Create Custom Card Holders For Your Next Party
There are so many cute party supplies out there nowadays, it can be so easy to just jump on Etsy or Amazon and order everything you need. But I personally always like to try to come up with a few DIY elements for every party that I host. I think it’s so special to have custom details that you handmade and I also just love any excuse to craft something cute! :)
So for my latest party, my At-Home Cafe Birthday Party, I decided to setup a pastry and snack display using the IKEA shelving unit that I have in my kitchen. I used an assortment of cake stands and platters to give the look of a cafe pastry display. One detail that I felt would make it seem like a real cafe was to have all my food clearly labeled with these custom card holders! Follow along below to see how I put these together.
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HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN BUFFET CARD HOLDERS
Supplies:
Wood knobs (I used this pack)
Acrylic paint
Paint brushes
Wire (I used 20 gauge copper wire)
Wire cutters & needle nose pliers (I like this set)
Drill and small drill bit or Dremel tool — I used the smallest size drill bit from this set
Clear satin spray paint (optional)
STEP 1: To begin, you will want to come up with a color palette. For my project I tried to match the same colors that were in my invitation and signage for some consistency. Then I worked on mixing up the right shades of my acrylic paint. Remember to always start with a lighter color and add a few drops of a darker color when mixing paint colors. After testing out the paint colors together on some scrap paper, I had all my colors ready.
Now comes the fun part, decorating your knobs! I painted a mix of different patterns, like checkerboard, squiggle, striped, and flowers. I liked the look of the natural wood too so I incorporated that into a few of my designs by leaving some spots blank. I ended up doing at least two coats of every color, depending on how opaque the paint turned out. I also used a pencil to help me sketch out my designs and just painted over my pencil lines.
Don’t worry about painting the flat bottom of the knobs since this won’t be visible. Allow the paint to dry for a few hours.
STEP 2: Give your knobs a few coats of clear spray paint. This step isn’t completely necessary but I figured I would want to use these again for more parties or other uses so I wanted to make sure my paint was sealed. I ended up doing about 2-3 coats of this clear satin spray paint around the whole surface of the knobs.
Allow to fully dry overnight.
STEP 3: Next, you are going to drill a small hole into the top of each knob. You want to look for a drill bit that is about the same size as the gauge of your wire. I ended up using my Dremel tool with a small drill bit.
Carefully drill into the center top of each knob straight down. You only need to create a hole that is maybe 1/4” deep, not too deep. The knobs already have a hole in the center on the other side (for when they are used as knobs) so it’s best to not drill too deep because it is harder to glue your wire in place if you drill all the way through to the other hole.
STEP 4: Bending your wire card holders. For this step, you will need something cylindrical, like a marker, to bend your wire around. Cut a piece of wire about 7-8” long. Hold one end of the wire with your finger against the marker and carefully bend the wire around your marker until you have at least two complete loops, keeping the two loops as close together as possible.
Pull your wire loop off the end of your marker and then bend the long end of the wire so it is perpendicular to your round loops. Use your wire cutter to trim the smaller end where your loop starts. Then go ahead and trim the longer end down to about 1.5” long.
STEP 5: Now it’s time to glue your wire rings in place. Add a small line of fast dry glue to the end of your wire piece. Stick the end of the wire into the hole in the wood knob, trying to get as much of the glue into the hole as possible. Add more glue if necessary to hold the wire loop upright and then wipe away any extra.
Allow the card holders to dry for several hours.
STEP 6: To complete your cute little card holders, you will want to cut some pieces of white cardstock paper to 1.5” wide x 2.5” long. Write all your food names/details, and stick the card between the two wire loops to hold in place. And that’s it!
These little sign holders were such a fun touch to my pastry display. They added a fun pop of color and design to our little cafe.
These could totally be used for so many occasions too — like place cards, table numbers, or even to display photos! It is also a fun painting project to do with friends at a craft night. Everyone could make their own photo holder and then have an Instax camera out for people to take cute photos to display in their DIY card holder.
If you make your own custom card holders, be sure to tag me on social media @entertainidea or #entertaintheidea. I love to see your completed projects!
xo Rachael
