Newspaper Lead Story Custom Placemats – Easy & Budget Friendly
It’s the season for entertaining, so why not make your guests feel extra special with their own lead story custom placemats.
They’re budget-friendly and only take a few minutes to put together once you’ve added the star factor.
And when the party is done, they can take them home as gifts.
Okay, before we get to the tutorial be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram. And don’t forget to subscribe so you’ll never miss a post!
What you need
You’ll need a few empty beer boxes (any thick cardboard will also do), spray paint, mod podge, and a story 😉 But I’ll get to the story in a bit.
Let’s get those beer boxes ready first.
Making Lead Story Custom Placemats
Cut the sides off the beer boxes and spray or paint the back with whatever color spray paint you have on hand to hide the writing.
While you wait for the paint to dry, hop onto your computer to create a story. That’s what makes these placemats so special. Each guest features as the hero of the lead story in an old-style printed newspaper.
Tips For Writing The Lead Story
Use the third person, for example, he said, or she did and try to capture your guest’s personality. You only need about 150 words and a photo. You can even include a quote from someone they know well, to fill up the space. I found this lovely PowerPoint template that makes it so easy to convert what you’ve written into an old-style newspaper article.
For these custom placemats, I wrote a news article for each of my kids. My Dinosaur-loving son, Calin is super intelligent (I’m his mom and I’m really not biased). When he’s not playing strategy games on his laptop, he’s researching weird facts about things most people haven’t even heard of. He’s off to Canada to study Psychology in a few days, and this momma is feeling all kinds of mixed emotions at the moment 🙁
My daughter, Talea J, is a mermaid. Her biggest dream is to marry meet Micheal Phelps and qualify for the 2024 Olympic games. She trains between 4 and 6 hours every day, and she’s well on her way to achieving her dreams.
Finishing Off The Lead Story Placemats
After typing up the articles, I just printed them out and mod podged them onto the front, unpainted side of the cardboard.
And to add to the old-world look, I applied some crackle glaze after the mod podged had dried. To make those cracks really pop you can apply a homemade stain over the top. To make the stain, mix some Burnt Umber oil paint and turps in a small bowl.
The mixture should be quite runny. Apply the stain with a paintbrush and then rub it in with a kitchen towel.
The lead story custom placemats fit perfectly with our low-key decor style too.
And they’re a huge amount of fun to make, and your guests can take them home after the party too.
We’ve made some for everyone and had quite a few chuckles making up stories about our guests.
My mom’s newspaper story involves a strip club and a python, but I think she’d kill me if I put it on the blog. Let’s just say strip clubs will never be the same again 😉
We made those Christmas crackers last year, and we’ll be reusing them again this year 😉
If you like the idea of making lead story custom placemats, don’t forget to pin it for later.
What are your plans for making your guests feel like superstars during this festive season? I’d love to hear all about it.
Oh before I forget, if you’d like to make something similar or prefer to buy rather than DIY, we’ve got you covered. Disclosure: Clicking on the links below, means we may receive a commission from Amazon. But don’t worry it won’t come out of your pocket, and it helps us come up with more unique DIY and craft ideas for you 😉
Or if you prefer to buy rather than DIY, then perhaps these will appeal.
Sending love and blessings as always.
You crack me up and your creativity blows my mind! What a brilliant and fun idea! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much Jas, now if only we could serve one of those delicious dishes you’re always creating then the party would be complete 😉
This is so cool. What fun dinner must have been with everyone reading their stories. Pinned
Thank you Debra. It’s good for a laugh and definitely gets the conversation flowing, especially if the guests don’t know each other well 😉
So very cool!!!!!!!! Love it!
Thanks Deborah, glad you liked it and they’re so much fun to make once you figure out the story line
That is a great idea!
many greetings
Uwe
Thank you so much Uwe 😉
How amazing, creative ad FUN are these? Love them for ay time of year. Love your layout too. It was easy to see your projects. So many are darling! Happy New year. Pinned for later…my kids and grandson would love this!
Thank you so much Wendi and they really are loads of fun to make. Happy New year to you too 😉
Michelle those placemats are definetely the coolest on Earth!! I bet your friends are always excited when visiting you because they can’t imagine your next surprise. I’d love to make some of this for our Christmas dinner, I think I need to get some crackle gel and practice with it, it gives the placemat a real old look.
