Cloth Napkins- for the sake of frugality or beauty!

We had beautiful, store-bought fabric napkins years ago, but with gooey toddlers running around- they didn't stay bright and beautiful for long. Then, I used my dish towels for most messes but time had gotten the best of them too. And well, paper towels aren't quite so frugal, are they? So- whattaya do? Make your own napkins! 

I know, I know...I didn't think I could either. It was Brandy, who once again, inspired me.

They really are not hard. If you can sew a sorta straight line and cut a sorta straight line- you can do this!

You don't have to have a bunch of special, expensive fabric either. Use what you have! Old sheets, old shirts, old scraps, anything really. And to be honest, mine aren't perfectly square, but they're always folded so no one knows that but me..and you ;-)

And- while I hope to have/make some one day to have again for special occasions, right now, for every day life, they don't have to match. Mine are mint green, light and dark purple, and pastel stripes. I think the ideal size is 17x17 but not all of mine are that big, since I was using scraps, I did the best I could with what I had and you know what? It works ;-)  

And they really look pretty good and even he-who-loves-paper has come to LOVE these and feels like he's always 'out to eat' when he has his mint green napkin!

My biggest problem was- where to keep them! I drug out this old what-not, that's really supposed to house paper towels, and I stack them on there along with the salt and pepper.

I think these would make really nice gifts too. My oldest is now out on his own and I'm considering making him some for his kitchen.      

What? You don't think a grown-up boy would like cloth napkins for a gift? ;-)