Fall & Thanksgiving Gifts

What Are Fall and Thanksgiving Linens?

Thanksgiving linens are the cloth pieces that dress a holiday table and the rooms around it: printed handkerchiefs, hemstitched linen hand towels, and linen napkins in dinner and cocktail sizes. Gratitude wording is what separates them from ordinary autumn decor, since the phrase on the cloth is the thing guests read.

We print every design in-house in the U.S.A. and have personalized more than 350,000 handkerchiefs since 2007. Most motifs are made as a set of three, a 12 inch handkerchief, a 14 by 22 inch linen towel, and linen napkins sold in fours, so the powder room, the kitchen, and the dining table carry the same design, and several pieces take a name or a family surname printed into the artwork.

What Thanksgiving Designs Are There?

Each design is printed on a 12 inch cotton handkerchief, a 14 by 22 inch hemstitched linen towel, and linen napkins in dinner and cocktail sizes sold in sets of four, so the powder room, the kitchen, and the dining table can carry the same motif. The designs use warm brown and autumn orange on white and ecru linen rather than the saturated orange and black of October, which is what makes a Thanksgiving linen read as a table setting rather than a party decoration.

• Gratitude sayings. Printed blessing and thankfulness phrases such as "Give Thanks" or "Count Your Blessings," the plainest and most-ordered end of the range, for the table and the guest bath alike.
• Harvest motifs. Pumpkins and autumn leaves without wording, for a table that runs from late October through November.
• Custom pumpkin designs. Pumpkin prints that carry a name or a family surname worked into the artwork, so a single piece doubles as a place setting.

The specific designs in stock this season are shown in the product grid above. For the year-round range, see our print handkerchiefs, linen towels, and cotton and linen napkins.

Can I Personalize Thanksgiving Linens With a Family Name?

Yes, and the custom pieces put a name or a family surname inside the printed design rather than off to one side, which is what makes them work as place settings.

• Custom print pumpkin handkerchief. A pumpkin design with your name in script across the pumpkin itself, or a free line of your own text beneath it, on 12 inch cotton with a scalloped edge.
• Custom linen hand towels with a family name. A pumpkin above your surname on a 14 by 22 inch hemstitched linen towel.
• Custom linen napkins with a name. Sets of four with a pumpkin above your text, in dinner and cocktail sizes.

The current custom pumpkin styles are shown in the product grid above. Each personalization field holds up to 32 characters including spaces. Use first names on napkins and hankies for a seated table, since a printed name removes the need for place cards, and use the family surname on towels and anything the household keeps. For a table mixing several households, a surname per couple works better than a first name per person, since it halves the number of pieces and still assigns seats. See our personalized printed handkerchiefs and custom printed linen towels for the year-round versions.

What Size Are Thanksgiving Napkins and Towels?

Our linen dinner napkins come in your choice of 18 inch or 20 inch squares, hemstitched, in sets of four. Both sit inside the standard dinner napkin range, which runs roughly 18 to 22 inches. The 20 inch is the one to choose for a full holiday meal, because a larger napkin drapes properly across a lap through a long sitting; the 18 inch suits a tighter table where place settings sit close together.

Our linen cocktail napkins come in sets of four in your choice of ecru or white, for the drinks and appetizer station rather than the seated table. Our linen hand and guest towels measure 14 by 22 inches with a hemstitched edge, the size that hangs correctly on a powder room ring and folds over an oven handle.

Our Thanksgiving handkerchiefs measure 12 inches square in 100% cotton with a scalloped edge. Personalization fields hold up to 32 characters, and because the name is printed rather than stitched, it appears in the same colors and weight as the artwork around it, which is why short entries read better than long ones.

Are Thanksgiving Linens Linen or Cotton?

The napkins and towels are linen and the handkerchiefs are 100% cotton. Linen is the correct fiber for a dinner napkin and what formal table linen has always been made from: linen fiber is stronger wet than dry, so it survives repeated laundering, it gets more absorbent as it is washed, and it holds a pressed edge that cotton loses within an hour on a lap. Linen also releases food and wine more readily than cotton because the fiber is smoother, which is why it has stayed on dining tables for centuries.

Cotton is the right fiber for a handkerchief, where softness against skin matters more than crispness, and our Thanksgiving hankies soften with every wash. Avoid polyester and poly-cotton napkins sold as no-iron: they repel liquid rather than absorbing it, so a spill spreads across the surface instead of soaking in, they hold oil stains permanently, and they scorch at the heat linen needs. We never use polyester.

Paper is the real alternative for most households, and the comparison is worth doing honestly. A paper napkin costs a fraction of a cent per use and is thrown out; a linen napkin bought once and used at a dozen holiday meals over a decade costs less per use than the paper it replaced, and unlike paper it can carry a family name.

