DIY
Make Coaster Place Cards for
Spring Celebrations
Without a cricut or
cutting machine ...

If you do not have a cricut or other cutting
machine, you will need:
*Plain coasters
*Letter adhesives and stickers
When you use letter adhesives from a craft
store, you can stick them to your coasters
and set them by each place setting.

With a cricut maker or
cutting machine ...

If you own a cricut or other cutting machine,
you will need:
* Vinyl (any desired color)
* Plain coasters
* Contact paper
If you’re using a cricut or cutting machine,
design and write out the names. Choose the
font you desire and cut your vinyl. Remove
the excess vinyl from the lettering and use
the contact paper to apply the vinyl name to
your coaster.

If you have excellent penmanship or know
how to letter, feel free to use a marker or
some paint to write directly on the coasters.

Seal them with a paint seal so that your
guests can use the coasters without having
the paint or marker run.

Whether you are planning to decorate a
Passover Seder table or an Easter dinner
table, it’s important to keep your table
setting uncluttered and simple. Fresh
flowers make a splendid centerpiece. I like
to use pretty spring colors to pull everything
together but not lose focus on the food and
the religious importance of the occasion. n
XO, Mimi
Sources: Cricut cutting machine and letter adhesives, available from michaels.com.

Coasters, available from Dollar General or Dollar Tree retailers.

12 Washington FAMILY APRIL 2022
CRAFT IMAGES: MIMI MARKOPOULOS; GIRL AND FLOWERS: MARYNA ANDRIICHENKO / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS; FLOWER TABLE SETTING: ILIBOAS / E+
S pring is here, which means longer
days, flowers blooming and holidays
such as Passover and Easter. My fam-
ily normally hosts a small gathering for
Easter with my in-laws. Even though it’s an
intimate affair, I like to make it feel warm,
thoughtful and elegant.

If you’re looking for a fun but decora-
tive DIY for a Passover or Easter gathering,
make your own place cards. Place cards not
only help your guests find their seats com-
fortably, but they also provide a decorative
element that anchors your table.

This year, instead of using the usual
cardstock prints, I made some simple yet
elegant place cards out of some coasters I
found a few years back. You can find inex-
pensive coasters at any Dollar Tree or Dollar
General near you.

I thought it would be fun to use them as a
place card and a coaster. The best part is that
your guests can take them home as favors.

You can make this project with coasters
and letter adhesives from Michael’s. They
come in various sizes and fonts.

BY MIMI MARKOPOULOS



PARENT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Tony Korson
Empowering youth through sports and parenthood
BY LINDSDAY C. VANASDALAN
W “
FAMILY FAVORITES
Family Meal: We like Pizza
Fridays. That’s a favorite
family tradition for us,
whether we cook them or
order them.

Way to Spend a Weekend
with Your Family: Outside
Sport to Play Together:
Soccer TREICHLER PHOTOGRAPHY
Team to Root for: I can
shamelessly plug the new
college baseball team we’re
starting in Olney called the
Crop Dusters.

Vacation Spot: Any beach—
beach, beach, beach.

We got beach kids and
beach parents.

Family Outing in the DMV:
Lone Oak Brewery in Olney
hen you’re an athlete, you think
you’re going to play sports your
whole life,” says Tony Korson,
father of three and founder and CEO
of Koa Sports.

Instead, he turned to coaching and
mentoring the next generation after college.

This work led to Koa Sports, a Bethesda
nonprofit whose mission is shaping kids’ lives
through sports.

The organization strives to provide
accessible instruction for students—whether
they are trying a new sport or seeking
coaching to help earn a spot on a middle or
high school team, Korson says.

“We want to make it fun. I think that’s the
biggest thing. It’s not all about trophies; it’s
not all about winning,” he says. “It’s about
teaching these young boys and girls good
life lessons, values and giving it their all.”
Born and raised in Montgomery County,
Korson now lives in Fallsmead with his wife,
Nikki, and their three children, Manolis (5),
Fotios (2) and Kostas (1).

What do you love about
being a parent?
The best part of being a parent is seeing
their excitement—whether it’s you getting
home from work, whether it’s they’ve
figured out a piece of a puzzle. It’s just
the innocence of how excited they could
be over something as small as a cardboard
box or something as big as a birthday or
Christmas present. I think that’s really
cool just to see how excited and how much
infectious energy they can have.

We pay all of our staff. We encourage parents
to work with their kids outside of Koa
activities, but during the Koa activities, we
try to get them to relax, step back, let them
make mistakes and have the freedom to do
that. That’s something that I like to do with
our kids—try to teach them and give them the
freedom to make good decisions. Sometimes
they do; sometimes they make bad decisions.

That’s OK. You got to tell them, “Next time,
(let’s) not do that again.”
What’s been the
greatest challenge?
I think the most difficult part about being a
parent is you don’t really want to let them
down. It’s like how can you always be there
for your kids? I think that’s not possible,
especially when we have three kids and
they have to go to school, we have to go to
work and we have to watch out for the other
kids. I think that’s really hard, and you don’t
want to let them down. It’s not possible to
be with them 24/7.

How do you balance your career
with family life?
It’s hard. When the kids go down, I’m
working most nights. I’m making sure that
the kids are properly fed for breakfast, have
a lunch before they go to school, being laser-
focused on them and being laser-focused on
work when you’re at work. It’s not scrolling
through social media, not time to catch up
with your buddies. There’s just not enough
time in the day to do that. Focus on your
priorities when you have them. When you
have the kids, give them (your attention) for
the day, and when you’re at work, be laser-
What lessons have you drawn
focused. When they go down, if it’s time to
from Koa that you have applied
get a couple more hours of work in, you got
to your family’s experience?
I think you have to give them enough. You to do it then.

know you have to teach them—give them
enough chances to fail. I think failure is What’s one thing you hope your
super important in life. If you micromanage kids learn from your career?
and hover, they’re never going to learn. Be active forever. It’s OK to run around and
I think that’s one of the things we do well chase a ball—it doesn’t matter if you’re 4, 44
at Koa. We don’t really have parent coaches. or 84. Be active. Be outside. n
WashingtonFAMILY.com 13