How to Fold Napkins for the Holidays

Please Note: if you mouse over the little camera icon to left of fold name you will see a photo of what it should look like.

Cummerbund Fold

1. Start with the napkin laid out in a square shape in front of you. Fold the bottom third up and crease.
2. Fold the top of the napkin down over the edge of the bottom fold, overlapping it by three inches.
3. Grab the bottom of the overlapped piece, and fold in half. Crease. You should now have a lengthwise rectangle with a 1 ½ inch tab folded across it horizontally.
4. Turn the napkin over, face down.
5. Grab the right side of the napkin and fold it over by a third and crease. Repeat with the left side, tucking the end of the napkin into the top fold of the other side.
6. Turn the napkin over. Place the completed napkin either on the center of a plate or alongside it, with silverware on top of it. Your napkin should resemble a neat rectangular cummerbund, perfect for a formal dinner.

Bird of Paradise Fold

1. Start with the napkin laid out in a square in front of you.  Fold the bottom half of the napkin up, and crease.
2. Now fold the entire napkin in half again, this time from right to left. You should now have a smaller square, with unfolded sides along the top and left sides of the square.
3. Fold the bottom right corner in one inch, and crease. Continue folding and creasing in an “accordion” pattern until you reach the top left corner.
4. Take the entire “accordion” and fold in half, slightly asymmetrically so that the right side is a tad shorter than the left.
5. Place the napkin in a glass and gently fan out the folds on the left side of the napkin. The napkin should resemble a “Bird of Paradise” flower, with the fan of the flower opening over the left side of the glass.

Two Lilies Fold

1. Start with the napkin laid out in a square shape before you.
2. Grab the bottom right corner and roll in, about one inch. Continue rolling the napkin towards the top left. You should now have one long tube.
3. Gently fold the tube in half asymmetrically and place in a glass, with one side slightly higher than the other. The napkin should resemble two lilies emerging from the glass.