Paint Chip Placecards

Placecards make dinner parties more fun! Especially if you mix the guests up a bit and stick your newly-divorced uncle Chester next to shy little Thelma from down the street. There are many ways to do placecards. Here is an easy (and free!) idea: use paint chips from home improvement stores.

I’m not advocating going into Lowe’s and taking a huge stack of paint chips home with you. Just a few that you would probably use anyway in your next painting project. They come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and colors, and you can fold them differently, as I did here.

No need to match the colors to your table setting exactly. Just pick some hues you love and go with it. (Once again, I used my bandana napkin trick, as mentioned in a previous post. And by the way, denim is my absolute favorite for placemats…it goes with everything!). Most paint chips have a slick surface, so be sure to use a Sharpie (not regular pen), and let it dry a few seconds to avoid smudging.

Paint chips are fun to use for kids’ parties as well as the adult dinner party. Just please don’t switch the names around when you come to my house. There’s a reason I put you next to my 90-year-old aunt Louise.