Christmas Dinner with Friends 2016

Every year we host a Christmas dinner. Each year I try to come up with a different theme or color combinations, use conventional and unconventional Christmas china, and present a different menu. Each year in January the menu, tablescape and decor is set. Next year's theme was chosen while we were in Vail and a trial table has already been pulled together, so I'm way ahead of schedule! 😉

For this year, the theme was rustic; brown with green. I so badly wanted to use magnolia leaves in garlands around the house and on the table. A Williams Sonoma jacquard tablecloth was the first layer and provided the backdrop. 

However, the idea was sparked from this Kim Seybert beaded runner found at Cielo, Santa Fe, years ago. When they were still open. When they had so much eye candy that I could actually feel myself feel faint when entering into the store. It's always a bit sad to know that when we go to Santa Fe, Cielo is no more. Tears flowing! 😭😭😭

I monogrammed the matching napkins to the tablecloth. I just love the addition of a monogram on table linens. 💓 It's all in the details!

Etsy provided the perfect wooden tree slices for napkin rings. A wooden charger is the base for Spode Delamere dinner plates and Noritake Royal Hunt salad plates.

Vagabond stag flatware (natural sheds!), vintage crystal knife rests, Mikasa Parklane iced beverage glasses and Ajka Arabella wine hocks finish out the place settings. 

A recent trip to Bonnes Amies, a delightful store in Plainview, Texas. yielded the wooden tags used for placecards. Some die-cut winter branches, a few beads and handwritten names personalized the tags in a hurry! The name tags rest on some resin antlers sold by the pair as Christmas tree ornaments from Wal-Mart.  

Sterling and not sterling candleholders combine on each end of the table to provide ambient light at the table. A very vintage lace runner that belonged to my grandmother-in-law and then to my mother-in-love ran down the center of the table to break up the mass of brown.

 Lenox Holiday Tartan votive holders add some light at table level. Resin antiqued silver deer gussied up with a double-faced satin ribbon and a small bauble finish the centerpiece.

A silver Revere bowl provided the vessel for the flowers; white roses, alstroemeria, magnolia leaves and pheasant feathers. The arrangement lasted well over a week!

For dinner parties, I like to serve a salad to seated guests and then serve the remainder of the meal buffet style. It certainly breaks up the formality and gets guests up and moving! It's always a nice touch to add a menu to the table. It whets the appetite!

A rustic Christmas dinner indeed. The red touches add the perfect holiday touch to the table. 

Cast:

Tablecloth and napkins - Williams Sonoma

Chargers - Pier One Baroque

Dinner plates - Spode Delamere

Salad plates - Noritake Royal Hunt

Flatware - Vagabond House stag flatware (Horchow or Nieman Marcus)

Iced Beverage - Mikasa Parklane

Wine hocks - Ajka Arabella red cut to clear

I pray you had a blessed Christmas and wish you many blessings for the New Year ahead.

Tartan for Christmas

I am a sucker for tartan, especially in red. 

Red Stewart is my classic favorite. I think I can thank my mom for that. I had numerous Stewart kilts growing up. I guess they were the thing to have way back then. No, I won't share how long ago that was. 

When I saw the Nikko Tartan, it came home with me without a second thought. 

 And then I succumbed to Lenox Holiday Tartan. Mom had the black plaid placemats. Maybe the love of plaid and tartans is a gene that has been passed down?

I've used the Holiday Tartan for both informal and more formal settings

It appeared for Thanksgiving one year.

I still buy tartan and love to wear it. I've even used gifted tartan as a table runner.

This year, I might just fall pray to Williams Sonoma's tartan chargers....

and their salad/dessert plates. Should I?

Found these here.  Called Harlequin by Dot & Bo... they don't look like harlequin!

Found these here. I should have bought these!

These from Pier One are adorable!!! Small appetizer plates. One can never have too many!

From Ralph Lauren Home. Duke Dessert Plate. Yummy!

Found on Replacements.com, Sasaki tartan plaid dinnerware.

 

 

This wonderful pattern is by Spode, called Glen Lodge Tartan. Found here.

 

From the Williams Sonoma blog.

So do you Tartan for Christmas?

Dinner with Friends 2014, a Christmas dinner party

Dinner with Friends

Is there anything better (well other than anything that involves children and grandchildren)? 

This years menu:

Appetizers

Spinach Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Cardamom Spiced Pork Loin

Burgundy Cardamom sauce

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes with Green Beans and Shitake Mushrooms

Mocha Ice Cream pie

 The place setting: Zrike

red charger, Lenox Holiday Tartan dinner plate, a vintage pressed glass salad plate in a glorious shade of red, gold flatware, red napkin from Pier One that is edged in gold ruffles, the usual crystal and a showy napkin ring.

