You know we've been really luck to meet so many fabulous people over the years. And many of them work with us behind the scenes here at Little Miss Party! Today we want to introduce our Graphic Designer Maggie to you. She is the gal who creates all of our beautiful graphics on the LMP in a Box website and so much more. In addition to working with us Maggie has a gorgeous line of jewelry that she sells online called Studdly. Today Maggie is going to show you how to create DIY hand lettered place settings on kraft paper...

When Little Miss Party invited me to come into the studio this week, I jumped at the opportunity. A whole week to style shoots and design new graphics for LMP? Hell yeah.

I was given a full day to style new photographs for Little Miss Party in a Box, and one of our favorite setups included covering your party table with kraft paper to protect the surface. But why not make it even more FUN than just plain brown kraft paper! I had the idea to make place settings for each guest right on the table using pencil and metallic markers. So much faster and easier than designing, printing, and cutting place cards for each setting, and looks just as adorable.

Being a designer myself, I’m always watchful of keeping my text consistent and aligned. That being said, your supplies are beyond simple: a ruler, a pencil, and marker (we chose metallic, because SHINY, duh). Follow the step by step process to see just how quickly you can change your paper tabletop from ordinary to extraordinary.

1. Set out your plates evenly around the table. Place the ruler 1 inch above the plate, parallel to the edge of the table. Draw a faint line for the base of your letters.

2. Turn your ruler perpendicular to the line and center one edge above the plate. Draw a short, faint line to give you the center point.

3. Find your favorite script or handwritten font online, and write our your guests names so you have a great reference.

4. Lightly write the name in pencil along your baseline, centering it using your mark above the plate.

5. Go over the pencil in your marker as lightly as possible to make sure your thin strokes stay thin. You can go back over the spots that need to be thicker afterward. It’s most important here to move slowly and be patient so you don’t have to scrap the entire paper if you make a mistake.

6. Go back to the excess pencil marks and lightly erase them.

7. Finish your settings by adding the rest of your tableware, centerpieces, and even confetti if you want your table to have some extra sparkle!

And voila! You’re suddenly the cutest host in the world, and you can also keep the friends who bicker from sitting next to each other, HA!

xoxo

Maggie