Sometimes, the simplest, most inexpensive materials are my favorites. Like butcher paper. It’s everywhere, cheap, and enormously versatile. There’s something really earthy and unassuming about it. Here are some examples of how to use it…

For our rehearsal dinner at The Piggy Bank in Beacon, New York, my husband designed these place mats. He divided the heart like a meat cut chart with each section labeled with something about us. We couldn’t find pre-cut kraft place mats, so we bought sheets and cut them individually with a rotary cutter outfitted with a scallop blade. These were silk screened by local Brooklyn artist, Philip Sachs.