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Dress up Napkins for Dinner All items in this picture are recycled items which were all painted using Pébéo products; the vases and glasses were painted using Vitrea 160 gloss and frost paints. The dishes were painted using Porcelaine 150. The retro style napkins were painted using Setacolor Opaque Shimmer paints. Painting on fabric is so easy and fun, even children will enjoy their own projects for hours. Project: Painted Fabric Napkins Mod Style Hands-on time: Under two hours to make four napkins (depending on the details). Total time: Plus add drying time; air dries to the touch in 1 hour, and heat-setting time; heat set with an iron for 5 minutes, on the reverse side of the fabric (only five minutes with an iron). Skill: Easy and kid-friendly. Cost estimate: Pennies per napkin. Project creation, article and photo by: Madeleine M Langlois

Materials and tools: Plain cotton-blend napkins, placemats or tablecloth; (available at assorted retailers, or you can use linens that you already have or purchased at a yard sale). Newspapers Plastic bags or plastic wrap Paper, pencil and basic geometric templates or stencils Graphite transfer paper Painter's tape or low-tack masking tape Setacolor Opaque Shimmer fabric paints by Pébéo (Shimmer Brick Red 63, Shimmer Electric Blue 69, Shimmer Bronze 72, Shimmer Chocolate 74) Stir sticks Small paint tray (or you can also simply use an old ice-cube tray) Assorted artist paintbrushes in various sizes (Materials for this project are available at arts and crafts stores.) Add color and style to plain napkins, customizing them to co-ordinate with your dinnerware or a special dinner party theme. Trendy dinnerware fashions are so easy to achieved using Pébéo’s Opaque Shimmer fabric heat set paints colors with a only a few simple geometric shapes. Fabric paints are as easy to use as regular acrylic paints: simply brush on fabric and let dry. Setacolor Opaque and Shimmering paints have excellent coverage, stylish bright colors, they are nontoxic and the colors dry soft and permanent. Pre-wash the napkins or linens without using bleach or softeners, and let dry; iron if needed. Cover your work area with newspapers and then place a large plastic garbage bag on top fastening it to your work area with painter’s tape; doing this will prevent the fabric from sticking to the newspapers or to your work area. Draw your basic geometric designs on paper in the appropriate size needed to fit on your linen concept. You can use templates with simple geometric shapes such as circles, squares etc. Place graphite transfer paper under each design and position one on top of each napkin using painter’s tape or low-tack masking tape. Use a pencil to trace over the designs in order to transfer them onto the napkins. You can also use stencils or draw a design freehand using a disappearing fabric maker or pencil directly onto the napkins. Remove the paper design and the tape. Secure the napkins to your work area with tape along the borders. Apply the fabric paint in your choice of colors with assorted soft-bristle paintbrushes. Start at the centre of each design and paint out to the edges using one color at a time; for example, do all the purple areas on each napkin, then go on to another color. Working like this will avoid smudging. Once you are finished painting the napkins, remove the tape along the borders. To make sure that the napkins don't stick to the work area while drying, hang them up, or lie them flat on a clean surface. Once dry, in order to heat set and fix the Setacolor paints, iron on the napkins on the reverse side of the fabric for 5 minutes on the cotton setting. Once the paints colors are heat set, the napkins are machine washable. For washing simply use a mild soap and hang to dry. Tips: Setacolor paints are suitable for various techniques such as brush work, stencil work, silkscreen printing, even sponges or stamps can be used for creative results. They can be used pure or diluted with water to obtain unique watercolor effects. Fabric paints by Pébéo are also available in Transparent, and Soleil formulas in a variety of decorative colors. Setaskrib + fabric markers, fabric liners and 3-D Touch can also be used to add fun and creative fine detailing such as swirls, outlines and dots to text, letters or numbers. Variations: Setacolor paints can be used on all types of fabrics from fine to heavy such as; cotton, wool, velvet, non-woven and even leather. Pillowcases, linens, placemats, table runners, tablecloths, curtains and even lamp shades can all be easily be revived and enhanced with a little dash of fabric paint colors. Fabric paints, liners and markers can beautifully embellish, from sheer to organza pillow covers and curtains with simple leaf or geometric outlines to even simple brush strokes. Add a few punchy color accents to spruce up a cotton blanket and paint coordinating napkins to make a summer picnic getaways set. Use a square sponge or stamp to make a checker-board pattern. For tie-dye fun without the mess of fabric dyes, simply add elastics randomly to the linens or clothing articles (to create starbursts, circles or striped patterns) and dip in diluted fabric paints, spritzs or splatter onto the fabric, adding more elastics each time you apply a new color. Younger children can also easily create their own fabric art items on canvas shoes, t-shirts and tote bags with fabric markers. You can download and print the designs used on these napkins here.(pdf files) Circles & Bubbles Press release Copyright MaddyLane Designs/Miy Decorations © 2008 No portion of this article is to be copied or published without permission.