Small works of art at the table - napkins fold

The situation is known. Good friends have been invited and also wants the surroundings in which the food will occur later. So you use different design tips and decorative tricks. This also includes beautifully folded napkins . Maybe in the form of a swan or how about the star fleet symbol from the Enterprise spaceship - that should be possible, right?

Why is this piece of fabric called "napkin"?

Let's take a look at this piece of fabric - or the paper variant, for example when you are on a fun fair like the cathedral in Hamburg . The napkin has been with us for at least twenty centuries.

In the first century AD, the so -called "Mappa" a fixed part of a Roman host meal. And almost 200 years later, these mappas were installed in representations. From these we know a cloth that is 50 x 50 cm tall and had the task of protecting the covers of the feeder, and the mouth towel that is still used today to dab your lips. In the illustrations, that was mostly kept left -handed.

In the following 1300 years, the idea of ​​the napkin seemed to have disappeared from the collective subconscious, since it was only reintroduced in the 16th century. And of course not with the little man, but with the nobility. The medieval and lower class was apparently able to handle it as in the Middle Ages before: hands on the tablecloth (so it was available) or wiped on the clothing.

But in the meantime, the napkin, which by the way owes its name to the French for "little servant" , is back on everyone's lips and you can also buy it on the Internet, for example at https://servietetendirekt.de/servietten/ .

Why do you fold napkins?

One of the reasons why you do this is the look. It just looks nice when this piece of fabric is not just sober on the plate, but was somewhat artistically draped. Which does not mean that you should now use all the origami knowledge, because the napkin should not be folded too much.

Which napkin folding techniques are there?

You can find a number of options for a quick internet search. The best known are of course the bishop's hat , the compartment or the jacket , but the resourceful person has so many more options. And if you consider that you can also a complete zoo - crab, seahorses, spider, one for the bite Kobra or a peacock - the initial idea of ​​folding a swan should not be as absurd.

When looking at these works of art, you can get jealous. However, it is the same here as with other subject areas. The first attempts at folding will be a complete disaster, just like the first, coherent text and the first kilometers you run.

You quote the good Catweazle , a "nothing works" - and still keep going.

Practice, practice, practice, that's the motto. Because of course it is not an easy art to form a piece of fabric in such a way that it becomes a rose or lotus blossom, a junk or a screw.

Only the star fleet symbol is quite easy to break. You take the napkin and put it so that the square resembles more of a diamond. The open side should point to yourself. Afterwards the lower tip is folded onto the top tip, so that we basically have a kind of "sandwich" form. After that, the tip that you had folded up was folded back down again, with a small edge "standing".

So we do not fold down the complete, previously broken napkin, but only under two thirds. Then the left tip is brought to the right tip.

star fleet badge is ready .

Conclusion

There are so many different ways that can be done from a simple napkin. It's just a shame that in our throw -away society we have precipitated this - actually not unimportant - accessory to an object made of paper, which can be disposed of without further ado.

upcycled in any way if it is no longer needed .