Placecard

I’m slightly obsessed with food. Love cooking, love eating. Love it so much that I blog about it to take the edge off. Keeping this in mind, I knew I wanted to do something food related for my favours. So many ideas went through my head – jams, lollies, cupcakes, etc. Then it hit me, what about herbs? I have my own little herb garden at home and think it’s a great thing to be able to go out and pick fresh herbs rather than have to make a special trip to the shops. But how would I do it? I set off searching for seeded paper and found a few companies that do actual wedding place cards. Perfect!

After mulling it over for quite some time, I wanted to create something myself. This way I could use the seeds I wanted (a lot of places actually have wildflower seeds but I had my heart set on herbs) and it was a great way for me to get my crafty fix.

I bought one pack of basil seeds to start, along with some recycled paper and cheesecloth material and waited for a sunny weekend to give it a go. It’s actually a very simple process, just something I’ll need to perfect before the wedding.

You will need:

  • 1 x Pad of recycled paper
  • Water
  • Seeds of your choice (I used one packet for starters and it seemed fine however if you want it more “seedy” then add more)
  • Blender
  • Baking tray
  • Cookie rack
  • Cheesecloth material (I used one meter but its up to you and the size sheet you are doing)

Ingredients

Step 1

Tear paper in to tiny pieces and place in blender until it reaches halfway point. Fill water up to the top line and blend until you see no more bits.

Blender

Step 2

Place mixture in a bowl, add seeds (seeds are not to be blended), and stir until combined.

Adding seeds

Step 3

Place rack inside tray and double over the cheesecloth until you have approximately 4 layers of cloth. Pour mixture on top of cloth and spread until even. This may take a few practise goes as mine was quite thick first time around.

Spread

Step 4

Use extra cheesecloth, kitchen towel or handtowel to press down on top and remove extra moisture and leave to dry.

Drying

Step 5

Once dry, cut out your place card shapes and get to decorating! Done!

Some tips:

  • If leaving the paper out in the sun, be careful to keep an eye on it as it does curl up when drying.
  • You could also go at it with a hairdryer during winter. 🙂
  • My first attempt wasn’t as thin as expected but I’m still pretty proud of it for a first try. Next time I will probably use a rolling pin and also remove the tray from underneath it as it turned out with grill marks.

Curled paper

Photography by Nicole

Ms Gingham says: Add food colouring for different effects and you could even substitute the seeds for beads of sparkles for a different effect. The sky’s the limit!

Nicole says: “Currently blogging about food however since the engagement, I haven’t had much time to go out and eat or bake at home hence the food blog is looking a little dry for the past month. Weddings is all I can think about at the moment and I was thinking of starting a bride blog! I love looking for inspiration and want our day to reflect us. Every bride should feel the same!”