Boost the country charm of a dining room table with button napkin ties

Whether it’s a weekly dinner date or an end-of summer party for spending time with your friends and family, by adding small touches of style to your dining room table, you'll go a long way toward setting the standard for celebratory ambiance. While you can always head to the party goods store to buy decorations, there’s no reason you can't incorporate aesthetic charm into your event with just a little DIY effort. Collect any loose buttons that might be lingering in the bottom of your craft drawer, and in no time at all, create eye-catching napkin ties for your table that take the concept of country-chic to the next level.

Any cloth napkin will do when you're designing this country-inspired button napkin tie, but a blue-and-white checkered design keeps the rustic touch top of mind. Leather cord threaded through a single two-hole wood button is all you need to make a secure loop around the cloth napkin that looks terrific too. Consider adding some fun, smaller buttons to the ends of the cord for texture and balance. Placing the napkin and button ties on a plain white plate allows the cloth colors to pop and the buttons to really stand out for guests. Add a bit of versatility to the table while sticking with the country theme by using a combination of unfinished dark and light wooden buttons.

-Cloth napkin
-Leather cord
-Scissors
-Round two-hole wooden button, 20 mm in diameter (1 for each napkin)
-Small four-hole wooden button, 10 mm in diameter (2 for each napkin)
-Hot glue gun

Instructions
 
1. Fold a cloth napkin in half on a flat working surface and roll it into the desired shape and size.

2. Unravel a length of leather cord to 20 inches long, and position it under the center of the cloth napkin.

3. Cut the leather cord away from the spool so that even lengths extend from underneath on both sides of the napkin.

4. Thread one end of the leather cord through one of the holes in a round, two-hole wooden button measuring 20 mm in diameter.

5. Thread the opposite end of the cord through the second hole and pull the button down to the fabric. Make sure the ends of the leather cord remain even as you pull the button down to the napkin.

6. Tie the two lengths of leather cord into a small bow on top of the wooden button.

7. Apply hot glue to the back of a small 10 mm four-hole button and press it to the very end of one of the leather cord lengths extending from the bow.

8. Secure a second small button using hot glue to the remaining end of leather cord.

9. After you've completed the napkin tie, untie the bow and loosen the center button to remove the napkin as needed. To insert a new napkin through the finished tie, simply tighten the cord through the center button and re-tie the bow.

10. Create as many button napkin ties as there are napkins for guests. Place one on each white dinner plate and let guests enjoy the country-inspired design of the table from the moment they arrive.