DVF Gold Leaf Wooden Napkin Ring Inspired DIY

I spotted these Gold Leaf Wooden Napkin Rings from Diane Von Furstenberg a while ago and fell in love, but at $40 a set they are way out of my price range.

So, I did want any girl with a brand new craft room would do - I made my own!

And now you can too -

Supplies needed:

• wooden napkin rings
  
• sand paper or some sort of sanding tool (I used my Dremel)
  
• wood stain
  
• round foam stencil brush
  
• gold paint
  
• clear sealer or lacquer
  

I purchased four of these wooden napkin rings at my local craft store.

They were perfect for this project except for the ridge bands on the sides, you can find them online without the ridge, but at I couldn’t justify spending the shipping when I can pick the ridged one up in person for under $2.

Step 1 – Get to sanding! With my Dremel to took me commercial breaks for one episode of Big Bang Theory to sand off the ridges and shape the rings up a bit – fair warning though, at one point I got distracted and almost sanded through my finger nail. So be careful when you use power tools, no matter how small they are.

I didn’t completely smooth out the napkin rings because I wanted a sorta rustic-y look to them, but if you prefer smooth, be my guest.

(just sanded on the left, just stained on the right)

Step 2 – Stain! I layered two different stains I had on hand to get a color I was happy with.

Step 3 – Add some sparkle! I used a round foam stencil brush to dab on some metallic gold paint in a freeform shape. I found that using the foam brush gave the gold a more “gold leaf” feel than a regular paint brush did.

Step 4 – Make it shine! Use some sort of clear sealer (I used a brush on lacquer) and seal up your hard work.

Step 5 – Enjoy!

~ my version ready for Thanksgiving ~