DIY New Year table decorations

Host a special dinner to remember with Becki Clark’s easy-make New Year table decorations.

Try 6 issues of your choice of craft magazine from just £9.99

Becki Clark

Published: November 14, 2021 at 10:50 am

Special doesn’t always have to mean fancy. This year, instead of dusting off the best china, we’re embracing botanical vibes and a warm, gentle palette for a relaxed take on festive feasting. Whether you're decorating the table for New Year, Christmas, or even Thanksgiving, Becki Clark is here to give you three DIY New Year table decorations that will up your hosting game. There's some upcycled plates, a table cloth that's dyed using avocados, and even some potato napkin decoration. Becki's New Year table decorations take it back to basics using household items making them super affordable!

Think sprigs of greenery, eco dyeing, and hand-drawn leafy details for this year's celebrations. Forget fast-paced festivities – slow down and simplify the season, taking time out for a lazy avocado brunch and a winter foraging walk to gather your materials. No material gets wasted in these DIY New Year table decorations making them as sustainable as they are pretty. To add even more recycled decor to your home check out our Christmas card recycling ideas and eco-friendly Christmas crafts. But for now, it's over to Becki for her DIY New Year table decorations.

DIY New Year table decorations

Becki's Styling Tips

Add strokes of ochre paint to ivory dinner candles for an ombre look, and fill clear baubles with a pinch of gold glitter and sprigs of evergreen foliage. For cutlery wraps, use small money wallets and letter onto them with your guests’ names. We used a brush pen, but you could use a pen and ink to get the same effect.

You will need:

For the tablecloth

Three avocados
Linen tablecloth
Large saucepan

For the napkins

Potato
Mustard yellow fabric paint
Napkins

For the plates

Posca paint pens in blue and gold
Plain plates

For the baubles

Fillable baubles (ours were from www.hobbycraft.co.uk)
Foliage sprigs
Gold glitter

DIY New Year table decorations

You will need:

Avocados
Large saucepan
Linen tablecloth
Potato
Mustard yellow fabric paint
Napkins
Posca paint pens in blue and gold
Plain plates
Fillable baubles
Foliage sprigs
Gold glitter

Tablecloth

Step 1

DIY New Year table decorations

Cut the avocados in half and scrape them out so you’re left with the skins and stones. Give them a good wash and leave them to dry.

Step 2

DIY New Year table decorations

Fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to the boil. Drop the avocado skins and stones in and let the water simmer on a low heat. The water won’t change much to begin with, but keep checking it every 10 minutes and you’ll see the colour develop. To achieve a blush colour, simmer them for about 45 minutes.

Step 3

DIY New Year table decorations

You’ll see the colour appears a lot darker than blush pink, but you can do a test with a scrap of linen fabric to see how the colour’s looking. Once you’re happy, strain the dye to leave just the liquid.

Step 4

DIY New Year table decorations

Pop the tablecloth into the saucepan with the dye and let the fabric absorb it. Remove it from the pan and leave to dry.

Napkins

Step 1

Press the napkins and lay them out, right side up, on a flat covered surface.

Step 2

DIY New Year table decorations

Cut a medium-sized potato in half and cut a grid into one of the halves, as shown, creating a rectangle in the centre.

Step 3

DIY New Year table decorations

Carve the surrounding edges away leaving just the central rectangle at its original height.

Step 4

DIY New Year table decorations

Apply paint to the potato stamp, making sure the rectangle is fully covered, then begin printing a design on the napkins using the image as a guide. Work your way across the napkin. You don’t have to keep the prints in straight or horizontal lines – you can experiment first on a piece of paper to create a pattern you like.

Plates

Step 1

DIY New Year table decorations

To draw a wreath design, work from the middle of the plate outwards so you don’t risk smudging it. Start by using the blue pen to draw a small circle in the middle of the plate. You may find it helpful to use a small circular object as a template to draw around for this step.

Step 2

DIY New Year table decorations

Work around the circle adding teardrop shapes all the way around to create leaves, as shown.

Step 3

DIY New Year table decorations

Next, draw another larger circle around the smallest motif, as shown – you can do this by eye. Continue to add more teardrop shapes as leaves, this time slightly larger than the previous ones.

Step 4

DIY New Year table decorations

Add a final circle around the edge of the plate and draw the same teardrop botanical leaves.

Step 5

DIY New Year table decorations

To finish, add gold dots as berry accents onto the botanicals using the gold pen. You can work over the coloured leaves.

We hope you’ve enjoyed crafting your own DIY New Year table decorations. For more New Year fun head over to our New Year’s Eve DIY party decorations and stitch your own DIY Happy New Year greeting cards.

Meet the Maker

Becki is a designer and illustrator who specialises in hand drawn typography and surface design. She teaches workshops in brush lettering and painting and loves getting to share her creative passions.

Creative designer and author

Becki Clark is a creative designer and Author based in the New Forest. Inspired by the changing seasons and the magic of nature, Becki enjoys working on a range of projects from craft DIYs to illustration, writing books and running seasonally inspired workshops. She had a sausage dog called Reggie who joins her in her studio each day.