Q: What’s the best way to make my crystal shine?A: Always hand wash your crystal. The dishwasher gets too hot. Pad your sink with towels and fill it with warm water and just a little dish detergent. You can rinse the glasses with a combination of water and ammonia or vinegar, and then rinse again with water. For really cloudy crystal, try these things. Rub the outside with a lemon; that’ll remove spots. And for the inside, fill it with water and add a denture tablet. When you’re done, hand dry the crystal. Drip drying will leave spots. And if you’re storing it, make sure glasses are right-side up. They’re too fragile to be upside down.
Q: The estimate we got for flowers for our wedding was double what we want to spend. I’m hoping you can suggest things I can do myself.
A: There are a lot of things you can do yourself. You can keep the design simple with only one choice of flower but keep the lines clean and in sync.
Q: I have several beautiful ivory tablecloths I inherited from my mother, but I’m hoping to give them a fresher
look. What should I put with them?
A: Add a table runner and put some candles on the table. Then put out some ornate bowls filled with candy or nuts. And flowers really draw attention to the table and, of course, to those tablecloths.
Q: I got a bottle of champagne as a gift two years ago and never opened it. Do you think its still okay to drink?
A: Well, you’ll never know until you open it! More than likely, it's still good. Champagne, just like other wines, usually ages just fine for a few years. So go ahead and open it. However, I would ensure that you have a back-up bottle of something just in case it has lost its flavor. Also, make sure you have a couple of great champagne glasses on hand. Champagne always tastes better from beautiful glasses.
