This is a very simple, low-cost DIY that will add elegance and a bit of steampunk flair to your wedding, holiday gathering, or your dinner party. It's time intensive if you have a lot of place cards to make, but it's worth it. It's also completely customizable to suit your taste. You can choose a different color of card stock paper, a different graphic, and even different types of metal press gears. To customize your own place cards, just swap out the various elements in the below DIY.
Materials & Supplies: (for 100 guests)
Card stock Paper, antique white
Number of sheets needed is determined by your guest list. Each sheet prints 4 place cards. For example, for 100 guests, you would need 25 sheets.
Graphic
I got mine from The Graphics Fairy
Gold Colored Pencil
Black Calligraphy Pen
Reproduction Gears, large (qty. 100)
Reproduction Gears, small (qty. 100)
Brads, antique brass color (qty. 200)
Hole punch
Cutting board
Ruler
Computer & Microsoft Word
Cost: Under $50.00
Steps:
I've broken down the steps into 3 categories: Design, Pre-Cutting, & Post-Cutting to make it easier to follow.
Design:
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Open up Microsoft Word and click on the "Mailings" tab. Select "Labels." A new window will pop up, click on the "Options" button at the bottom. From there, select "Avery Label 5390." (You can really select any label that has 8 individual boxes on 1 sheet.). Click create new document.
Once the document formats itself into 8 individual boxes you are ready to start designing your place cards. The top boxes will be graphic (or the front of your place card) and the boxes below it will be the text/table name (or the back of your card).
Insert your graphic into the top boxes and type the text you'd like on the back of your card in the bottom boxes. Be sure to rotate your graphic so it is upside down so that when you print, it will print right side up. See photo below as a reference. Repeat for the next rows.
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4. Next, print a test sheet. Make any adjustments needed before printing off your 25 sheets.
Pre-Cutting:
Before you cut your place cards, there are a few things to do before hand to make the process easier, especially if you are making place cards for a large gathering or wedding.
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Color in parts of your graphic with metallic colored pencil (or the color pencil of your choice). I choose an antique gold colored pencil to highlight the scroll work in the graphic.
Repeat, repeat, repeat.
Next, if you have your guest list confirmed, you can also begin hand writing their names onto the front of the place cards with your calligraphy pen. This is a lot easier for those of you making place cards for large groups.
(Optional) Put on a BBC mini-series and binge-listen to it while you're writing.
Repeat, repeat, repeat.Let your ink dry completely before moving on to the next phase.
Cutting: