Brown Paper Tablecloth for the Holidays

Now that my Thanksgiving food-induced coma has somewhat subsided, I thought it would be a good time to check in and offer some holiday inspiration. Here’s what we have discovered: brown paper on the table. In other words, a brown paper tablecloth.

Credit for this idea goes to our friends Alex and Emily, who had a plethora of brown paper from the Home Depot that they taped onto their table for our Friendsgiving celebration a couple of weeks ago.

{My grandma actually tried to pick up the illustrated fork.}

I know Thanksgiving is now over {for those of us in the U.S.}, but Christmas is coming at us full steam ahead, and I’ve got this brilliant brown paper tablecloth trick for you. Here’s what you need:

• A roll of brown paper*
• Some tape
• Scissors
• Crayons or markers

*Our friends Alex and Emily got brown paper for free from the Home Depot. Evidently the Home Depot supplies such paper near the lumber pick-up entrance? I, however, had plenty of rolls of brown paper {a.k.a. “postal wrapping paper”} from the Dollar Tree. It was, you guessed it, $1.00. We used Dollar Tree brown paper for our dining table, which I didn’t get a picture of {sorry}, and our little service table.

All you do is tape the paper to secure it under either end of the table top. Obviously you’ll cut it to be the correct size. Then use crayons to label items on your table. The crayon labeling was a godsend; it was great to not have to tell everyone what was what.

We put our crayons in a cute little vase so guests could color after eating. It’s fun to just sit around and talk while everyone does some art. It sounds a little juvenile, but truly, it’s entertaining. You’ll want to cut out a few of the pieces of “art” to use for scrapbooking or safekeeping once your “tablecloth” has served its purpose. And, hey, why relegate the use of brown paper tablecloths to the holidays? How wonderful would crayons plus brown paper be for a wedding?

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and that you’re recovering from your turkey {or tofurkey}-induced coma better than we are. Hernán and I are absolutely swearing that we are going to do our Insanity workout tomorrow despite our laziness! In the meantime, Grandma’s leftover peanut butter pie in the fridge is sounding better than going to the gym…