Keep bugs, leaves, and other unwelcome guests from joining you for drinks by topping glasses with these jaunty little hats (otherwise known as baking cups). Cut a small X into the center of each liner, poke a straw through the hole, and enjoy your beverage worry- (and pest-) free.
Paper cups, fancyflours.com.
A minimalist motif gives these canapes maximum charm: Thinly sliced scallions and snipped chives make stems for salmon-caviar blooms. Spread plain or smoked-salmon cream cheese onto soft white sandwich bread. Trim to desired shape, and arrange the chives and roe into single stems or a field of flowers.
Fishing for Caviar
Salmon caviar, or roe, is a luminous bright orange and tastes of the sea. A relatively inexpensive type of caviar, it can be found at specialty-food stores or ordered from russanddaughters.com.
With nothing more than a needle, some thread, a few ribbons, and four buttons, you can revamp an old apron into a convertible one that frees up your hands to cut flowers. The pocket can also be used as a place to stash a pair of gardening gloves.
All it takes to propagate African violets is a large healthy leaf, cut in half. To turn the leaf into a pretty gift, snip it into the shape of a heart. Using clean, sharp scissors, remove a leaf with 1 inch of stem from a plant, and shape the leaf. Fill a small pot with fresh potting soil, and poke a hole in the soil with a pencil. Insert 3/4 inch of stem, pack soil firmly around it, and water well. (While rooting, the leaf should be covered with a glass jar or a plastic bag and removed from bright light to keep it moist.) A new plantlet should emerge in 6 to 8 weeks.
It's a cheese board; it's a centerpiece; it's a place to corral cocktail garnishes. It's a basic white platter (this one's from cb2.com), the most versatile item in your cupboard.
Float flowers like these peonies in small bowls, and arrange them with votive candles for a quick, modern centerpiece. On a long table, you can place a few platters down the middle.
Rinse the pink ink from a heart-shaped rubber stamp, and use it (and a green ink pad) to add shamrocks to napkins, coasters, and more. To make a swizzle stick, stamp a clover pattern onto card stock, and draw a stem with a colored pencil; repeat. Cut out with a 1-inch circle craft punch. Glue circles together, back sides facing, onto a skewer.
