In April of 2007, I spent three weeks on vacation in Paris and it was the most amazing experience of my life. Since I do not have any plans to go back anytime soon, I was inspired to bring back the look and feel of my time spent in Paris through a French inspired garden tablescape. I really wanted to make something special for my guests, so for each dinner place setting, I created a monogram laurel wreath. I think the finished result looks so classy and elegant, and best of all, it was easy and super simple to create.

Materials

• 3 inch gold glitter letters
• 7/8″ black and white striped ribbon
• 24 gauge floral wire
• Sprigs of greenery
• Scissors

How to make it

Step 1: Cut two sprigs of greenery approximately 8″ long each. Unwind a strand of floral wire, measure and cut approximately 10″ of wire. Starting at the bottom of the sprig, wind the wire gently around the stem and continue working all the way up. Cut the wire and hide the end behind the leaves.

Step 2: Gently curve each sprig in a horseshoe shape. At this point, you may use another small piece of wire to join the sprigs at the point where they intersect.

Step 3: Next, time to make the bow. It can be a tricky thing to explain, yet alone master, so here are instructions via Martha Stewart. To be honest, my original plan was to tie the bow directly with the greenery, but after a few unsuccessful tries to make the bow look ‘just right’, I decided to ‘cheat’ and just rest the bow on top of the laurel wreath.

Step 4: In the example shown, I selected the letter ‘B’ for my friend Barb. Fold the linen napkin, lay the gold letter in the middle, assemble the laurel wreath around it and add the striped ribbon on top. Voila, it’s done!