Do you ever have an item you know you want to do something with, but it takes forever to figure out what? That’s me. All the time. I have had these paper plate holders for years. I saw, in a magazine, how they painted them pretty colors. Ok, I can do that. But should I make them all the same, or different colors, and what colors? Oh decisions, decisions!

I finally decided on grey, because…I had the paint already. 🙂 Then Haley came up with the pattern idea.

The first step was to paint them all grey and let them dry. I always use the Rustoleum Ultra Cover. Love this stuff!

Then I wanted to put a  white stripe across the middle with a number in it. I measured out how large the stripe would have to be so the number would fit and then used the piece of cardboard to tape off the rest of the plate.

I taped scrap paper onto the plate with painters tape. This way I won’t get white paint on the grey.

They came out pretty well!

Now came the number. I took an old magazine cover and cut out a square that matched the size of the stencil.

It’s kind of hard to tell, but here is the square. I taped the stencil to the paper and then pressed it flat against the plate holder. I used turquoise for the numbers.

Once they were all dry, I was ready to set the table for a night of Al Fresco dining!

When I told Haley I was doing a nautical theme, she asked if it was different then beach theme. I had to think a bit, but yes, in my mind it is a bit different.

Nautical is more boats, ropes, and glass floats. Beach would be more sand and shells. At least that is how my mind categorizes it!! 🙂

I did add a few shells and my favorite whale to the table along with glass floats and some rope.

I love how the striped runners look under the plates. I got them from Target last fall.

It was starting to get a bit dark on these last pictures, so they are a little grainy.

I love how this turned out and really glad I finally did something with these plate holders. Now if I can only come up with ideas for the dozens of other items I have!!

Here’s a few other tablescapes you might be interested in!