry your colorful masterpieces, and allow to dry completely.
Hose down the grass where you painted (and kiddos, if desired) — good as new.
To color set the fabric, wash by hand in cold water, then dry in the dryer.
Beautiful, colorful, unique conversation pieces for your next get-together!!
They beat the pants off plain ol’ off-white napkins any day, don’t you think??
The colors stay quite vibrant, even after several machine washes — and these napkins are a fun way to make mealtime just a little more special.
Have fun!!
July 25th, 2011 on 12:22 pm
aww love these and I know Sammy would too!! Must fun some cheap napkins to spray paint!
July 25th, 2011 on 12:26 pm
Dear Valerie,
Totally cosmic, man…
Love,
Mark
July 25th, 2011 on 12:59 pm
That is a wonderful idea! We do NOT buy paper napkins in this house. I was just thinking the other day that it would be nice to switch it up after at least 7 years using the same napkins. I have to check out my Ollies for some cheap ones like you found!
July 25th, 2011 on 1:05 pm
We almost always use cloth napkins too. I think they make mealtime more special!
This technique would work well with older cloth napkins that have stains too — just have the kiddos paint over the stains and voila! Beautiful napkins!!
July 25th, 2011 on 2:47 pm
Oh, I so want to switch to cloth napkins and buy some too. Not worth a trip to Ollies, but I’ll find one somewhere!
July 25th, 2011 on 4:54 pm
I love this! We usually have a tie-dye day every summer where the entire neighborhood comes over. It’s kind of turned into a block party. The problem we have is the amount of water we end up using – there’s a huge waste and the yard turns to mud. This would be a PERFECT alternative!
July 25th, 2011 on 7:46 pm
It is a lot of fun. Though the bottle tend to clog. Even if watered down a lot
Takes the fun out of it then
But those we did look great
July 25th, 2011 on 10:18 pm
We didn’t have any issue w/ clogging the bottles, but maybe we just got lucky? I have noticed that there tends to be a lot of variation in spray bottles and brands of acrylic paint (we used cheap stuff from Wal-Mart). I’m so happy to hear that they turned out so well!!
July 25th, 2011 on 9:05 pm
What an awesome idea! They look amazing.
July 25th, 2011 on 10:47 pm
Very pretty – is the cloth texture still good after they are painted?
July 25th, 2011 on 10:57 pm
Great question!! Yes, one thing I love about using watered down acrylics on fabric is that they don’t leave the fabric all stiff.
July 26th, 2011 on 5:49 am
THis is GREAT. I love the idea of a spray bottle. Thanks Valerie.
July 26th, 2011 on 2:35 pm
I so love that idea. Definitely something I need to do with K. She loves to paint so this would be a new activity for her! Thanks again Val!
July 26th, 2011 on 3:35 pm
I’ll have to give this a try. How many spray bottles do you have?
July 27th, 2011 on 8:02 am
This is a gorgeous idea. I know two people who will be glad I popped by your blog today
July 28th, 2011 on 1:17 pm
I’m thinking bunting for street parties and pillow cases could be done like this. thanks
July 29th, 2011 on 12:37 pm
Are those spray lids that fit on water bottles??
Just curious because those look like old water bottles.