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    Home » Design » DIY

    DIY Wood Block Printed Napkins

    Apr 18, 2013 ·

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    Last week I spent an afternoon at my friend Alisa's house attempting to learn the art of Wood Block Printing. Turns out it's fun, relaxing, and relatively easy if you don't mind the unexpected. Alisa is not only my personal friend but the very talented lady behind the Etsy shop Cute Bright Things where she sells handmade home goods including beautiful block printed items. She is such a talented, creative, and sweet lady that I am thrilled to introduce her work to all of you.

    DIY-Hand-Block-Printed-Napkins-Freutcake

    Thank you Alisa for opening up your (amazing) craft room, sharing your block printing skills with us, and patiently teaching me your craft! Also, Alisa is offering Freutcake readers 20% off everything in her Etsy shop today with the discount code: FREUTCAKE. But before you run off to shop her store, continue reading for how to make your own DIY Wood Block Printed Napkins...

    Alisa-Curiel-and-Leah-Bergman-Freutcake-wood-block-printing

    Supplies:
    Cotton or linen napkins -  washed and dried
    Linoleum Printing Blocks for carving - source
    Carving tools - source
    Brayer - source
    Glass palette
    Block printing ink such as Speedball - source
    Iron

    DIY-Hand-Block-Printed-Napkins-Freutcake-step-1

    Step 1: Thinking in Negative Space
    It's time to get creative! Decide what pattern, shape, or word you would like to print on your napkins. Next, draw your design onto the soft linoleum side of the wood block and using your carving tool, carefully scoop away the negative space. What you are left with is the shape you will be stamping. Note: If you are printing a word, make sure it is backwards on the stamp! (see "EAT" above for an example)

    DIY-Hand-Block-Printed-Napkins-Freutcake-step-2

    Step 2: Decide what color you would like to print with and squeeze out small amounts of ink onto your palette.

    DIY-Hand-Block-Printed-Napkins-Freutcake-step-3

    Step 3: If you are mixing inks to achieve a custom color, mix with a paintbrush. We mixed red and hot pink to create a brighter red for my heart print napkins.

    DIY-Hand-Block-Printed-Napkins-Freutcake-step-4

    Step 4: Using a brayer, roll ink out evenly over your glass palette. The point is to fully coat the brayer evenly with ink.

    DIY-Hand-Block-Printed-Napkins-Freutcake-step-5

    Step 5: Roll your ink covered brayer evenly over your wood block making sure that the stamp portion is thickly covered with ink. Note: Try this a few times first on a scrap piece of fabric before printing on your napkins. This way if you need to adjust your carving, ink color, or just work on your brayer rolling technique you can do so!

    DIY-Hand-Block-Printed-Napkins-Freutcake-step-6

    Step 6: Repeat! Each time you print, start by rolling brayer in the ink and over your wood block stamp.

    DIY-Hand-Block-Printed-Napkins-Freutcake-2

    Alisa's orange bubble bordered napkins were so whimsical!

    DIY-Hand-Block-Printed-Napkins-Freutcake-3

    My teal blue and gold "Eat" napkins turned out to be unexpectedly camo print! It was quite the sensation let me tell you. Somehow I can picture these being used in a military mess hall.

    DIY-Hand-Block-Printed-Napkins-Freutcake-step-7

    Step 7: Allow printed napkins to dry completely for 4-5 days to make sure that ink has fully saturated the fabric. This will result in a brighter ink color after washing.
    Step 8: After ink is completely dry, iron both sides of the napkin focusing on the printed areas. Machine wash cold, low dryer or air dry only.

    Freutcake-Cute-Bright-Things-Wood-Block-Printing

    Have you ever tried wood block printing? I hope you will try this DIY at home and let me know how your napkins turn out!

    Photography: Joanne Pio
    Guest: Alisa Curiel of Cute Bright Things

    P.S. Don't forget to check out Alisa's store and use discount code: FREUTCAKE to receive 20% off of your purchase. Thank you Alisa!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. christin says

      April 18, 2013 at 5:10 am

      i love the hearts! her shop is so cute, i can't even stand it.

    2. Luxe and Lace Blog says

      April 18, 2013 at 9:46 am

      Love the action shots on this one, Leah!

    3. Chelsea says

      April 18, 2013 at 10:02 am

      What a cool afternoon project Leah!

    4. Alyssa Longobucco says

      April 18, 2013 at 1:04 pm

      How cute are these?! I'd love to do a project like this–I remember carving things like that in elementary school!

    5. Megan @ Pink O'Clock says

      April 18, 2013 at 1:10 pm

      These are so awesome, Leah! And they'd make such a great housewarming gift.

    6. kelsey says

      April 18, 2013 at 3:44 pm

      very pretty! thanks for sharing!
      kw ladies in navy

    7. Christmaskitty says

      April 18, 2013 at 7:43 pm

      How fun!!! I want to do this on a tablecloth

    8. Cassidy says

      April 19, 2013 at 2:51 pm

      Such a fun idea for sprucing up solid napkins. Thanks for sharing!

    9. Brandee says

      April 20, 2013 at 9:13 pm

      So cute! What kind of paint did you use?

    10. Sharna says

      April 21, 2013 at 4:04 pm

      So fun! I found you through Instagram; i love your blog, and your photos are so clean and fresh!

    11. kamrencita says

      April 23, 2013 at 12:22 pm

      i can't wait to take on this project! in desperate need of a creative outlet.

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