My Honey and I will be having Thanksgiving dinner with his family this year, and we’re so excited! We don’t get to see them very often, so I thought I’d make an extra special decoration for the table to mark the occasion. I was at Jo’s house the other day, and she had this roll of burlap garland that seemed like a perfect starting point. She also had some Vanna White Glamour yarn in copper, which had a sparkle that contrasted wonderfully against the rustic burlap. Gosh, I love stealing supplies from Jo’s craft room!

It occurred to me that the burlap would make a great table runner, and since it was already hemmed on the sides, all I had to do was run it down the middle of the table and cut it to length.

My plan was to personalize the runner by embroidering the name of each person onto the burlap, right by where their place setting would be for dinner. To make sure I added the names in the right spots, I used some masking tape to mark where the plates lined up. I used two pieces to mark each end, so I knew to put the name between the tape. For the sides of the table, I lined up one piece between each pair of place settings.

Then I just threaded the yarn onto a needlepoint needle (with a big eye) and free-hand added the names. If you’re worried about doing this without a pattern, though, hang tight because I’ve got a tip to share in a minute.

I wanted to also add a giant “Give Thanks” to the piece, with one word on each side. These words would be big and important, so I didn’t trust myself to freehand. Instead, I wrote the words out with marker on a piece of paper, and slid it under the burlap, taking time to center it just right.

Then I just traced the writing onto the burlap with a marker. Pretty sneaky, right? The yarn will cover the marker, but you might want to keep the marks light so you don’t have to be too careful with your stitches. I just love how the yarn looks against the burlap!

I put “Give” on one side, and then “Thanks” on the other. I didn’t want anybody to think the writing was upside down for them, so I put “Give” in one direction, and “Thanks” in the other. That way, everyone gets to see something right-side-up!

I think this is a lovely addition to the dinner table, especially because it’s personalized with everyone’s names.