Stimulate appetites at a party with DIY food tent cards!

Living in a foreign land which has a vastly different food culture from Singapore means that we are not able to do the usual catering for a birthday party.

Instead, we the wives have turned into great chefs and great party planners. Yeah, you basically have no choice but to learn to cook if you don't wish to burn your pockets and if you want to satisfy your own cravings for local delights once in a while. From previously Maggie mee chefs, we can now whip up a delectable 4-course dinner in less than an hour.

I can't say I'm a superb chef because I have never felt much affinity for the wok or the apron, but a good party planner, I'm slowly getting there. Because it involves much creativity and craft work and that's pretty much when my brain starts to go into full gear and my hands work non-stop.

Today, I want to share with you a very simple idea to spice up a party - using DIY food tent cards/place cards.

I love these cards for many reasons.

1) They make the home cooked food look more professional and presentable
The use of colours help to liven up the atmosphere and guests will feel intrigued when the food is served. Even if your food is catered, you can still add these in for a more personal touch.

2) They help to enlighten the fussy eaters
If you have vegetarians, Halal or just picky eaters in your guest list, they will be happy to know what goes into their mouths. Trust me, even if it's obvious to you what the dish is, it's not always obvious to them. This is even more important if you offer exotic dishes like intestines which not everyone is fanatical about.

3) They build up the party theme
If you have a theme for your party which most people do, it's easy to incorporate it into the tent cards with the use of pictures and words. It not only helps to enhance the theme, but it lets your guests feel your efforts and sincerity too.

4) They can be fun, quirky and as creative as can be
Just because they are food labels doesn't mean they have to be straightforward and boring. You can let your imagination go wild and have fun thinking of ways to design or name them. For instance, the hubby and I had a ball of a time thinking up names for Angel's Disney party. We made use of Disney characters and did a pun on their names, like "Pork-ahontas Dumplings" and "Chic-derella Wings".

Doing up these tent cards is as simple as can be. 

What you need:

1) Template (above)

2) Colour printer

3) Glue/double sided tape

4) Software like Photoshop or Powerpoint

Depending on your table layout, decide if you need the tent cards to be single or double-sided. Since my tent cards were placed right in front of the food dishes, I decided to save up on ink and go with single sided ones.

Design the tent card by adding in pictures and wordings of your choice. Print them out, make folds along the horizontal lines and glue the small flap inwards so that it forms a triangle on either side. Make sure the cards can now stand upright. Add a small piece of double-sided tape at the bottom and place the cards in the desired positions.

See, that was pretty easy, right?

So, if you are planning for your child's birthday party, why not have a go at making these food tent cards and let me know how it goes!

I sure hope you'll have as much fun as I did making them!

Don't we just love parties? 

For more craft ideas and DIY tutorials, visit my gallery here.