THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 19, 1995 TAG: 9511170048
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: AROUND THE HOUSE
SOURCE: BY MARY FLACHSENHAAR, SPECIAL TO HOME & GARDEN
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
EVEN THOUGH YOU don't own good china and crystal and can't afford to serve champagne and chateaubriand, you can still dazzle guests, at holiday time and year round.
The winning tips in the national Everyday Elegance Contest sponsored by Vanity Fair napkins tell how to add a touch of class without spending much cash when you entertain at home. The company has produced a booklet, free to consumers, listing some of the winning tips, along with more advice on entertaining from the contest judges.
The grand prize of $25,000 went to a Michigan woman for her clever idea for brightening a buffet table. She wraps the tops of cardboard boxes with colorful paper and bows and uses the boxes to cover buffet dishes. Course by course, she lifts the box covers to reveal contents. (The idea can work year round but might be especially fun at the holidays, with a Christmas tree as background for food done up in holiday wrap.)
More winning ideas:
Hand-paint glassware in festive colors and designs to add charm to a table setting.
Fasten holiday or theme pins or clip earrings to plain napkin rings and you won't have to buy seasonal napkin holders.
Display a handwritten, decorated menu on a small easel or in a frame near the table centerpiece.
Place an old family photo in each napkin at the table.
Ask each guest to write a fortune for another guest. Read the fortunes aloud, guessing the recipient.
Instead of writing names on place cards, write a quality or accomplishment that describes each person.
Serve different courses in different rooms, varying music, flowers and serving pieces.
For a copy of the booklet ``Make the Everyday More Elegant,'' send a self-addressed stamped business envelope to Vanity Fair Everyday Elegance Booklet, 625 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 2400, Chicago, Ill. 60611. EASY IDEAS FOR DECORATING
Who among us is not frantically flipping through magazines in search of more easy, inexpensive ideas for holiday decorating? Here are some we like:
The December issue of Good Housekeeping suggests that before you toss empty tin cans into the recycling box they can be used as candle holders. Here's how: Clean and remove labels from cans of varying heights and widths, such as used for soup, stew, dog food and tomato paste. Inside the cans place candles of different sizes or small bunches of seasonal greens. Cluster the cans on a pretty tray and add a garland of gold stars. (Make sure lighted candles are a safe distance from greens.)
Two ways to add a holiday touch to windows come from the same magazine. Adorn tiebacks on curtains with evergreens and a cluster of artificial grapes, or with holly and a strip of jingle bells. With pretty ribbon, hang gingerbread snowflake cookies piped with white icing in window panes.
Two suggestions for quick and easy handmade napkin rings from the December issue of Handcraft Illustrated can work for either Thanksgiving or Christmas, depending on the colors used:
Make a silk ribbon bow for a napkin. Cut a 40-inch length of two-inch-wide, wire-edged silk ribbon. Tie it around the middle of the napkin, cutting notches in the streamer ends with scissors.
Or garnish a napkin with velvet leaves and berries. Twist together the stems of four sprigs of velvet leaves and one cluster of artificial berries, arranging the leaves in two sprays, one on each side of the berries. Wrap the stems with floral tape, then curl the single wrapped stem around the napkin.
We've seen this bit of advice mentioned often: If the traditional red-and-green combo clashes with your interior color scheme, don't force it. Try different shades of the traditional colors, such as hunter green and cranberry or parrot and raspberry. If that doesn't work, switch to white and gold. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
BETH BERGMAN/The Virginian-Pilot
A hand-painted goblet and costume jewelry attached to napkin rings
dress up a holiday setting.
by CNB