Hot Table Preparation How-Tos

How To: Box a tablecloth for catered events

Boxing a table doesn't mean getting into the ring, but it does require a certain degree of skill to successfully complete. Boxing the tablecloth is a great technique for any occasion or party, and every caterer should know these moves.

How To: Make ribbon napkin rings

Here's a quick and easy way to make some napkin rings using ribbon. Follow our favorite gal from Pink of Perfection as she shows us how to create some great last minute napkin rings.

How To: Create a beautiful holiday centerpiece with candles and ornaments

The holidays are upon us, guys and gals, which means it's time to start thinking about how you'll set your table to look inviting and beautiful for the festive season. While you can always go out and purchase a wilting pre-made floral centerpiece at your nearest supermarket, you yourself can often make a much better looking centerpiece at home.

How To: Set the dinner table properly with glass & silverware

A great dinner party is great because of presentation, and you know that everything has its place on the table, but where exactly does everything go? Learn about the placement of everything, from silverware to glassware.

How To: Set the buffet table at your dinner party

Clinton Kelly, the lifestyle expert, shows the right way to ‘Set your Buffet Table’ for a buffet party, in this video. He suggests that all the serving dishes and utensils are laid on the buffet table, the night before the party. This will throw some light and give ideas as to how to place the dishes on the table. You could place the plates on one side of the table, the food at the center and the napkins to the other side. You should also decide the heights of the various serving platters, co...

How To: Make a tall balloon centerpiece for weddings & events

Judy demonstrates how to make a very tall, simple, yet elegant centerpiece for weddings and other events. You first need a tube and a base that it will fit into. Placing the tube in the base, use a hot glue gun to secure the tube into the base. You can then fill up the balloons with air, using an air pump and tie pairs of balloons together. Twisting together four balloons, place the cluster of balloons around the base of the tube. Repeat with an additional 8 balloons and place this cluster at...

How To: Fold a chopstick rest "Bay Bridge" style

Don't know how to get rid of the wrapper that comes with disposable chopsticks? Don't throw it away. Watch this how to video and learn how to fold it into a perfect chopstick rest, "Bay Bridge" style. It is a great technique for turning a chopstick wrapper into a chopstick rest.

How To: Fold a lotus napkin

This easy video will show you how to shape a napkin into a lotus fold. The key is a stiffly starched napkin.

How To: Fold an origami napkin swan for a lavish dinner presentation

Nothing decorates a dinner table better than a napkin swan. It's cute and it makes dinnertime feel like a celebratory event. So, if you want to learn how to make a napkin swan, just follow the folding instructions in the video. Follow along and see what your napkin swan looks like!

How To: Make a napkin swan (or napkin peacock)

Need a lavish way to present you napkins at your next big dinner feast? May we suggest napkin swans? Folding a mere dinner napkin into a beautiful swan )or peacock) can take you just minutes, and completes and dinner table. The idea behind the fold is to shape it so that one end looks like a long, languorous tail-feathers of a peacock, but it could look like a swan, too.

How To: Create a retro mod tablescape for the holiday season

Whether you're going for a Mad Men theme this holiday season, or just like the retro mod look, this tutorial is for you. Create a tablescape that looks like it came straight out of the Sixties using these tips and hints.

How To: Fold a napkin into a beautiful fan for parties

Napkins can either be dull sheets of fabric or paper that you wipe your extraneous pot roast red sauce on or fantastical works of art that put the finishing touch on your table decor.

How To: Decorate on a budget for a farmhouse brunch

The wonderful thing about a "farmhouse brunch" theme is that most of the materials you'll need to decorate are natural and quite affordable. From sprigs of flowers to brown string to burlap, you probably already have most of the things you need lying around the house.

How To: Make a seaside inspired floral centerpiece with flowers

It doesn't have to be the middle of summer for you to craft a seaside-inspired centerpiece. Whether you live on the coast or closer to the Grand Canyon and lots of cactii than anything else, you can bring a piece of the sea home by making this craft.

How To: Transform a plain white table into a fab table for entertaining

An all-white tabletop is timelessly elegant, but sometimes the safe choice becomes the dull one. If you want to entertain with style, why not consider adding some fun color to your table decor?

