Learn how to beautifully fold paper napkins on a holiday table using diagrams

How to beautifully fold napkins so that they serve not only for hygienic purposes and act as decoration and create a mood? This question can only be asked by a real housewife, whose comfort in her home is noticeable even in the smallest details. In order to give unusual shapes to paper tableware, you don’t need to be an origami master. You can use the simplest schemes. The main thing is to have a sense of style, correctly assess the moment and think originally. This is what we will try to learn.

Learning “holiday” addition

Let's start with the fact that in general, napkins can be divided into fabric and paper. Fabric ones create solemnity, give the table sophistication, even some formality. However, their use is not always appropriate. For example, if we are talking about a friendly party, a children's birthday, or a festive dinner in a close family circle, the best option would be bright, unusual paper napkins, originally folded and matching the theme of the holiday.

When thinking about how to beautifully fold paper napkins, it is worth considering several principles, following which you can achieve a brilliant result.

So, paper napkins must meet the following criteria.

1. Their shape varies depending on the festive occasion and the age of the guests.
2. They should be folded simply so that guests do not have to unwrap them for a long time before using them for their intended purpose.
3. They allow various folding options, suitable for fabric tableware items. The main thing is to choose those in which they are folded simply, with a small number of steps and nuances, because the size of paper napkins is, as a rule, much smaller, and it will be difficult and even impossible to implement complex patterns.
4. Napkins are selected in harmony in color with the tablecloth and items with which the festive table is served.
5. You can place them on a plate, place them in a glass or napkin holder. Depending on this, the addition option is selected.
6. Just before folding, when it comes time to set the table, the napkins should already be prepared. You should also practice in advance in order to “get into the swing of things” and so that this activity does not take up much time in the pre-holiday bustle.

Advice

If the housewife absolutely does not know how to fold paper napkins, and the patterns offered everywhere on the Internet and women's magazines seem incomprehensible and difficult to implement, it is worth learning the simplest shapes: a tube, a corner, an accordion - and playing with colors.

Tricks in the simplest addition schemes

If the hostess cannot and does not like to use complex patterns for folding napkins or there is simply no time for this, but you want to surprise guests with an original table setting, you can implement the simplest patterns and focus on well-chosen colors.

They should be chosen in relation to the colors of the tablecloth or the theme of the holiday. Let's give simple examples.

• Valentine's Day: perform elementary figures with the presence of red and pink colors.



• New Year: combine green and gold (yellow) colors.
• Halloween: combine orange and black colors.
• Birth of a baby: alternate napkins of white and pink (blue) colors or pink and blue if twins were born - a daughter and a son.



• Children's party: place these hygiene products in a napkin holder like an accordion, alternating the colors of the rainbow. You can also, for example, roll up orange napkins into tubes and tie them with green ribbons, and put green disposable cutlery (forks, spoons) inside - you get carrots.
• Any celebration: decorate the table with brightly colored napkins folded in a corner (matching the color of the tablecloth or in harmony with cutlery, decorative elements) with themed clips attached to them (Christmas trees, snowflakes, hearts, pumpkins, etc.).

Fold with a corner, accordion, tube and fan

Those who are just mastering the science of folding paper napkins should start with the basic options. But how to fold paper napkins beautifully without using complex patterns? As mentioned above, they can be placed on a plate, in a glass or placed in a napkin holder.

If you need to insert a napkin into a glass, fold it into a tube according to the following algorithm.

1. Unfold a large square napkin completely.
2. Bend it diagonally to make a triangle.
3. Place the triangle in front of you, base down.
4. Now you should roll the resulting triangle into a tube. Roll the paper around three fingers (index, middle and ring), starting at the right corner of the triangle, placing it between the thumb and index finger of your right hand.
5. You should end up with a tube with a smooth edge at the bottom and an uneven edge at the top.
6. Mark 1/3 of the tube at the top and bend it outward.
7. Insert the straw into the glass.

If the table is set using a napkin holder, you can place the napkins in it like an accordion or in corners. To make an accordion, do the following.

1. If the napkin is small (for example, 25x25cm), unfold it completely and follow the next steps. If it is large (33x33 cm or more), fold it in four, that is, in two folds.
2. Gather the napkin with an accordion in increments of about 1-2 cm.
3. Fold in half and insert into a napkin holder. In order for napkins folded in this way to look good, there should be a lot of them in one napkin holder.

Corner folding is the simplest. With this method, a square napkin is folded diagonally to form an isosceles triangle, and then the triangle is folded along the median coming from the corner opposite the base, that is, in half. This is done until the napkin takes the desired size. Then the corners are inserted into the napkin holder.

1. Unfold the napkin completely and fold it in half. The front side should be on the outside.
2. Gather the paper with an accordion, leaving ¼ of it untouched. Attention: the first fold should be made downwards. The last fold should be made upward, that is, the accordion should be on the surface of the napkin, and not under it.
3. Bend the structure horizontally in half so that the accordion is on the outside.
4. Take the free, not accordion-folded part by the lower left corner and fold it, tucking it inside the folds. The result should be an accordion with a leg at the back.

Are you wondering how to beautifully fold paper napkins to decorate your table? Follow the simple recommendations described in the article.They will allow, without spending a lot of time, to make the table setting original, intricate and interesting, which guests and household members will definitely appreciate.