What to do with these little beauties?
I’m hosting my first Thanksgiving this year. It’s a manageable debut: just a small gathering with my boyfriend and parents (who are driving up from LA!). Since the moment they first confirmed the visit, I have been scouring cookbooks, blogs, and Pinterest to plan the perfect little feast.
When I went to the market to brainstorm table decor, I found a plethora of mini pumpkins and gourds. Perfect – I didn’t know what I would do with them, but I knew I needed them for something, so I dug in. They had been picked through pretty thoroughly, however, and very few colorful ones remained. As I looked at the tiny white pumpkins I had a stroke of genius: place cards! I could write each person’s name on a pumpkin as a unique and personal way to set the table. I grabbed a few other pumpkins (which I am now planning to use as candle holders), and went on my merry little way.
My shoddy tracing method.
When it came time to decorate these bad boys, I didn’t trust my handwriting to be beautiful enough. I decided to find a font I liked online and trace it (sort of) onto the pumpkin. In hindsight I could have just done it myself and practiced a few designs beforehand, but this method worked fine and made them all look very uniform.
I went on dafont.com and previewed fonts using the four names I needed. I chose the very dainty Things We Said for my pumpkins, and printed out a sheet with our names in various sizes. I cut the ones that fit best and taped them to my pumpkins, being careful to fold them to the curves and fit snugly.
I traced over the text with a fine black sharpie, and got a loose outline. I took off the paper and attempted to connect the dots. I then added a few flourishes to match the original font, and it turned out pretty well!
Aren’t they cute?
I can’t wait to set the table on Thursday.
What do you think? Got a better way to get the text to look the way you want? Ideas for additional ways I can decorate these? What are you doing for your place cards this year? Do I ask too many questions? Just leave a comment!
Holly Lujah! 