How To: Make upcycled table settings and set the table for entertaining

Love entertaining but don't want to shell out a fortune to throw a good party? Then you're in luck. Check out this video to learn how to make a variety of cheap and chic table settings, from colorful wine glasses to monogrammed napkins, quickly and easily.

How To: Make upcycled monogrammed napkins with Evette Rios

The holiday season is now in full swing, which means you should be prepared for serving large crowds and dressing your house to the nines for the occasion. While you may think this would cost you a lot of money, it actually doesn't take much to throw a fun party.

How To: Make a DIY hot air balloon table centerpiece

Party centerpieces are something of a lost art, but this video will show you how to make a really original one quickly and easily. It looks like a hot air balloon, and requires only a basket, a balloon, some ribbon, and flowers.

How To: Fold cloth napkins into silverware holders

In this tutorial, we learn how to fold cloth napkins into silverware holders. First, grab a dinner napkin and take the end to fold it in half. Now, fold it in half again so you have a small square. Now, fold the corner down half way and fold it down again. Then, flip it over and repeat this. Then, fold the top over and flip it over again. After this, place your silverware inside of the napkin and you will be ready to set your table! This takes just a few minutes and makes the look of any dinn...

How To: Set a table for a dinner party

In this tutorial, we learn how to set a table for a dinner party. On the left side of the plate should be your forks. First will be the tiny fork, then salad fork, then dinner fork. On the right side will be spoons. The soup spoon, dinner spoon, and knife. At the top should be a coffee spoon and a dessert fork. There should be three glasses, a water glass, a wine glass, and a red wine glass. For the plate, you will have a round dinner plate, salad plate, then votive candle on top. Underneath ...

How To: Pour wine and champagne to their proper levels

The art drink pouring is something every bartender has mastered. But bartenders aren't the only ones required to have that perfect pouring touch. Caterers, waiters and waitresses need to know the precision of the pour when it comes time for refills. Check this video out to learn the proper levels for pouring champagne, red wine and white wine into their respective glassware.

How To: Fold napkin roll-ups with silverware inside

Folding napkins takes precision, but a simple napkin rollup is the easiest of them all. You don't need to be a professional caterer or waiter to get this method down. Watch and learn how to make a nice, snug, rolled napkin with silverware inside. It's the most common way to present silverware at restaurants.

How To: French serve a catered dinner as a waiter or waitress

Are you a caterer? Maybe you're a new caterer recently employed as a waiter to help serve a huge dinner party… a dinner party requiring French service. Sounds simple, right? You go around and serve people food. But there's more to it than that. There's a whole technique to French serving, and this video will show how to French serve the right way, from proper foot placement, to bending your back correctly, to serving the food off the plate.

How To: Identify different types of dinner glassware

Don't know much about the dinner table? You know the basics: you eat from a plate, you use silverware to shovel it in and you drink from glassware. But what about if you're at a fancy dinner? Would you be able to distinguish a juice cup from a champagne glass? A white wine glass from a martini glass? If not, these two videos will show you which ones are which.

How To: Chill drinks quickly at a party using ice and salt

In the midst of all your party planning it's easy to forget the little things, such as purchasing napkins for your guests or even remembering to cool your sodas and tonic waters before the event starts.

How To: Fold napkins beautifully for Thanksgiving

If you've found yourself visiting a few too many fast food restaurants, you've probably forgotten the beauty that napkins can amount to when given the proper fold and tuck.

How To: Fold a cloth napkin into a flower

In this Hosting & Entertaining video tutorial you will learn how to fold a cloth napkin into a flower. First fold the napkin in half. Then lift one corner and fold it back up to the center fold line and do the same for the other corner also. Now fold the center point back up to the center fold line. Flip the napkin over and repeat these steps. Then open up the center fold and fold the protruding triangles back up to the center point of the napkin. You now have a square folded napkin. . Now fo...

How To: Fold a cloth napkin into the shape of a woman's bra

In this clip, the Napkin Lady shows you how to take an ordinary cloth dinner napkin and fold it into the shape of a brassiere. This clip is quick and easy and you will have everyone at the table laughing in just a few simple steps. This bra napkin design is also great for bachelorette parties, showers and anywhere else where you need a little lighthearted napkin folding!

How To: Make buffets easy and quick

Hosting parties can be a bit of a drag, especially if you have no idea how to throw one. So in this tutorial, you'll find out how to throw one, by forming an easy and quick buffet that everyone will love. The video gives you some helpful tips for making buffets much easier and quick to prepare. So sit back and good luck!

