The Tablecloth and Centerpiece

Create an easy, elegant Year 2000 tablecloth:

Purchase a white linen tablecloth. Wash, dry and iron the cloth according to manufacturer's instructions.

Use silver and gold 3-dimensional fabric paints to dress up the tablecloth. Use the paints to write: "Happy New Year", "Year 2000", "Happy Y2K", etc. all over the cloth. Add simple stars, too because the stars will be used in some of the other decorations you're going to create. You can also draw on some simple clock faces: just a round face with the numbers 3, 6, 9 and 12 in the appropriate places and two hands both pointing to 12 o'clock.

If you're uncomfortable drawing free-hand, purchase letter and number stencils from your local craft store and use these to create your tablecloth.

To get the table ready for the party, cover it with the cloth and then sprinkle liberally with silver and/or gold cut-out starts. You can purchase these from your craft store or, purchase a star-shaped paper punch and some gold/silver foil wrap and cut your own stars.

Assemble a beautiful centerpiece:

You'll need

• one 12" flat glass plate
• two 9" tall pillar candles, one gold and one white
• two 6" tall pillar candles, one silver and one white
• three 3" tall pillar candles, one gold and one silver and one white
• approx. 2' long wire-edged gold ribbon
• approx. 2' long wire-edged silver ribbon

Cut the ribbon into 6" lengths. Create a spiral with each ribbon and place loosely on the plate surrounding the candles. (Instead of using ribbon curls, you can purchase gold and silver picks and tuck them in around the candles. If you can't find gold/silver picks, buy others and spray paint them gold/silver.)

If you have difficulty finding gold and silver pillar candles, you can use white pillars and use gold or silver 3-dimensional fabric paint to paint stars, clock faces and Y2K's all over the candles.

The Napkins

Purchase cloth napkins to match your table cloth. Using 3-dimensional fabric paint, draw on the napkins using the same patterns you used for the table cloth. If you're careful, you can draw on paper napkins, too. Roll the napkins and tie with gold cord.

The Serving Pieces

Use inexpensive glass plates and bowls as serving pieces. Turn each piece upside down and paint the bottom using silver or gold acrylic paint. You can paint the entire underside in one solid color, or you can paint patterns to match the party theme: stars, Y2K's, clocks, "Happy New Year", etc.

To create an elegant serving tray, use Mod Podge or other decoupage medium to cover the inside of a serving tray with gold foil candy wrappers. To begin, collect enough candy wrappers to cover the tray (you'll need to overlap them somewhat). Smooth out each wrapper (foil wrappers won't come completely smooth). Cover the surface of the tray with decoupage medium. Paint the back of each wrapper, one at a time, with decoupage medium and stick it onto the tray. Keep working until the tray is covered. Use a spoon to smooth out the wrappers on the tray and get out any air bubble. Finish the project by spaying the tray with a coat of polyurethane. Let dry.

The Flatware

Well, most flatware is silver in color to begin with, but you can dress it up for the party by tying 1/4" thick gold satin ribbon or gold cord around the handles. You could also roll one fork, one knife and one spoon up inside of one napkin and tie them all together using gold cord.

If you roll the flatware in napkins, you can display the rolls in a large basket that you've spray-painted silver.

The Glassware

Make your own Y2K glassware:

You'll need plain glassware, glass etching cream, star-shaped stickers, number-shaped stickers, letter-shaped stickers, paint brush, and rubber gloves.

Arrange star-shaped stickers all around the outside of the glass and the bottom of the stem, but not on the stem itself. Place the stars very close together - you do not want to use etching cream on large portions of glass. Instead of stars, or along with the stars, you may want to use number and letter stickers to create Y2K's on the glass. Use a spoon, knife or craft stick to rub each sticker so that it adheres to the glass firmly.

Once you're satisfied with your design, put on your rubber gloves and apply etching cream according to manufacturer's instructions. Rinse away etching cream as per instructions. Remove the stickers. Wash glasses with soap and water before serving beverages.

Tie gold or silver ribbon around the stem of each glass. Curl the ribbon with scissors. You can also use wired ribbon with stars on it.

You can also use the etching technique to make elegant glass mugs or serving pieces.

The Plates

You have two options for plates: ceramic/china plates or paper plates.

Create ceramic/china plates to match the gold and silver theme: purchase inexpensive white plates and use ceramic paints to add gold stars, Y2K's and clock faces to the outer rim.

For paper plates you can create the same look. Use acrylic paints or stamp the designs using star-shaped stamps and gold and silver stamp pads. Be sure to let the paint or ink dry before you stack the plates.