When it comes to the family Christmas table, the menu may be nonnegotiable — but who says the ambiance has to be the same old boring stuff every year? Make this the year to try something new.

I always start my seasonal sleuthing at the C.S. Wo "Home for the Holidays" celebration, held in November. Doug Jago and Jeannine Espinda, the visual merchandising geniuses at Neiman Marcus Ala Moana, decorate the tables for the event, and their creativity is an inspiration. Oh, sure, they have fabulous china from the likes of Versace and Royal Crown Derby, and stemware from Baccarat, Waterford and Steuben, to "play with," but their ideas can translate to any budget.

"Take a fresh look at your dinnerware and think about what you could use that's different to break the mold this year," said Lucy Chelini, merchandise manager for Neiman Marcus.

Home fashions often take their cues from fashion runways, and holiday 2005 is about opulence, glamour and a smattering of gold. Espinda recommends buying a can of gold spray paint and layering it with a light touch over pine cones or dried branches. Simple guava or curly willow branches can sparkle with a little paint and glitter or beads, and they make an ideal centerpiece because they are horizontal, thus enabling guests to see one another across the table.

As a testament to the popularity of gold, Glenn Stewart of INTO, the fabulous new addition to the Chinatown scene, reports that they have sold out of nearly everything gold.

A Neiman Marcus signature is a special touch on chair backs. Espinda ties gold ribbons around the back of a chair and adds a little Christmas ornament, which becomes a take-home gift for the guests. She uses the same treatment in lieu of napkin rings. Gold or copper wire can be used to tie anything around a napkin, from beads to shells.

Jago and Espinda are known for turning supermarket produce into strong visual statements. They layer cranberries in a large vase with a smaller vase inside containing white flowers. A few decorative leaves, especially fragrant ones such as lemon or mock orange, add another sensory element.

Other layering possibilities: pine cones, nuts in their shells, candy canes, chocolate chips or kidney beans. Espinda said impishly, "I even used Fruit Loops once."

As a centerpiece, Espinda places a wreath on a table, puts a bowl in the middle and fills it with festive fruit such as pomegranates or persimmons.

Artist and interior designer Patti Bruce likes to fill a hurricane, or any glass bowl, with green apples, pour water over them and float candles. She also scouts her clients' homes for unusual bowls or calabashes in which she can stack fruit in a pyramid. A celadon bowl with red apples or a red lacquer bowl with green apples are festive choices.

For a natural look, Bruce once took a moss-covered log from a client's backyard and wired red and green bromeliads to the knobs, placing it in a wooden, boat-shaped vessel. Since the bromeliads can be sprayed with water, rather than soaked, it makes upkeep easy.

Bruce achieved a tropical table setting by creating a "pineapple" with an egg-shaped piece of Styrofoam. She covered the foam by sticking toothpicks through cranberries (grapes are also pretty). Bay leaves made the perfect topper. This could be placed on a platter, footed urn or bed of Christmas greens and holly.

For a simple, elegant centerpiece, Bruce used a long piece of beveled glass with white pillar candles of varying widths and heights, scattering cranberries around the base.

SIMPLE PLACE CARDS

Espinda uses fruit for place- card anchors. Sometimes, she simply makes a slice in a pear, lime or apple and slips the card in. Or she strings faux pearls or beads on a gold wire and sticks the wire into the fruit. Bosc pears are perfect with a gold setting.

INTO has lovely red frames that can hold a picture of the guest or host or simply a name written in calligraphy as a take-home table favor. An alternative would be to ask children to personalize unfinished wood frames with paint, beads, markers or stickers appropriate to the season.

Bruce recommends adding red or green food coloring to water in a martini glass and floating a candle in it. A place card or sticker can be affixed to the base of the glass. Or try making a little flag out of a label or sticker wrapped around a toothpick. Write the guest's name on the "flag" and stick it in an apple, lime, pomegranate or persimmon.

To spruce up a buffet table and help keep utensil-filled napkins together, a simple round sticker in gold or red can be placed on the napkin.

Jago devised a rich-looking substitute for a tablecloth that can also become a bonding opportunity along the lines of the old quilting bees. Gather a group of friends to weave a ribbon tablecloth. It's simple. Just take rolls of ribbon and begin weaving. No need to finish the hems, simply leave the ends loose. It's especially effective when the ribbons are of different lengths. Jago has used ribbons in a rainbow of colors in many textures, from satiny smooth to grosgrain. For a table at C.S. Wo, he used black and white for a striking statement.

Reach Paula Rath at prath@honoluluadvertiser.com.