Holiday Season Table Setting

Planning on entertaining this holiday? Hosting family and friends for Thanksgiving? Setting a beautiful table is one of our favorite parts of this festive time of year.

Game Day Lookbook

College football season is right around the corner, check out our Game Day Lookbook on Polyvore!

Summer Weddings Lookbook on Polyvore!

Check out our Summer Weddings Lookbook on Polyvore!

Independence Day Lookbook on Polyvore!

Check out our Independence Day Lookbook on Polyvore!

Parisian Chic Lookbook on Polyvore!

Check out our Parisian Chic Lookbook on Polyvore!

Nautical Love Lookbook on Polyvore!

Check out our Nautical Love Lookbook on Polyvore!

New York Finds & Fun with Martha Stewart Weddings Darcy Miller

The MM ladies hit the road last week for a visit to the Stationery Show in New York.  We love the stationery show and usually find some fabulous new items that quickly become customer favorites. This year was no exception so stay tuned as we add loads of interesting and new gifts we found on this trip.

We were ordering this gorgeous new stationery ....

which will be online in the next week or so when along came Martha Stewart Weddings Editor Darcy Miller who took a picture of all of us in the booth...

Darcy told us she thinks this letter press stationery set makes a wonderful wedding gift!  We couldn't agree more.  Thanks to Darcy for the photo and the tweet! 

It's Earth Day!

What does the Monogram Merchant have to say about Earth Day? Plenty, but since it is Sunday we will keep this short and sweet. 

We believe in reducing waste by reusing and recyling. Last year, we recyled or reused all of our shipping boxes and packing materials. Hundreds of yards of bubble wrap and cardboard boxes were repurposed in the following ways...

We reused boxes we received to ship out customer orders, gave them to local families for moving (with the promise they'd reuse or recyle them) or delivered them to cardboard recyling when they weren't in good condition.  When we need to buy boxes, we use Duck Brand which is made in the U.S.A. of 100% post-consumer recyled materials.  We communicate 100% by email and telephone with our customers, sending order confirmations and receipts by email only.

We also carry some great eco-friendly gifts. In honor of Earth Day 2012, we thought we'd share some of the products we have to make it easy to help our planet. 

• Travel cups!  We have almost 2 dozen mugs, cups and bottles to make it simple to take your favorite drink -- hot or cold- with you.
• Shopping bags and coolers! Cute bags for the grocery store, farmer's market, trips to the park or lunch at the office.
•  Melamine plates! Who needs paper plates when you have these easy to clean/hard to break cuties?

We hope everyone will take a minute today to consider how they can do their part and/or improve their efforts to help save our planet.  After all, what color is the best match for our beloved pink?  GREEN!

Spring Break Ready

Spring Break here we come! Check out our cute new accessories to get you ready for fun in the sun!

Our new monogrammed raffia hats in 7 fabulous, must-have colors!

Our monogrammed lounge chair covers and the bogg bag - the best beach bag ever!

Our silky chiffon Summer Splash wrap -- perfect cover-up for the beach or an evening out!

Love this idea from March 2012 Southern Living

Red Carpet Ready

 

 Our monogrammed Swarovski crystal clutches add letter perfect style to any special occasion -- even the Oscars! We know any actress who carried one of these fabulous bags would be a winner. What a wonderful gift for a big occasion like a wedding, launch party or a special birthday.  $875

Margarita Madness

Cheers - it's National Margarita Day!  We love creative holidays and get especially enthusiastic over ones that require blenders and big decisions like frozen or on-the- rocks!    We were curious about the history of the margarita and the signature glass and found a story we had to share that involves a personalized gift!

According to TheNibble.com, a 1940s Dallas socialite named Margaret 'Margarita' Sames mixed up a batch of a new cocktail during a Christmas holiday in Acapulco. "After all, a person can only drink so many beers or so many Bloody Marys, or screwdrivers or whatever," Margaret Sames told the San Antonio News Express in 1994. "I wanted to make up a new drink."

Over the years, Margarita and her husband, Bill, served the drink to their guests, referring to it as “The Drink” or “Margarita's Drink.” After Bill gave Margarita champagne glasses etched with her name, the drink became officially known as the Margarita.  Margarita Sames' recipe was spread by friends and guests, including hotelier Nick Hilton, Hotel Bel-Air owner Joseph Drown, movie stars Lana Turner and John Wayne.

Our Monogrammed Margarita set makes a wonderful gift!

We are sharing the Monogram Merchant's very own Cynthia Brumback's Citrus Margarita recipe with you here that she created for 'A Sunsational Encore' --  a Junior League of Greater Orlando cookbook.

Cynthia's Citrus Margarita:

4.5 ounces tequila

2 ounces Triple Sec

2 ounces Grand Marnier

4 ounces orange juice concentrate

2 ounces limeade concentrate

Juice of 1 lime

Ice

Lime juice and salt for rimming margarita glasses

1) Fill a blender with ice cubes

2) Add the tequila, liquers, orange juice concentrate, limeade concenrate and lime juice

3) Process until blended to preferred consistency

4) Pour into chilled glasses (rimmed with salt if desired)

5) Garnish with a slice of lime

YIELD: 4 servings

 

CHEERS!

 



Style your door for spring!

New at the Monogram Merchant -- Monogram Door knockers.  Available in brass or nickel plated silver finish in 16 of the most popular letters.  What a great gift for weddings or housewarmings! An easy way to add personal style to your front door or a child's bedroom door. $39.95