How Do I Set a Thanksgiving Table?

Thanksgiving is the meal of the year where a table gets set properly, and cloth napkins are the single change that does the most work, since everything else on a holiday table is already food.

How many napkins do I need?

Plan one dinner napkin per seat plus two spares for the table, since a holiday meal runs long and at least one napkin ends up on the floor or under a gravy boat. Our dinner napkins come in sets of four, so a table of ten is covered by three sets. Plan separately for the appetizer hour, where cocktail napkins go, since guests take a fresh small napkin each time they set a glass down, and the drinks station consumes more napkins per hour than the table does.

Where does the napkin go?

The napkin sits to the left of the forks or on the center of the plate, and both are correct. Place it on the plate when the plate will be cleared for the first course, and to the left of the forks when the same plate stays through the meal. Once seated, the napkin goes on the lap folded in half with the fold toward the body, so any mark stays hidden in the fold. Leaving mid-meal means the napkin goes on the chair seat; leaving at the end means it goes loosely to the left of the plate, never refolded.

How should I fold a printed napkin?

Fold it so the design shows, which rules out most decorative folds. A simple rectangle fold with the printed phrase facing up, or a loose roll with the print at the top, does more for a printed napkin than any fan or pocket shape. Press napkins the day before and stack them flat rather than folding them into shapes that need a hard crease, since a crease through a printed phrase leaves a line that shows. See our napkin folding tutorials and how to set a formal table.

Why Does Gratitude Wording Matter at the Table?

A gratitude phrase printed at each place gives the table something to say when the moment comes to go around and share what everyone is thankful for. That is the quiet gift these designs offer that a plain pumpkin does not: they set the tone for the meal before anyone sits down.

A personalized napkin or handkerchief with a guest's name printed on it does something simpler and just as warm, telling each person they were expected and their seat was set for them. The handkerchief is the piece they take home, carrying the same wording as a keepsake long after the leftovers are gone, while a paper place card ends up in the recycling.

What's a Good Thanksgiving Hostess Gift?

The kindest hostess gift is one the host does not have to tend to while the turkey is resting, so a bundle of cut flowers looking for a vase or a dish looking for oven space is more work than welcome. Ask the host first what they would like you to bring, and offer to take on a whole course like dessert or drinks rather than one more side to find room for.

• A set of linen napkins or a guest towel. There is nothing to do with it on the day, and the host reaches for it every fall afterward.
• A personalized pumpkin towel with the family surname. This is the gift that quietly becomes part of the house.
• Flowers already arranged in a vase. Lovely for the day itself, with nothing left for the host to do.
• Wine or a dessert that needs no oven. A classic, because it asks nothing of the host's afternoon.

Send your gift ahead if you can, so the host is not greeting guests with their arms already full at the door. See our thank-you gifts for the note that follows.

What's a Good Friendsgiving Gift?

Bring table linens rather than another dish. A Friendsgiving is almost always a potluck, and the host is usually the friend with the biggest table rather than the deepest cupboard of serving ware, so a set of cloth napkins is the thing the table is actually short on. Since Friendsgiving is usually held on its own day, apart from the holiday travel, the host has time to enjoy a gift that lasts.

A set of four cocktail napkins from each guest covers the drinks table without anyone having to coordinate, and a printed handkerchief at each place, with names on them, works as favors and place settings at once. Unlike the food, they go home with the friends who came. We offer bulk pricing on larger orders if several households want matching sets.

Why Linen Is the Easy Choice for a Holiday Table

A hemstitched linen napkin presses in seconds while damp, can be pressed days ahead and stacked flat, and is the one thing on a Thanksgiving table you can prepare a week early. Linen is also the fiber built for a long meal: it releases oil and wine more readily than cotton and gets stronger when wet, which is why it was the traditional tablecloth in the first place.

A set used at a dozen holiday meals over a decade costs less per use than the paper it replaces, and it carries a family name paper never could. It comes out each November already knowing the table it belongs to.

What Mistakes Should I Avoid When Ordering for Thanksgiving?

Four errors account for most of the November problems we see.

• Ordering in the week of the holiday. Personalization averages 3.1 business days plus shipping transit, and the Thanksgiving week itself is short on business days. Order by early November or add rush processing at checkout.
• Buying one set of four for a table of ten. Count seats, add two spares, and round up to the next set. Cocktail napkins run out faster than dinner napkins, so buy more of those than you think.
• Choosing 18 inch napkins for a long meal. The 20 inch drapes properly across a lap through a multi-course sitting. Choose 18 inch only when place settings sit close together.
• Overfilling the personalization field. Each field holds 32 characters including spaces, and a name printed inside a design reads better short. Personalized pieces cannot be returned, so check spelling on screen before submitting.

How Do I Care for Thanksgiving Linens?

