How to make your own Medieval seating chart

Tribesmaid Sunspirit made her own Medieval seating chart. It's absolutely gorgeous, and full of details like knights, shields, mythical animals, and ye olde maps. Here's how you can make your own.

What you'll need:

• 1 A3 piece of cardboard in a rustic color like beige
• 1 pencil – trace everything up with the pencil before you use the ink pen
• 1 ruler
• 1 black ink pen
• Old maps for inspiration
• Crayons
• A series of animals that will be the “table numbers”

Step 1: Inspiration

Find inspiration maps on google or in your local historic archives. I did both. For example I found these to inspire me to draw the frame, how the land and water should be colored and how landmarks like forests and mountains should look.

Step 2: The frame

Mark ½cm from the edge of the cardboard all around it and then draw a line between them to form the first edge of the frame.

In the top two corners you draw two shields one with a girl above it and one with a knight. The shields can be colored to represent you and your fiance/e.

Then you mark a new line with dots 1½cm from the edge of the cardboard and connect the dots so you get a “trim” for a frame. Remember to leave room for a box in the top where you can write your names or table chart or whatever. Within that trim you make a pattern of you choosing.

Step 3: The tables

Depending on how many tables you have you now draw a number of boxes equal to the number of tables at the reception and big enough to fit the number of names seated at the table. The boxes can be shaped so they look like rolls of pergament. The animals chosen to represent the tables should be drawn above the boxes. We have six tables.

Step 4: Land and sea

I chose not to outline a specific shore but just let the pencil dance over the paper. But you can choose to sketch the country you live in. The more detailed the fjords, bays and rivers the greater it looks. On the land side you mark the outline with a brown crayon and the shore side with blue.

Step 5: Details

Now you can draw all the details you want, lakes, forest, mountains maybe a castle or fortress. And in the sea you can draw a mermaid, a ship, and a sea monster.

Step 6: Write names and add final color.