Stamping cocktail napkins is a really easy way to add a unique and personal accent to your reception - or any event!  We can't think of an easier DIY!  We've been asked a lot about the type of ink that would be best for this project.  Nobody wants their guests walking around with ink on their faces!

So, we found a moment to test our inks in a drinking competition! We set out to find the most condensation & spill resilient stamping ink in our inventory. We decided to stick to the same color (black), with different ink compositions: Archival Dye, VersaCraft Ink, Versafine Ink, Pigment Ink, and StazOn. After stamping each ink onto a cocktail napkin, we let it set overnight. 

In the morning, we set drinks on top of the napkins and waited for the ink to bleed. 

Five inks, one night of sleep, five gin and tonics & many many napkins later, we discovered something rather surprising! All five inks withstood the condensation, maintaining their stamp integrity. We were determined to find the weakest (L)ink, so we took some extra water and poured it on top of the stamped image. Still no ink bleeds! For our last resort, we rubbed it into the napkin and repeatedly placed our drinks onto the wet spot. No bleeding! Our before and after photos are below. 

Left: pre-drink ------ Right: post-drink

Color Box Archival Dye

VersaCraft Black Pigment Ink

VersaFine Onyx Black Ink

VersaColor Black Pigment Ink

StazOn Black Ink

We were curious to see how a freshly stamped napkin would react to the gin and tonic. So we performed the same test just moments after stamping a napkin. 

Our results:

Our conclusion: All of the above inks can withstand your party drinks & spills. 

Our one piece of advice: Let the stamped napkins settle the night before. 

We'd love to hear about your cocktail napkin stamping tricks! 

As always, we love to see photos of your handiwork!  Either send them to us or tag your lovely pics on instagram #papersushi.

- Paper Sushi -