Ok, I know that Thanksgiving is largely about the food. And usually I’m all about the recipes but today I’m going to share my special holiday skill: napkin folding. Specifically, this post is a tutorial for how to fold a napkin fan. This fold is a simple way to make your Thanksgiving table just a little bit more special. And come on, the fan looks a little like a turkey tail! It’s perfection.
For real though, this is my special skill. Ever since I was a pre-teen I’ve been fancily folding the napkins for holidays gatherings hosted by my parents. I even have a book about it. I learned how to fold napkins when I was a kid tagging along on a my mom’s lecture tour through Central American. Mostly the trip was awesome but sometimes I sat in on her business meetings and because I was an adolescent I thought they were boring. So, I’d pass the time unfolding and re-folding the napkins. One time a waiter took pity on me and showed me a couple of different folds. And since then, I’ve become the chief napkin folder in my family.
All you need for this is a cloth napkin, large sturdy paper napkin, or any other large cloth you can use as a napkin. For this tutorial I used a spare piece of cloth I bought from Michael’s. If you’re going to use regular cloth like this I’d suggest hemming it so you don’t have frayed edged. But enough chat, let’s get to it. Here’s how to fold a napkin fan.
1. Fold your napkin in half lengthwise so you have a long rectangle. 
2. Start on the right side. Take about 1 inch of fabric and fold it over on itself, toward the middle, two times. This will be the base of your fan.
3. From here, fold the napkin using an accordion (back and forth) fold. Keep folding until you have about 3-4 inches of fabric left unfolded. 
4. Flip the whole thing over so the folds are on the bottom. 
5. Fold the napkin in half (away from you)lengthwise. You’ll start to see the fan pattern emerging.
6. Take the top left corner (from the flat unfolded part of the fabric) and fold it diagonally toward the bottom right. Tuck the corner in the middle between the folds of the fabric. This is going to give you the stand to hold up your fan.
7. Pinch the folded triangle stand you’ve just made. Stand the fan upright and let go of the folds. When it unfurls you’ll have your napkin fan. 
8. Set the table and place your napkins on top of the plates. 
Boom, you’re done. Now you’ve just stepped up your Thanksgiving a notch. You’re welcome. The printable non-photo instructions are below.
- 1 cloth or sturdy paper napkin per dinner guest
- Fold napkin in half lengthwise so you have a long rectangle.
- On the right hand side, fold 1 inch of fabric over on itself (toward the middle) two times.
- Continuing from the right, accordion fold about ⅔ of the way across or until you have 3-4 inches of fabric unfolded.
- Flip the whole thing over so the folds are on the bottom.
- Fold the napkin in half lengthwise (you should start to see the fan pattern coming together)
- Fold the top left corner (of unfolded fabric) towards the bottom right. Tuck that corner into the center between the folds. You will now have a triangular base.
- Pinch the base, stand the folds up, and let go. You know have a standing up napkin fan!
What a beautifully folded napkin and thanks for the memories!