The Budget Casa

These porcelain name plates are beautiful, but can be quite expensive. The ones pictured above from Solutions are $14.95 ea. That can add up when you are having 10 people over for a dinner party.

Try making your own by using your own white dessert plates or saucers. As long as the dish has a thick glaze, anything should work. We heart these square white dishes from CB2, which start at $0.95, and they would make the perfect name cards. You also get big bang for your buck because, unlike the name cards above, using small plates means you can use them as, well...plates and name cards! Place a napkin down on each plate and put your plate name cards on top of the napkins for a layering effect. Use the thin dry erase markers in different colors to write your guests names on the plates. To remove, just wipe with a paper towel. Remember to wipe it off before you put it in the dishwasher. These are dry erase and don’t take kindly to wet erase. Also, make sure you don’t serve food on your unique name cards. Although, a little dry erase marker never hurt anyone.