
This Thanksgiving, take some advice from designer
Marc Blackwell to set a gorgeous and personalized holiday table. Blackwell, who designed a table for Beringer Winery at San Francisco's annual benefit for
Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS, also designs
very cool tableware, which you should check out after you read his tips.
Here are Marc's
five tips:
- Make a centerpiece from what's in your garden and refrigerator.

Sometimes, when you're hosting a large party, there's little choice but to go with paper. Luckily,
Amy Butler has been working with the Gift Wrap Company to come up with an ecological alternative to gift-giving and paper partyware. She has just released a new line called "
Giftwrap Green," including gift wrap, bags, and gift-card boxes made from 100 percent postconsumer recycled materials, printed with her beautiful designs.

Give your guests something to talk about when you dress your table with this gorgeous
Silk Ikat Weaving ($89, originally $179).Hand-woven in Thailand, this table runner will complement many different table settings, from casual affairs to fine dining. I'm certainly still in love with
ikat. How about you?
AT: SF has gather up an impressive collection of Flickr photos highlighting great Thanksgiving table settings from years past. I found many of the pictures really inspiring, so
hop over to the post for all of the details.
How are you dressing your table to impress this Thanksgiving?
Allegra Hicks has her hands in all sorts of exotic pots, including fashion, homewares, textile design, and interior design services. Born in Italy and based in London, Hicks draws heavily on Asian motifs with a lot of beachy colors and accents thrown in. The results are a little bit Bohemian but utterly sophisticated.