Fall, my favorite season of the year, is right in front of my eyes. Leaves have started changing their colors. Soon I will be surrounded with trees showing off their glowing crowns. I love to collect leaves when Fall colors are at their peak. I always save some if not all for my sister.

Last year when we invited our friends over for Thanksgiving dinner, I used the leaves for place cards. It was so simple and almost free, so I want to share it here before the leaves become earthen thick carpet.
Here are examples of leaves I collected from places I visited last year. From right to left: Red Oak, Eastern Red Cedar, small and big Flowering Dogwood, and Red Maple leaves. Note that each species has its own peak time. After collecting the leaves, I stored them in a book or magazine to keep them from tearing and wrinkling. There would be some marks on the books because the paper absorbs the leaves' moisture. Therefore, my favorite book to store the leaves is Yellow Pages. In this day and age, who needs that book anyway?
Now the fun part, cutting out the name. The length of the dinner attendance's name will determine the length of the leaves that will be used, or using small font is needed. Outline the name using pencil to make sure the composition of the letters are nice, then carefully cut the name out using a sharp retractable/snap-off knife.
Cut a thick light color paper to attach the leaves. The paper helps to see the name better and also acts as a structure of the card. I used leftover paper from my school project. Other possibilities are paper from a wedding invitation, a presentation folder, or a chocolate box. To attach the leaf to the paper, make two holes space very closely. Pull several inches of a thick thread through the holes, then tie the leaf tightly.
The place cards are ready to use. Place them on folded napkins or on plates.
I hope this simple idea is helpful and can be used to brighten to your Autumn dinning table. Don't worry if yours doesn't seem perfect. Neither did mine. "It's
wabi-sabi", as my coworker once taught me.
Have a colorful Fall, y'all!