ShareThisBy DENA FISHBEIN
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Surely you've heard every entertaining diva's mantra: "Presentation is everything, dah-ling."
Well, it's true.
Whether you slave in the kitchen over roasted game hen with Bing cherry glaze or toss pasta with jar sauce into a big bowl, the state of the table you serve it on will play a large part in how the meal is perceived. With attention to detail, you can transform even an everyday dinner into an event _ and it doesn't even have to take much time or effort.
To create a feast for the eyes, enhance your ordinary place settings with custom-embellished napkin rings. Or make them to coordinate with the decor for a special event. You can start with either plastic or wooden rings as a base; just be sure that they have a smooth surface and you use an adhesive appropriate for their material.
Gather:
Smooth napkin rings
Ribbons and trims
Fabric adhesive
Miniature frames, buttons or other small embellishments
Hot glue and hot-glue gun
Paper and pen
Create:
1. Using fabric adhesive, adhere a layer of ribbon or trim to a napkin ring. Tuck the edges of the material into the inside of the ring. Repeat for the other rings. Allow them to dry.
2. Add another layer of fabric or trim to each ring and allow the glue to dry. Add more layers as desired.
3. Hot glue a miniature frame, button or other embellishment to the center of each ring. If using a frame, write or print a funny saying or favorite quote and slip it into each frame.
For a more formal occasion, your napkin rings can double as place cards when you add photos or the names of your guests to the embellishments (frames work particularly well for this). Or, if the meal is in honor of someone special, a photo of the guest of honor would be a nice touch.
(Dena Fishbein hosts the television show "Embellish This!" aired monthly on the DIY Network. To ask her how to embellish anything, email her at dena(at)denadesigns.com or check her out at www.diynetwork.com.)
