Crafting with Napkins

Bits and pieces of napkins on wax paper for future projects

I love crafting with napkins. Whether it's on a mixed media canvas, a handmade card, a handmade bag, a scrapbook layout, a glue book, a tag, or yes even, a junk journal. However, sometimes - - the desired look can be a bear to achieve. 

When I am crafting with napkins, I always have a piece of parchment paper or wax paper laid across my desk. As I have bits and pieces left from the napkins or other ephemera I am using, I will adhere these little bits to the parchment or wax papers. It's like creating two projects at one...sometimes, I get so involved with the bits and pieces, adding this or that or looking for a title to add, or a piece of twine, a piece of fabric - it has become an obsession at times. LOL - I use these collages for other projects, such as making glassine bags out of them, or as page fillers in other assorted crafting projects. I have two 12 x 12 Iris' that have collage pieces with the bits and pieces for upcoming projects. Sometimes, the content doesn't flow, but that doesn't matter - the main goal is to 'not' destroy any piece of remnant away that could be turned into something beautiful. That's why I started using parchment and wax papers to preserve these bits and pieces. It's interesting when I look back through the Iris' and see a napkin from another project intertwined with a napkin project from years ago. Bringing it all together is the beauty of the beast...again, this is where more creativity comes into play by using ephemera such as twine, words, buttons, flowers, chipboard, die cuts...the sky is limitless when it comes to creating something beautiful for others to enjoy. 

I have tried many different techniques to achieve 'not' tearing the napkins once the adhesive has been used or trying to prevent wrinkles from coming into the mixt of things. 

Some of the obstacles I have contended with are: 

• Which adhesive is going to give me the best overall outcome for what I'm trying to achieve?
• Which adhesives will 'not' be tacky upon completion of the project?
• Which ones contribute to the napkins tearing when applying the adhesive 
• The longevity of the hold in the creation itself

I follow a Facebook group called, Junk Journal Junkies, among a few others - mainly everyone in these groups creates beautiful junk journals which I also love to create. 

I recently saw someone share a tested technique that she has tried and thought it would be good to piggyback from her outcomes. 

This information was shared by Susan Taylor Brown, Junk Journal Tutorials. I have included the link to her YouTube page, so you can see how she came to her conclusions.  

 For those of you who liked my recent video on adhering napkins without wrinkles, here's a follow-up with testing more glues. Spoiler - one of them made me happy.

Watch the video: https://youtu.be/Ol6dgusLWNE

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Did you enjoy her video? I used to never watch YouTube videos much until I started working with mixed media and altered art... wow - my crafting world opened up!! 

For me, like every other technique, tip tried and failed it really all boils down to what works best for you in the overall outcome. I have learned many techniques that give me the desired look easily, while in others - - the result takes more time or effort to achieve. I must say when I found that I could craft with napkins - - I was in another heaven...there are so many wonderful napkins in the stores today and wow - - the beauty of the creations is amazing. 

For instance, have you realized that most napkins have at least 2-ply to them...some may even have up to 4-ply. Now try taking them apart with only your fingers...it can be done, but there are easier ways to achieve this in hopes of not destroying the napkin altogether. 

TIP: grab a small piece of tape, turn the napkin over, and gently place the tape on the ply and pull up, carefully removing a piece of the layer. Once this is achieved, you can continue removing the ply and repeat steps again until all the plies are removed, leaving only the actual napkin piece you want to work with. Remember too though, the 2nd and sometimes even 3rd ply’s can also be used in projects. I especially like the 2nd ply because they are closest to the actual print and can enhance many projects as accents, shadows, or even fillers. 

Next time you want to craft something and want to step outside of the box, try your hand at using napkins and some sort of adhesive. Let me know what you think! 

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