DIY Fork Place Card Holders
The first time I saw these DIY fork place card holders, I KNEW I had to have them, and I had to have them the hard way - I had to make them myself. The total cost of the project was minimal considering - I used mismatched old silverware I picked up at Goodwill (my thrift shop addiction).
Materials:
- vintage forks
- jewelry pliers
- regular pliers
As you can see, I took a stab at three different styles for these. The one on the right was the hardest, so if you're just starting, I definitely recommend trying one of the other two styles. The thinner the metal on the forks the easier they are to bend.
Style #2 (middle): This is the most popular style I've seen around the internet and in a few local artist shops. It's also relatively simple to recreate. First, take your fork and bend it at the neck, just above the actual forky part ("forky" - that's a technical term). You just want to bend it back a little bit so it will put more weight on it's hind-legs. Next, bend the two middle prongs to the back and the two outside prongs to the front, creating an easel effect. When the fork stands on its own, use your jewelry pliers to curl the ends of the two outer prongs forward and the two middle prongs to the back and voila.
Style #3 (right): This was the hardest one to create, mostly due to the fact that the handle of this particular fork was pretty thick and exceptionally difficult to bend. It's still not as stable as I would like it to be, but serves it's purpose nevertheless. I had to break out a bigger pair of pliers to work on this one and it would be even better if I'd had a vice or some other metal-working contraption to hold the thing while I used a monkey wrench to attempt to bend the rest of it. In other words, you may not want to try this one at home. Start by bending the two middle prongs backward just slightly and then curling the ends backward with jewelry pliers. Curl the ends of the two outside prongs forward, allowing your place card to rest between them without bending. Next, you'll want to bend the fork handle at it's thinnest point (just above the "forky" part) backward as far as you can. When laying the handle down flat, the head of the fork should stand up and lean back slightly. Next, bend the fork handle at its midpoint at a 90-degree angle. This is where it got really difficult, and the last part, twisting the rest of the handle up and over until it touches the top of the table at the same level as the rest of the handle was really hard. I didn't quite get it there, actually, and instead settled for balancing it enough that it would stand up straight anyway. I would NOT want to do this to multiple forks. I probably could have made it easier on myself by first choosing a better fork with a thinner handle, but what can I say? I'm stubborn. The great part about these is that you can use them for a lot of other things besides place card holders. I use mine as food labels. They also look really cute with a small picture.
Complementary Smarty Products:
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| Ivory with Gold Embossed Rim Plastic plates | Gold Sparkle Shine Guest Towel | Ivory with Gold Square Edge Rim Plastic Plates | Ivory Vintage Round Disposable Plastic Plates |
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