Our tradition has always been a big send-off to summer on Labor Day. The whole family gathers to splash in the pool, play games and eat lots of food. One more day of summer fun before it’s gone! This year, we’re keeping it simple with an easy Hawaiian vibe.

 

 

Tropical Leaf Napkin Rings

I spotted some napkin rings at a local home store but wanted more vibrant, tropical colors, so I decided to make my own. Use different color combinations or make them all the same to match your table setting.

 

 

Materials 

Macramé yarn (natural and dyed colors)

Wood rings

Wood beads

Dog brush

Scissors

 

Instructions
  1. Wrap wood ring with natural colored macramé cord. Keep wraps tight, leave no spaces. Leave long tail ends, about 6 inches. These two end pieces will be the spine of your macramé leaf.

  1. Cut 26 pieces of colored macramé cording, each one 8 inches long. Knot each piece (how to) around your cord spine, switching back and forth from left to right. Hint: Keep the knots very tight on the side cording as you work.

  1. Trim the piece of each side to resemble a small leaf.

 

  1. Use a small dog brush (or any wire brush) to gently comb out the braiding in the macramé pieces to create a soft, fluffy look. Neatly trim again, if necessary.

 

 

 

Origami Butterfly Lanterns

Paper lanterns are inexpensive and easy to decorate for any theme you want. The grandkids helped me by making these charming origami butterflies to attach to our hanging lanterns. After two attempts with instruction, the kids had it down and didn’t need any help.

 

Materials

Origami Paper (patterned and plain)

White Paper Lanterns

Flower Stamens for Antennas (online here)

Clear Fishing Line or White String

Glue Dots or Glue Stick

 

Instructions

 

  1. It would be a challenge to describe this quick folding process so here’s the video our kids used.

 

  1. Once we made enough, we grouped them by color and glued them carefully to the paper lanterns.

 

  1. Tie with clear fishing line or string for hanging.

 

Tips: We used glue dots to secure some of the folds. This kept the shape of the butterfly. We also rounded the edges of the wings with scissors for a prettier look.