For guest cards at a large dinner have in the center of the table a gridiron of flowers and from it run orange and black ribbons to each plate. Have the guests' names in gilt letters on these ribbons, and each ribbon ends in a favor, which indicates the special fad of the guest. The oarsman finds a scull, the yachtsman a tiny yacht, the football captain a football, the hunter a tiny bear, the bowler ten pins, the poker player a miniature poker table, the glee club leader a tiny mandolin, and the man who wins hearts, a heart-shaped box with the miniature of a Gibson girl on its surface.
The girl who cuts paper dolls may make quaint and unique menu cards by cutting out little pickaninnies from shiny black kindergarten paper, then, little dresses, say of red, since this is the most striking combination, and pasting them on the plain cards.
The way to make them is to place a bit of black and a bit of red paper together, fold them shiny side out, and the red outside the black, cut out the dolls, one black, one red, then snip off heads, hands and legs of the red. This leaves the little dresses all ready to go on.
Before pasting on the dress make eyes and mouth in the little black head, by folding it perpendicularly and cutting out the mouth, then horizontally for the eyes. When the figure is once nicely pasted on the card, it is perfectly smooth, no sign of the various foldings appearing.
A dinner for a mixed company of talented men and women is made attractive by clever little quotations on the place cards. A general quotation in quaint lettering at the top of the card may apply to the feast; one following the name of the guest whose place it marks, may apply to the profession or personality of the guest.
"Who can display such varied art,
To suit the taste of saint and sinner,
Who go so near to touch their heart,
As you, my darling dainty dinner?"
"Who would not give all else for two pennyworth only of beautiful soup?"