Skip The Basic Printed Display: A Cuter Way To Show Your Party Menu Using A Lace Doily

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Gearing up for a hosting gig? Your presentation is equally as important as the menu — take it from House of Saint Design on TikTok. The creator decided to dress up the beverage cart at a wedding with delicate florals, dried fruit slices, and a few grandma chic decor finds from the thrift store. Those nana-approved accents — a doily, of course, and a tin tray — became an adorable way to display the drink menu and add a charming touch to the romantic ambiance.

When repurposing vintage doilies, placing them on top of a larger tray not only adds a timeless aesthetic, but it delivers a softness through texture. It's a terrific way to accentuate a paper menu while playing into the decor, plus it eliminates potential stains and spills that the menu might endure without support. Even better? These finds are hiding at your local second-hand shop — and your Granny's dresser drawer — so it's a good way to keep costs down when expenses begin piling up. Find a vintage tin tray, a doily, and snag some Gorilla Removable Mounting Putty for the basics. Then, utilize a program like Canva or Adobe Express to create your menu. 

When bringing these thrift store hosting items to life, the creative process is straightforward and fun, particularly if you're feeling imaginative and want to personalize the look for a loved one (or yourself). Before buying the trays and doilies, create your paper menu so you know what size accessories you'll need. Once that's set, find an appropriately sized tray and use your putty to adhere a smaller doily to its surface. Next, take the Gorilla putty and stick a few pieces to the back of the menu before adhering it to the doily. Just like that, your menu statement-maker is set — and the putty allows you to change things up when the next DIY idea strikes.

@houseofsaintdesign

The cutest and easiest DIY I've ever done! Here's the step by step instructions: – I thrifted this tray + lace doily from @theplowathandsmill but you can go to any local antique store or I also linked some similar online options on my LTK – I used gorilla puddy to attach the doily to the tray – Worked with @madeandtrue to design the bar menu which she delivered as a digital download in @canva – Printed the design out on vintage cardstock paper from Amazon and cut it out in an oval shape – Attached the printed bar sign to the tray using gorilla puddy again And that's it — Save this for your next event / wedding 🕊️

♬ original sound – houseofsaintdesign

Like House of Saint Design, you'll want to make sure the accent fits in well with surrounding decor, like florals and dinnerware. To spice things up, consider using the tray and doily combo for other dining necessities as well, perhaps tea bags and sugar, or even a decorative item like a candle or a small picture frame. You can switch up the doily color or the type of tray, too, depending on the style you're going for. Should you want to accentuate your creation, search for a cute ribbon to, literally and figuratively, tie it all together.