Christmas Dinner with Friends 2017

'Twas a Plaid Christmas that year.

2017

 I chose to tone down the red with some white, antique cutwork placemats. That way the Nikko plaid dinner plate could actually be seen on the table. I topped the dinner plate with a Royal Stafford Joyeux Noel salad plate. Crochet edge napkins were gathered into red velvet bows from Pier One. Community plate Signature forks and Vagabond House shed antler knives.

I chose Mikasa Parklane water goblets and Spanish silver wine glasses. The bold tablecloth needed bold pieces.

The red velvet napkin rings are "stiff" so they retain their shape throughout many uses!

I had made these place card holders in anticipation for this theme a year before. Inexpensive Walmart individual salt shakers, one per person. Discard the tops. Add some faux snow to the shaker. Insert a $Tree wire tree ornament  into the opening of the shaker. Attach with clear glue (keeping the glue out of the snow. Once dry, wrap a ribbon or bias cut plaid fabric around the screw portion of the shaker. The $tree Christmas Tree ornament has a star on top, so i used mini clothes pin to attach the place card to the star. Pretty simple, really. 

I love the lace on the plaid!

I have the sweetest friend who has a wholesale florist shop. He helps me pick out the best combination of flowers. 

 Sterling salt and peppers and candlesticks complete the look.

Monogrammed tea towels tied onto the chairs with red velvet ribbons.

Keeping the red velvet thing going.

Why does photo stitching always make the front look bowed? The buffet decked out with Mackenzie Childs runner.

 A vintage lunch box holds a snowy scene and is watched over by a reindeer with a tartan bow. 

 His mate is on the other side. Instead of candles inside the lanterns, I filled them with trees and fairy lights. 

I love a tree filled with white lights and memories. Do you do a stylized tree? Or one with all the ornaments that make you nostalgic?

 We serve cocktails and apps in the living room. When the theme involves red, the pillows, the dishes, the napkins all play right along.

 The large driftwood nativity is made by a Native American artist and was purchased by my husband in Santa Fe, NM. Happy Birthday to me!!

 'Twas a Christmas to remember!

Ferns and Roses Tablescape

 

Welcome! I'm delighted you came by. It just makes my day! 

Confession time: See those dinner plates..... Do you remember that I was cleaning and making room? They were in the Ebay/sale pile. WERE. That could change to ARE at the flip of a switch. Yessiree Bob. I was looking for something for our table Sunday evening. Those plates were sitting there, hollering at me, pick me pick me, I can make you change your mind!

So I pulled them onto the table. Added a bit of finery, oh I mean fern-ery. I think they like the north facing window in the hallway. I hope they keep liking it. A candle in a large glass urn filled with dried split peas.

See, it really looks quite cool in there. Gives me a pop of green color and a bit of texture. Personally, I just really love their color, or colors since they aren't all the same. 

 

Here's the beginning. Silver, an heirloom placemat and napkin, green glassware and a rustic nest charger from World Market. They could be one of the favorites of this summer.

 More favorites: the French hand-blown water glasses from Santa Fe and those darned Dollar Tree goblets are making another return appearance. 

 

I did go ahead and add the Bordallo cabbage salad plates. I love how the green of the plates brings out the green leaves on the dinner plates. They also allow the napkins to stand out. 

 The dinner plates came from TJMaxx, I used there HERE last October and HERE the April before. But they haven't been used much since. And I am cleaning out and making room. 

I'll let you know how that goes!!

The ferns and the glass urn with the candle inside is all the centerpiece needed to complete the table.

Old Company Plate silver, still one of my favs, really is a perfect accompaniment to the heirloom linens I found a long time ago at an estate sale. Drawn thread work, padded satin stitched flowers and a scalloped edge will loosen up the billfold every single time!

Pulled some green mercury glass votive holders to stand in for a flower pot for the ferns. The more green the merrier!

One thing about greens, as Alycia said last week when she showed us Mikasa Daylight's fabulous green leaves, it's best to meld the greens together instead of trying to match. After all, if you look in your yard, not all greens are the same and yet they go together so gloriously.

Hope the weather is good in your neck of the woods, we are due another freeze Thursday morning. So far, it's been adios tulips, then the next week adios wisteria, I'm covering everything this week!!!