I had seen this on the Frongate site. Loved it. Tried to capture the feeling of this. I am truly a Kim Seybert fan and although her designs are pricey, I figured I could recreate her gorgeous napkin rings. I think I succeeded.

Mikasa Parklane water and a yet unknown wine. Loved the gold rim, an ebay find.

Knowing that I was going to use the Frontgate picture as a theme, I added gold trees and candleholders to the Christmas warehouse (aka garage).

The floral centerpiece was a gift from one of the dinner guests.

Tulips and stock (the white stuff). It was perfect for the table.

Found the small red votives this year. Having candlelight on many levels adds to the ambiance of the evening. Do you see the beautiful pattern?

Simple decorations in the chandelier were just what the table needed. Bows, greenery and red glass ornaments.

Found these mercury glass trees at Dillard's last year. They are battery powered and light up, adding one more layer of light to the table.

I'm already planning next year's event. Collecting new pieces has begun and a theme has been set. This makes getting ready for the event so much easier!

I'm hoping that you had a wonderful Christmas surrounded by loved ones and that the year ahead is filled with many blessings, good health and much cheer.

Today, I'm thankful for a thanksgivings tablescape

 

I've decided how our table will be set for Thanksgivings.. and it's not even the day before!!

Thank you Kathleen, from Cuisine Kathleen, for spurring us on to do Thanksgivings this early!!

Since I dropped off the "Not buying anymore dishes" bandwagon in January, and I reasoned I could use these for Thanksgivings, I challenged myself to try these dishes on. Yes, you read correctly that I fell off the bandwagon (I started Jan 1) around... let's say.... ooh, ouch.. January 14th! 

It was NOT my fault. Really. That email from One Kings Lane just jumped up and down in my inbox and I had to act on it.. fast.. I mean real fast. I never even slowed down until I was at the finish line! The price was so low, it literally took my breath away. Okay, enough excuses....

I used a linen tablecloth and napkins from Williams Sonoma. Brown with a green band. It's great to use chargers on fine linens because it keeps the little messes off the tablecloth! This is one of their jacquards that are made in Russia. Great feel and drape!

I brought in my nut trees. I had seen these years ago at Horchow's for a pricey amount. Especially for nuts. So I went to the grocery store, picked up some nuts and then purchased some styrofoam shapes. It's better to spray paint them with spray paint made for styrofoam.. brown would be my choice. That way you can't see anything behind the nuts if they don't overlap. Use hot glue (not the low temp type) to adhere the nuts.

I really like the addition of the pears and the little vases of wheat. It was too early to go buy some flowers and expect them to last until next week. I'm thinking of some of the little mum buttons and maybe a berry type of something to poke in with the wheat. 

Still loving these Libbey Rock Sharpe glasses. 

I like to keep a towel  or spare napkin with the water pitcher. Easy to catch any drips.

Antiques make a good  accessory for this chore!

The pears are also found in the plates. I think I'll do a sugared fruit centerpiece for Christmas. 

Yes, dear sweet husband, rest assured we can use the same dishes twice!

I love to use the silver pieces I have. Call me silly/stupid/crazy, but I love to polish silver. 

I like to polish a piece or two every Saturday. That way they are never all tarnished at the same time.

Can you believe these pears are fabulous fauxs?

The fauxs look very much like the pears on the plates!

Another treasure, one of those use many ways candlelabras.

I might or might not get the sterling out of the safe. But this set of Old Company Plate is really one of my favorites. 

 And then I remembered that I had purchased these white boo pumpkins specifically for this table. Better late than never, I put them on the dinner plates.

 Notice that there is no salad plate. I tend to do a Buffet for the bigger meals, only because it's easier to have everyone get what they want than to pass a gazillion bowls around the table. How do you serve?

Cast:

Tablecloth & napkins - Williams Sonoma

Chargers - Tuesday Morning

China - Lenox Holiday Tartan

Water stems - Mikasa Parklane

Wine stems - Libbey Rock Sharpe

Flatware - Old Company Plate

Candlesticks - antiques

Today, I'm thankful for you. For your visits, your comments and your continued support. You make my life a lot brighter each and every day. Your visits make my day. I get most of my visiting done on Saturdays! See you the. Have a very blessed Thanksgivings with you and yours. 

Joining

Cuisine Kathleen for Let's Dish

Susan for Tablescape Thursdays.