The Art of Napkin Folding

Napkin to serve dishes
The napkins folded like this will let you arrange small dishes and appetizers, as well as empty plates. 
Join the corners of a square linen napkin in the center twice. 
Then turn the napkin over and join all the corners again. 
Place on a plate and arrange the dish or a flower.

 

Tulip

This beautiful and striking tulip can be done from bright one-colour napkins.
Fold napkin in half diagonally. Fold corners to meet at top point.
Turn napkin over with points to the top, fold lower corner 2/3 way up. 
Fold back onto itself. Bring corners together tucking one into the other. 
Open base of fold and stand upright. 

Pocket
Coloured or white linen napkins folded into pocket will let you serve table setting in a very original way.
Fold a square napkin in half. Take upper looser corner and pleat.
Take the other upper corner and pleat as the first one, but the pleat should be on the top.
Hide the corners inside. 

Rolled napkins
This version of folding is extremely effective and simple at the time.
Fold napkin in half and in half again. Then fold it diagonally.
Tie the lower corner with a beautiful ribbon.
Spread out and decorate with flowers.

	The Bird Of Paradise Napkin Fold This is a classic and classy napkin folding technique that requires a stiff napkin. If you don't have any dinner napkins made of stiff linen then a light starching should fix you right up.
	1. Lay the napkin face down in front of you.
	2. Fold the napkin in half.
	3. Fold the napkin in quarters.
	4. Fold the napkin in half diagonally, creating a triangle.
	5. Orient the triangle so the open tip is facing away from you.
	6. Fold the right corner diagonally towards you - laying it down along the centerline of the triangle, making a new tip pointing towards you. An iron can make this important fold a whole lot easier.
	7. Do the same with the left corner, fold it diagonally toward you and press it down next to the previous fold. Now you have a diamond, you're rich! Yay!.
	8. Fold the two "wings" that you just made in folds 6 and 7 under so that you have your original triangle shape back. Once again an iron can make a world of difference.
	9. Fold the triangle in half by bringing the center seam towards you and allowing the ends to fall.
	10. This bird's almost ready to fly, but first you must give it some feathers. While holding the base firmly to keep your folds together, pull up the four 'flaps' created by the napkin's corners.
	Pretty cool fold, isn't it? It makes you wonder if there are people sitting around in basements performing experimental napkin folds while the rest of us are sleeping. This fold can be difficult if you don't use an iron or have a fairly stiff napkin so be prepared to put a few minutes into making each one.

Napkin ring folding

	The Napkin Ring Fan Fold Fan folds are always a simple way of nicely presenting your napkins. This one uses a napkin ring to hold the base. Ooooohhhhhhh.
	1. Lay the napkin face-down in front of you.
	2. Fold the napkin in half and the re-open it, leaving a crease in the center.
	3. Accordion-fold the napkin up to the crease, ensuring that the final fold rests nicely on the crease. This will help you keep the ends of the fan uniform.
	4. Finish accordion-folding the napkin.
	5. Fold the fan in half as shown.
	Insert the folded end into a napkin ring. It's a fan suitable for a samurai. A hungry samurai.

Napkin folding for wine glasses

	The Candle Fan Fold Sometimes you just need something a little different. The candle fan stuffed into a goblet or mug is very different. The larger the napkin that you use is, the longer the 'candles' will be.
	1. Lay the napkin face-down in front of you.
	2. Fold both sides in so they meet at the center. Press the folds down well.
	3. Take each of the four corners (now sitting at the center of the far and near sides) and fold them out diagonally, pivoting at the center of the napkin as shown.
	4. Starting at one end, tightly roll the napkin half way along it's length. The tighter the better.
	5. Accordion-fold the other side of the napkin and gather it together.
	6. Fold the napkin in half with the roll in the middle.
	7. Place it into your goblet of choice and you're done! Mmmmmm, nothing like a crappy blue napkin to demonstrate with, eh? Larger ones look much nicer.