How to Make Beautiful Wire Napkin Rings in 3 Easy Steps

Add a little glam to your dining room table with these super simple and inexpensive DIY wire napkin rings.

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If I had to tell you my bio, it would probably go a little something like this….

“Hi, my name’s Martina and I enjoy dressing up beautiful fancy dining room tables where literally no one is going to come and sit to eat, because, well it’s just too pretty to touch.”

But seriously, in all my home decor nerdiness, my thrifty heart loves finding and creating inexpensive pieces to jazz up a dining table.

And these glam gold wire napkin rings I made with a few supplies and just 5 minutes of my time are one of the simplest projects I’ve tried in a long time. They were the perfect addition for our budget holiday dining room.

Before we jump in, I want to share some exciting news….

This post is one of the first projects in a new series that I am thrilled to be a part of! So welcome to the Less is More Thrifty Thursday Series where I team up with some wonderful bloggers each month to bring together inexpensive and unique ideas to help you love your home.

Today Sara from The Inspired Decorator, Elizabeth from A Well Purposed Woman and Junette from Windmill & Protea are joining me! Welcome to The Lived-in Look if you’re just visiting from them! And be sure to check out the other Thrifty Thursday projects at the bottom of this post.

How to create easy wire napkin rings

Having done some wire crafting before I headed to the craft store to find the perfect gold wire for the project. I stood there for what seemed like an hour analyzing all the different wire gauges. Can you say analysis paralysis?

Since metal thickness matters, I eventually settled on a thin 20 gauge gold wire.

Gauge just refers to the thickness of a wire material. The lower the gauge, the thicker and heavier the wire will be.

It’s also important to note that lower gauge wire can be a bit tricky to craft with since it’s harder to mold and bend into shape.

I’ll be honest. The way I envisioned this project looking, is not at all how it turned out. But I think I like it even better than I originally planned.

So let’s dive in to see how I made these ridiculously easy wire napkin rings.

Step 1 – Gather your supplies

• Craft wire
• Pliers
• Solid round bottle or pvc pipe

You’ll want to use a thick round tube-like object similar to the circumference of a regular sized napkin ring. This can be a piece of pvc piping, a shampoo bottle or anything that’s easy for you to work with.

This is going to serve as your mold for your napkin rings and will hold the wire into shape as you twist and wind it form a circular napkin ring. I grabbed a tube of caulking which worked just fine for the napkin ring size I was going for.

Step 2 – Measure and cut your wire

This was a little bit of trial and error, as I’m not really much of a planner. I prefer to just dive right in and wing it with projects. I’m a little impatient that way.

Eventually, I figured out that about 2 yards of wire was the ideal length to use for each napkin ring. Using your needle nose pliers, you’ll measure and cut this length and begin unwinding your wire.

Make sure to gently straighten out your wire so it will be easier to use once you’re ready to begin wrapping and bending it into place.  

Step 3 – Make your DIY wire napkin rings

Wrap your wire

You’re almost finished! I told you this project was ridiculously simple.

Take one end of your wire and, using your thumb, hold it into place on your round tube or bottle.

Leave about one inch of the wire free past your thumb and bend it straight up in the air. This piece of the wire will be used to hook and secure your napkin ring into place once you’ve begun wrapping your wire.

Make your first wrap around the bottle, and while still holding the wire under your thumb loop the free end around your hook and twist to secure it in place. Similar to how you would use a twisty tie to secure a loaf of bread.

Bend this twisted piece down to the side. Don’t worry about it being perfect. This will be hidden once you begin wrapping the rest of your wire around it.

Continue wrapping your wire around making sure to overlap and alternate your placement. This gives it that imperfect twisted look you want to achieve.

Secure your wire in place

Once you reach the end of you wire, with about an inch or so remaining, you’ll slide your entire napkin ring off of your round form while keeping a firm grip so that it stays in place and doesn’t unwind.

Next you’ll pinch the bottom of your napkin ring where your loose end is and begin winding this around tightly in order to secure the end in place.

I used my pliers to bend the very end down so that no sharp edges were sticking up.

The reason for pinching the bottom of the ring is to secure the wire in place to hold the shape of the ring. I made the mistake of purchasing too thin of wire which meant that it easily sprang apart due to not being heavy enough. It resembled a slinky that wouldn’t go back together.

I actually like how this alternative look turned out though because the thin wire has a much daintier appearance to it. Perfect for the gold glam look I was going for.

Lastly, your going to fan your napkin ring apart to space out the wire, creating a messy wrapped look.

What do you think? Would you try making these easy wire napkin rings? Drop me a comment below to let me know.

For more Thrifty Thursday inspiration be sure to head over to the posts below!

• DIY Magnolia Wreath by A Well Purposed Woman
• Glass Flower Vase Transformation by The Inspired Decorator
• DIY Blue and White Porcelain Jars by Windmill & Protea

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Like these DIY Wire Napkin Rings? Pin it for later!

If you love setting beautiful tablescapes, then you’ll also enjoy this simple Fruit and Floral Centerpiece with just a little bit of faux fruit and spray paint!