How To: Fold a pleated fan napkin

If you’re in need of a fancy napkin setting then try this pleated standing fan design. It only takes seconds to make. Start by folding on inch folds back and forth. Then fold the pleating in half, flip the mess over and let it spread out naturally. You’ll need cloth napkins and it often helps to have starched napkins when doing decorative folds. This will really dress up that dinner table.

How To: Fold a dinner napkin like a candle

Paper napkins add an element of class to any restaurant or dinner party. In this video, learn how to fold your party napkins into a cool candle shape in less than 60 seconds. Your napkins will be so nice that no one will want to unfold them! So, follow this tutorial and set your next dinner table like a fine dining restaurant and class up the joint!

How To: Remember what sides of the plate cutlery goes on

Rebecca Robeson shows you how to remember which side of the plate to put the fork, knife and spoon. To set a table the correct way, follow these steps: The word 'fork' has four letters, as does the word 'left'. So, the fork goes on the left. The word 'knife' has five letters, as does the word 'right'. So, the knife goes on the right. The word 'spoon' also has fiver letters, so it goes alongside the knife. Remember that the safe side of the knife, the dull side, faces out to anyone sitting nex...

How To: Make a floral Birthday "cake" table centerpiece

This video describes how to make a "no calorie" birthday cake centerpiece with carnations in soft and sweet hues of pink, yellow, white and cantaloupe. first a flower foam was taken. Then the toothpicks were used to join the flower foam together. Then trace out a circle from the foam using a kitchen knife. Add some water to the base of the cake. With equal size flowers decorate the base of the cake. Then the cake is beautifully covered with different types of flowers. decorate with as many fl...

How To: Make Santa suit candle votives for Christmas decor

Debra Hardy provides detailed instructions on how to make darling decorative Santa soy votive candles in this video. She first cuts the red felt into 6 3/4 inch by 2 inch strips for the Santa suit, wraps it around and adheres it to the bottom of the glass votive. Next, she secures a smaller strip of the white faux fur on top of the red felt also towards the bottom of the candle to create the bottom of Santa's jacket. Debra then instructs the viewer to cut a 6 3/4 inch by 1/4 inch black felt s...

How To: Arrange casual and formal place settings

Lifestyle expert Clinton Kelly shares tips for setting the table for a dinner party, either casual or more formal. For a casual dinner party he recommends using only a water glass and a non-specific wine glass. The plate goes in the center with a napkin in a ring placed on top of the plate. Two knives are placed to the right of the plate and two forks to the left.

How To: Arrange centerpieces with candles and fresh ingre

Lifestyle expert Clinton Kelly takes the hassle out of centerpiece designing.

How To: Set a table properly

In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to set a table. Begin by putting the plate in the middle. Put a smaller plate for the bread to the upper left side of the plate. Then you can choose to put the napkin beside the forks or on the plate. Forks will be set on the left side. The knife and spoon go on the right side. Put the butter knife on the bread plate at an angle. The desert utensil goes above the plate. The cup goes above the knife. This video will benefit those viewers who are prepar...

How To: Carve shrunken-head apples

Head shrinking is not only a thing of legends. Make your own cute, shrunken apple heads to add to the spirit of the season. Gather the family and get creative, carving whatever kind of face you would like on a legion of little apple heads.

How To: Set a place setting for a casual dinner

Lifestyle expert Hal Owen teaches us the correct way to set a table place setting. 1. Place the "charger" plate in the middle of the place setting. This is the plate on which you will place all of the other plates. 2. Place your "dinner plate" in the middle of the "charger". 3. Place your "soup plate" in the middle of the "dinner plate". 4. Place your fork on the left of the plate and your dinner knife and spoon on the right, with the soup spoon on the outside. 5. Place your dessert fork and ...

How To: Place a table setting

Follow these simple steps and learn the fundamentals of setting a perfect table for your next dinner party. This video is an easy guide to setting a formal table. Your forks always go on the left side, the salad fork on the outside, the dinner fork closest to the plate. Remember to always work from the outside to the inside. Your knife goes on the right hand side, with the blade pointing inward towards the plate. if you are serving soup, your spoon goes directly next to your knife. Your desse...