A Kitchen Recipe Stencil Turned a White Linen Napkin Into a Decorative Towel

I stenciled kitchen lettering onto a white linen dinner napkin and displayed it like a decorative towel. The napkin came from a stack of restaurant linens my father had kept from his years in the business.

Reusing restaurant linens

I had already used some of the linens for hand-painted napkins, which I still brought out occasionally.

A recipe-towel idea with a stencil

Karianne’s handwritten recipe towel at Thistlewood Farms inspired this version. I used a kitchen stencil I already owned instead of writing the lettering by hand. The stencil had cost $2.99 at Hobby Lobby.

Iron, tape, and apply a light amount of paint

I ironed the napkin, positioned the stencil, and taped it in place. I applied the paint lightly, dabbing excess paint off the brush or foam roller first. Keeping the tool lightly loaded was the key detail in my stenciling process.

Display it with other gifted pieces

The rooster was a gift from Kimberly Hites, who thought of me while changing her own decor. The vintage linen towel visible nearby was a gift from my friend Shirley.

The green recipe tray and painted lazy Susan show other uses of the kitchen stencil.