The cast:

Linens - Heirlooms; Estate Sale

Silver - Old Company Plate; Estate sale and Ebay

Chargers - World Market

Dinner Plates - TJMaxx; Royal Stafford

Glasses - Santa Fe and Dollar Tree

Centerpiece urn - Home Goods

I'll be at the party over at Cuisine Kathleen's Let's Dish and at Susan's Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch. There are so many pretties on display, I hope to see you there!

So... should they stay or should they go?

A tribute to the last roses tablescape

It's a bit unexpected to be using roses in the fall, but as the last roses have just now bloomed on our one lonely rosebush, I thought an appropriate send off was in order.

 

Adding yellows and pinecones to the table adds a rustic touch of fall.

 

When the rose is faded,
Memory may still dwell on

Her beauty shadowed,
And the sweet smell gone.

That vanishing loveliness,

That burdening breath,

 No bond of life hath then,

Nor grief of death.

Tis the immortal thought 
Whose passion still 

Makes the changing

The unchangeable.

Oh, thus thy beauty,

Loveliest on earth to me, 

 

Dark with no sorrow, shines

And burns, with thee.

When the Rose is faded by Walter de la Mare

Cast:

Crochet placemats - very old

Napkins - Pier One

Dinner plates - Wedgwood Windsor

Salad Plates - Royal Stafford used HERE

Glasses - Mikasa French Countryside

Flatware - Cambridge available at Horchow's

Silver candlesticks - Gorham Chantilly

Crystal Candlesticks - unknown

Pitcher - Wedgwood

Thank y'all for visiting. Your visit warms my heart.

I'm joining Cuisine Kathleen's Let's Dish

and 

Susan's Tablescape Thursday.

See all y'all there!

Chris✞mas in July - A decorated Table

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You know it will be Chris✞mas before we know it. Look at the counter on the top right of the blog. Those days will be passing by very, very quickly. I mean, Fall is just around the corner, so Chris✞mas isn't that far behind. I know you've seen the Chris✞mas displays at Hobby Lobby and other craft stores. There were up July 5th!!!

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Since Yvonne at Stone Gable is having a Chris✞mas in July party this week, I thought what a cute idea and I wanted to play along.. the linkup party isn't until Friday. You still have time to pull it together. I did have a cute summer table all done up and ready to post, but that would have just looked weird in the middle of this Chris✞mas week. See the tablecloth in the above photo.. I used that just last Sunday for our family dinner.

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Clicking any of the source links under the photos will take you to the original blog post. Or you can just browse through and get some ideas for this year! Do you change up your table a little bit each year?

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Sometimes we eat kind of formal....

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and sometimes not! What do you prefer? Casual throughout the month and then only formal for Christmas? Or casual all the way through the month?

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This was a new set up last year. Loved those nutcracker plates! Simply adding a new set of salad plates and a tablecloth will certainly spruce up the Chris✞mas china and give you a new, refreshed table setting.

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Other than the colors, nothing on this table says Chris✞mas. Goes to show that if you use what you have, you can use it anytime with a seasonal color way!

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Are you noticing some of the same dishes? I hope so. Although I am a Chris✞mas nut.. loving all things Chris✞mas, I certainly cannot afford new Chris✞mas dishes every year. Wait, I shouldn't be buying new Chris✞mas every year. Find a way to combine the pieces you have to create something new.

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Pinterest is a very cool tool to organize all the pretty pictures you see on the web. Please respect the author's preference on 'pinning' though. I find a photo and use the 'pin' button and then select the board (think bulletin board) onto which you want to pin your photo. If you need an invite.. just leave me a message in your comment.

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Of course our fellow bloggers certainly know how to inspire us to set beautiful tables. There are just sooo many tables I see each week I would love to copy detail by detail. But you and I both know I can't go buying new dishes.. after all I made a resolution death sentence to not purchase any this year!! yeah I know. I know.. broken!!

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This has got to be one of the most pinned tables on Pinterest. I see it everywhere. I think it came from Country Living? Someone correct, I'm sure I'm wrong. I just pinned it from a blog.

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Once again a gorgeous table by a fellow blogger from California. Her style, her compilation of textures and patterns is always intriguing and just makes me want to go buy more stuff!!

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I know I'll be using my new dishes this year. I've waited a very long time for these and now I finally have them. Albeit not quite so guilt free..You know I did make the resolution death sentence. What are your plans for your Chris✞mas table? Have you made any yet? Oooh, I'm dying to know what ideas you have!

See you at:
Cuisine Kathleen for Let's Dish (Wednesday evening)
Stone Gable for Tutorials, Tips and Tricks (Wednesday evening)
Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday (Thursday)