Good Things by David

Place cards bring a certain elegance to any table no matter how simple or elaborate the design.  It's nice to have a place at the table for each of your guests, and the idea of putting a card which designates where one ought to sit makes the table even more special.  This year I decided to make simple place cards for my small table in autumnal shades of browns and golds, because I wanted to complement the colors of my china and linens for our dinner. Place cards can be bought at stationery stores with embellishments already on them and they can be of the variety that fold for easy placing.  These tend to cost a bit of money, but they're nice and they're very convenient if you don't want to create a fuss.  For my table, though, I bought colored business cards and used stamps to make an easy monogram for each person.  I like the results and I think you will too.   There is still plenty of time to create these before Thanksgiving and I encourage yo...

I can't believe the month of July is already over.  Time sure seems to fly right by when one is busy with the every day duties and chores of a running & maintaining a household.  As I sit here writing my column for the month it is raining steadily in Montgomery County and the temperature is a cool 78 ° F.  I was joking with a friend that it feels as if I need to build an ark because we've had quite a lot of rain this summer.  Just the other day, Center City Philadelphia received between 7-8 inches of rain in one afternoon!  With drought conditions in certain parts of the country, I only wish some of this rain would fall in those areas. The stories and subjects I covered these past few weeks are so wonderful to go back to, because they are not only visually appealing, they're also informative and inspiring for me.  I love getting inspired from many sources and since I love sharing whatever I feel is important and beautiful, it's only a pleasure to p...

What kid doesn’t love a good pinwheel at a parade or summertime barbecue?  Pinwheels call to mind our early childhood when we used to wave them in the air or blow on them to make the colorful wheel spin like windmills or turbines.  Whether or not they were used for a particular festive holiday, pinwheels were a toy many of us enjoyed.  For me, I think it was the variety of colors that always caught my attention.     These days one can find pinwheels at just about any store that carries toys, and all craft stores sell them as DIY kits.  They’re fun and inexpensive, but they’re also very simple to make at home with only a few tools & materials.  Customizing color combinations and embellishing the sticks is all part of the pleasure of creating your own.  You can use a child’s special piece of artwork (have them create something playful & unique) or you can buy colorful paper from a craft store or stationery store.   I tho...

Stenciling porcelain cups is such an easy way to make something unique for gift giving.  You can stencil one cup or mug for someone special during a holiday or birthday, but you can also stencil a whole set of them for yourself if you want.  For this particular project it’s best to buy inexpensive white porcelain cups and not use antiques or heirloom china.  Figure out what you want to put on them and how you want them to look, then visit a craft store near you and get your materials if you don’t have them already. I’ll show you how easy it is to make these nice cups to sip your coffee or tea at home (you can also take one to work for your desk).  The fun part is picking out the color(s) you want to use for the cups you happen to buy.  If you choose one color then it’s as simple as can be.  If you want to use a particular color palette, let your imagination run wild and custom color a wonderful cup.  Personally, I think there is no wrong or r...