Thanksgiving is the hardest day of the year on table linen, so the stain handling matters more here than the washing instructions.

Treat red wine immediately with cold water and blot rather than rub, since rubbing drives the pigment into the weave, and never use hot water on wine, which sets it. Cranberry behaves like wine and gets the same treatment. Gravy and butter are oil stains, so work a little dish soap in before washing rather than water alone. Candle wax comes off by hardening it first, lifting what breaks away, then pressing the cloth between two sheets of plain paper with a warm iron so the paper absorbs the rest.

Machine wash linen napkins, towels, and printed hankies in cold or warm water on a gentle cycle. Skip bleach, which lifts pigment out of a printed design and weakens the fiber, and skip fabric softener, which coats linen and cuts absorbency. Never put a stained napkin in the dryer before the mark is gone, since heat fixes it permanently. Press linen while still slightly damp, on the reverse side so the iron never touches the print, and store flat, refolding along different lines each year so a permanent crease never sets through a printed phrase. See our linen care instructions.

How Do I Order, and How Long Does It Take?

Personalized Thanksgiving orders average 3.1 business days for personalization because we print and finish in-house in the U.S.A. rather than sending the work out. Rush processing at checkout shortens personalization to about two business days and applies to every item in your cart.

Ready-made printed designs carry no personalization step and ship soonest, the right choice if you are ordering close to the holiday. We offer bulk pricing on larger orders, which covers a long table, an extended family ordering together, or a Friendsgiving where several households want matching pieces. Add your gift message in the note box at checkout for anything shipping straight to a host. Every piece is hand-inspected before it ships and every order is backed by our satisfaction guarantee.

Do you ship internationally?

Yes. We ship within the United States and internationally to Canada and Australia, with international rates and expedited options available at checkout. Canadian Thanksgiving falls on the second Monday of October, so Canadian buyers should order a few weeks ahead of that date, and everyone can enter an address at checkout to see the options for their order.

What Else Should I Shop for the Season?

Autumn runs as one stretch of table settings, and most households order it in one go.

• Halloween. The October designs that come before the harvest ones.
• Christmas. The December range, which starts the week Thanksgiving ends.
• Dinner napkins and cocktail napkins. The full year-round napkin range in every size.
• Table runners and placemats. The rest of the table beneath the napkins.
• Kitchen and dish towels. For the room where the meal actually happens.
• Personalized aprons. For whoever is cooking.

Why Order Your Thanksgiving Linens From Bumblebee Linens?

We started in 2007 after we could not find a wedding handkerchief anywhere for our own wedding and ended up making our own. Since then we have personalized more than 350,000 handkerchiefs, shipped over one million worldwide, and been part of 120,000 weddings.

Everything is linen or soft, absorbent cotton with no polyester, hand-inspected and printed in-house in the U.S.A. with a 3.1 business day average turnaround. Our work has been featured by Brides, Martha Stewart Weddings, Real Simple, and The Today Show, and every order is backed by our satisfaction guarantee.

"Beautiful, heirloom quality handkerchiefs make thoughtful, personal gifts that you will be proud to give and they won't break the bank."
Kayla P.

Read more customer reviews before you order.

Key Insights

• Our Thanksgiving linens are printed in-house in the U.S.A. as matching sets of a handkerchief, a linen towel, and linen napkins, so the powder room, the kitchen, and the dining table carry the same gratitude design. Everything is hand-inspected before it ships.
• Our linen dinner napkins come in 18 inch or 20 inch squares in sets of four, and the 20 inch is the one to choose for a full holiday meal because it drapes properly across a lap. Cocktail napkins come in sets of four in ecru or white for the drinks station.
• You can order personalized Thanksgiving napkins and towels with a name or family surname printed into the design, and each field holds up to 32 characters. A printed first name turns a napkin into an assigned seat and removes the need for place cards.
• The napkins and towels are linen and the Thanksgiving handkerchiefs are 100% cotton, with no polyester anywhere. Linen is stronger wet than dry, gets more absorbent with washing, and releases wine and oil more readily than cotton, which is why it survives a holiday table.
• A set of Thanksgiving hostess gift linens needs nothing from the host on the day, unlike cut flowers or a dish that needs oven space, and the host uses it every fall afterward. A personalized pumpkin towel with the family surname becomes part of the house.
• Table linens also make the practical Friendsgiving gift, since a Friendsgiving is a potluck and the host usually has the largest apartment rather than the most serving ware. A hankie per guest works as a place setting and a favor that leaves with the people who came.
• Personalized orders are ready in a 3.1 business day average, with rush processing available at checkout to shorten it to about two business days. Order by early November, since the holiday week itself is short on business days.
• We ship within the United States and internationally to Canada and Australia, and offer bulk pricing on larger orders for a long table or an extended family. Every order is backed by our satisfaction guarantee.