Congrats on your son for chasing his dreams.
That’s awesome Pili, I’m so glad you like them. I love using crackle gel, but any kind of cracking medium works fine too, just in case you can’t find any 😉
This is such a great idea! Personalized gifts are the best and this one is even more special. Thanks for the tutorial!
Thanks so much Zenda 😀
I really love this! I think it is great that you put the articles together as well. Such a unique idea which looks fabulous x
I’m so glad you like it Yvonne. The articles are the fun bit and I can only imagine what you would write about your little monkeys 😀
What a clever idea! I love how your entire table looks! I LOVE your BLOG!
Merry Christmas friend!
karianne
OMW KariAnne, I’m stunned. I love your blog too. Thank you <3
This is such a sweet and thoughtful idea! I love it! The way they turned out looks amazing too! Right now I don’t have a dining room table (tiny apartment). But, once we start using one I will have to bust out this idea! So cool!
Thank you Gina and with all the beautiful stories you write, putting an article together for your guests will be a breeze
Michelle – I love this so much! My grandson would love it if I did an article for him – but it’s not just for the kids! Your tablescape is lovely.
So glad you like them Cathy. It really is so much fun thinking of all the lovely things you can say about your guests and I’m sure your grandson will love every beautiful word his Gran writes about him
Michelle , What a great idea of these placemats, and writing stories on it. They look awesome. I really like the idea that guests can take them if they want.
Dhanyavaad my friend.
Hi Michelle: This is the neatest craft idea. I don’t know how you come up with these terrific new ideas all the time. This one would be really fun for a dinner party. The possibilities for laughter and interaction are endless. I am pinning this gem.
Thanks so much for the pin Leanna, they’re always a hit at dinner parties.
What an amazing idea, I love this! Such a great way to make your guests feel special and start a conversation too!
Your table setting is beautiful, and I just love it all…especially those wood stars!
Hope you are having a wonderful week!
Kimberley
Thank you so much Kimberly 😉
Michelle you are so amazing! I love the idea and the stories, how sweet! Wow, your son is off to Canada, eh?? That is exciting, I’m sure he’ll love taking that place mat and have breakfast, lunch and dinner and remember his sweet sweet momy all the time!! This is such a special gift and lovely for guests to find on their spots!
Thank you Katrin <3 I'm going to miss him so much, but hopefully he'll come visit in their Spring break. I've started making him one that's a bit more permanent to use as a lap tray. I really hope I get it finished before he leaves.
Amazing idea, indeed! I am blown off by your creativity! I can almost see the vibes and atmosphere at your dinner party ?
Thank you Ana, they’re loads of fun. It’s always so lovely seeing everyone’s reaction to their placemats and when they pass them around so everyone else can have a good laugh too 😀
What a fabulous idea, they look stunning – you’d never believe they were made of cardboard.
Thank you so much Sarah 😉
Haha ! I can’t believe you actually wrote that about your mother. If it was me I’d chase you out the door. But in all seriousness, I love this one of a kind gift. So personal and it reveals as much about the giver as it does about the receiver. The whole table setting is really gorgeous. And I know your son will remember his sweet mama who makes all these wonderful things for him.
Oh Mary, not my Mom. She’ll want to know why I didn’t tell everyone about how she came down the pole – that’s what scares me and I kinda ran out of article space for my mom’s placemat 😉 I’d love you to meet her one day, she’s one of a kind. Man the stories I can tell about my mom. My kids refer to her as their Crazy Ouma and they’re right, she’s crazy cool.
Michelle, this is such a fun idea!! I bet your kids just loved their placemats. I’m sure your mom will get a good laugh out of hers. 😉 Thanks for sharing this wonderful idea!!
She loved it Keri, she’s got such a wicked sense of humor and she gave me some ideas about what to write about some of our other guests 😉
Great idea. Need to get busy if I want to this for the Christmas table.
LOL Anon, the first article did take a while, but once you get the hang of it, then it becomes so much fun. And just seeing the look on someone’s face when they read what you’ve written is priceless and worth every second.