Arden Fair Mall in Sacramento is very nice. It has some of the nicest stores, including the world famous NORDSTROM clothes store, fine dining, and an elegant atmosphere.

On a recent trip, I realized something was missing: Ashtrays.  Although smoking is forbidden inside Arden Fair Mall, I knew some fine glass ashtrays would give the place a classy "Monte Carlo" atmosphere reminiscent of a James Bond movie!

Four off-the-shelf glass ashtrays were easy enough to find, but I wanted to make them look as official as possible. My goal was to give mall security second thoughts about removing them.

I decided to have them engraved.

I didn't have the nerve (or the money) to have them engraved at Things Remembered inside Arden Fair Mall, so I asked at Bell Craft Engraving downtown, who referred me to All-Safe Engravers on Fulton Avenue.

The great folks at All-Safe advised me to have the engraving done in reverse, into the bottom, so that the carved letters wouldn't get filled with ash.  I thought this was a great idea. 

I already knew what font I wanted, the always appropriate Comic Sans, but when I asked, they said they didn't have it. I had to go with my second choice.

The engraving was $11 for each ashtray.

A couple of days later, I picked them up on my lunch break.  They looked incredible! 

They weren't quite ready though.

People can be apprehensive about using a shiny new ashtray, so I brought them over to Tom and Amy's house, where we broke them in with a few handcrafted cigarette butts.

I also hoped that the ash and crushed butts would help keep the trays from being stolen.

By the end of the evening, the ashtrays were ready for their new home.

It was just past noon on Saturday when I delivered them.

please continue reading Arden Fair Mall Ashtrays part 2