Wedding gift thank you card

Wise to name gift on card

Dear Heloise: To add to the hint about writing on children's birthday cards "I hope you enjoy (whatever the gift is)": I have done the exact thing on wedding gifts for more than 20 years.

I sent a present to a bride and wrote on the card "Hope you enjoy the creamer, sugar and small serving bowl in your registered china pattern." Two weeks later, I received a phone call from the bride's mother, saying the bride opened the gift and found the creamer and sugar but no serving bowl.

I immediately phoned the china department of the store. A representative said, "Yes, the shipping department had the bowl sitting there for a while but didn't know where it was supposed to go." Thank goodness I had written out exactly what the gift was to be; otherwise, I would have paid for three items and the bride would have only received two. --Judy Herman, Chevy Chase, Md.

Judy, thanks so much for passing along your hint. I'm sure others will learn from your story. --Heloise

Here are some great uses for an inexpensive wire basket:

-- Place on a desk to hold glue sticks, correction fluid, etc.

-- Put on a bathroom counter for perfume, lipstick, etc.

-- Use in the pantry to hold sauce mixes.

-- Place on a dresser for loose change, etc.

Dear Heloise: I do a lot of printing at home with my personal printer. I always keep paper in the feeder, but there are times when I need special paper. I have cut to size a piece of colored construction paper that I place under the special paper when I load it. That way, I always know if there is special paper still there when I finish and don't accidentally print something else on it, wasting the expensive paper. I also use this method when I am printing on both sides of the paper. --Vivian Johnson Maxwell, Little Rock, Ark.