Beautiful DIY Wooden Napkin Rings! Modern and affordable, these napkin rings are the perfect craft idea for your rustic Thanksgiving decor!

Just before Thanksgiving (in Canada!) my husband got his hands on a log from my brother-in-laws property. Immediately my head was swimming with great ideas for how to use the wood! Well… I’m happy to report that with these Wooden Napkin Rings, we have officially re-used every last piece of that tree (*hint hint* more projects to come!!). If you missed it check out the first wood log project, wooden candle holders.

My second wave of inspiration was right in line with those beautiful wooden candle sticks. I had my thanksgiving table scape on the brain and took advantage of the wood to add to my rustic thanksgiving, making a set of wooden napkin rings :) If you have access to some tools (or a handy family member!), this is just the project for you!

How to Make Your DIY Wooden Napkin Rings

Materials Needed

• Wood Log (mine was about a 3 inch diameter)
• Measuring tape or ruler
• Mitre saw
• Drill Press
• Sander (or 150 grit sandpaper)
• Acrylic Sealer

Step-By-Step Tutorial for Your Wooden Napkin Rings

I used our puppies to model with the log we collected for the project :)

The first step is to measure out the width of the napkin rings. I chose to make ours about 3/4″.

Then you cut out the wood slices using the mitre saw. I cut out 12 of them so that I would have a full set for future dinners (Bonus: they are 100% reusable!!!)

I don’t have a picture of this next step, but at this stage you may want to throw those wooden slices in the oven for a bit. I put them at 100F for about 20 minutes. Helps them dry right out, and kills anything that may be leftover…. ugh.

Then, using the drill press, drill a hole into the wood. My husband used a 1 1/4″ bit to drill the hole here.

This is where the oh-so-tedious part starts: sanding. So much work, but SUCH beautiful results! Sand the wooden napkin rings using tools if you have them (including an oscillating sander for the middle!) or using elbow grease and 150 grit sandpaper.

When the wooden napkin rings are all cut out and sanded, you can spray them with an acrylic sealer (we just used the Mod Podge one) to keep them protected, beautiful, and to prevent wood pieces from getting on your napkins :)

Finished product!! I purposely chose to use pieces with beautiful knots for the napkin rings because I think it adds to the rustic, natural feel of the design.

I used these wooden napkin rings right away in my thanksgiving table scape! I loved the rustic appeal they added!

More Rustic Thanksgiving DIY Projects!

Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more great thanksgiving DIYs!

Check out these beautiful Wooden Candle Holders I made from the same log :)

And don’t forget to check out how the rustic Thanksgiving tablescape came together!