Sometimes Thanksgiving gets the short shrift between Halloween and Christmas.  That’s too bad because the focus is not on ‘how much candy can I get to make me sick to my stomach’ or ‘me’ or ‘what I get’ but on ‘what I’m thankful for.’

To make your Thanksgiving meal a little more special, use linen napkins instead of paper ones.  (I know, I know, they are more expensive and you have to wash out the cranberry and pumpkin pie stain.)  There’s just something special about linen napkins that speaks of elegance (and subtly hints that everybody needs to be on their best behavior — got that grandpa?).

If you’re like me, you haven’t the foggiest idea of how to fold them.  The most intricate fold I’ve ever done was a simple fold in half that turned it into a triangle.  Everybody knows that triangles are not elegant — unless you are a geometry teacher.

The Milliken Table Linen site has directions on 16 different ways to fold napkins.  They even have videos that are extremely helpful in the leaning process.  Bumble Bee Linens has directions for 24 different napkin folding styles.

If any granddaughters live close by, you could invite them over for a folding party where you teach them the different folds.  Then, on Thanksgiving Day, they can be responsible for folding and placing the napkins for dinner.  Maybe each year they could conquer a different style of fold so that after several years they know a whole slew of styles.  This is a valuable skill that will serve them well (pun intended) throughout their life.

If your grandchildren don’t live close by but you will get together for Thanksgiving, you might want to carve out some time (sheesh!  aren’t I punny?) to show them one or two folding techniques.  Let them choose which one to use for the meal.

And what about your grandsons?  You can teach them the napkin ring style and tell them that it is a rocket ship ready to blast off into outer space.  Or teach the cone fold to pretend it is an ice cream cone.

Or teach them the pinwheel fold (shown here) and tell them that it is the fabric version of those little metal thingies that bad people throw at other bad people when they want to hurt those bad people.  What are called?  What?  What?  Oh, you know what I mean . . .

This could be a great activity with your grandchildren on a slow Saturday afternoon.  (What am I talking about?  Does anybody ever have slow afternoons at this time of year?  Whatever.)  Have a great time teaching and folding napkins together.

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