Quick & Easy Way to Dress Up Cloth Napkins

5 Materials
$12
1 Hour
Easy
Using a starfish stamp to dress up a set of plain napkins is a great way to add a touch of coastal decor to your table.
I’ve had the starfish stamp in my craft stash for a while. It was purchased at Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts. The teal ink pad is made by Color Box and it can be used on fabric that will be washed without fading after heat setting the design.


Testing the ink and stamp is a good idea. I used an older white napkin that is similar to the ones I’m using for the stamps. I wanted to practice placement as well as how hard or how light I needed to be when pressing the stamp onto the napkins. If I pressed to hard, the outline of the stamp showed on the test fabric. 


After I had tested the stamp, I used my iron on a medium setting to heat set the ink.Then, I put the test napkin in the washer to make sure there was no fading or bleeding of the ink. It worked great, so I got started with the new set of napkins.
  • Cut a piece of cardboard that is wide enough for the area that you plan on stamping.
  • Place the cardboard under the fabric to prevent bleeding.
  • Re-ink the stamper after each stamp
Some of the stamps came out perfectly, while others weren’t quite perfect. After being a bit frustrated and doing more stamps on the practice napkin, I decided that perfection is overrated! 
Once the ink on all of the napkins was dry, I used my iron to heat set each set of designs. Don’t use the steam setting on your iron. 
  • Allow ink to dry for 2 hours
  • Use a medium setting on an iron to heat set each design (No Steam)
Even though I had washed the test napkin, I wanted to make sure that the ink stayed set on the new ones. The ink didn’t bleed or wash away and the starfish still looked great. 
I tossed them into the dryer and then ironed each one before setting our breakfast table with them. 
To see more easy diy coastal crafts, I'd love for you to visit us at Across the Blvd.
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Beverly Roderick at Across the Blvd
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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