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How to make a DIY centrepiece

BHG editor Dora explains how to create mood lighting without candlesticks. - by Better Homes and Gardens
  • 18 Sep 2019

As well as a warm, hospitable host, delicious food and wine and good music, mood lighting is a key element when it comes to hosting the perfect dinner party.

If you don’t have candlesticks but want to set the mood for a memorable evening, Better Homes and Gardens’ Dora Papas, says wine glasses and tumblers are a great substitute.

In this week’s Better Home Hacks, Dora reveals how to use wine glasses to create a soft illumination.

“As long as you have tealights and a little bit of greenery, you’re all set,” she explains.

Papas advises to start with tumblers and line them up in the centre of the table.

“Pop in some tealights and add more glasses,” she says. “I’ve got Champagne glasses and wine glasses and that gives me different heights to work with.”

The decorating expert suggests softening the effect by adding a few sprigs of eucalyptus at the base of the glasses.

To set the table with style, Papas shares her hacks for folding napkins restaurant-style.

“Open out your table napkin and fold it over,” she advises. “Start folding in towards the opposite folded edge.

“Put your fingers roughly where the centre is and bring your left hand in over your fingers and add a bit of a diagonal.”

She says to repeat on the other side and tuck the end through the loop and pull to make a knot.

“It looks spectacular,” she says. “I hope you try these table setting ideas at your next dinner party.”

For more better hacks, check out the story below. 

How to fold towels hotel-style

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