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.

Ringing in the New Year 2015

 

 Ringing in the New Year - 2015

New Year's Day. There is a saying that says that what you do on the first day of the new year is an indicator to the rest of the year. I hope so!!! I did just what I loved, cooked for family, saw dear friends and had the best day of the year!!!

Faux florals in a Hutschenreuter tureen. This also gave me a spot to hide the battery packs for the fairy lights. I purchased all of mine on Amazon. The link is HERE. I have them in 30 foot lengths, 20 foot lengths and shorter. I fell in love with them when I saw the Christmas vignette on Restoration Hardware and then I went looking for a less expensive version. I filled the tureen with cotton balls, regular *stuffing* from the craft store would have been better, but it was icy around here. 

Black napkins were tethered in glimmering beaded napkin rings from Pier One.

Silver trays used as chargers. I had been picking these up at estate sales, but came across a large lot on ebay to round out settings for the multitudes. I used clear glass plates from World Market. These have the cute nobbies around the edge. I haven't seen this version there in a while. Ah, the clocks... I downloaded pictures of clock faces. Many different ones. Printed them, cut them out and placed them under the plates. The placemat on the black tablecloth is vintage. Flatware is from Horchows.

As I eluded in the last post about planning a year ahead, I was able to pick up the lighted trees at Dillards last year on sale. I've really enjoyed them this year. Added a few silver baubles to the centerpiece and I was done. Mikasa Parklane water/iced tea goblets rounded out the placesetting. Champagne glasses were dispensed to those who wanted at the drink station.

It's become second nature to decorate the chandelier.

I added super glittery snowflakes and icicles to the spokes of the chandelier. 

I've always wanted to be a fly on the wall, but I think a fly in the chandelier might be better!!

Yes, we lit the candles at lunch. they really added to the shimmer and shine on the table. We kept the drapes closed behind the table because of the bitter cold. It is a large, expansive window and sitting there can be cool. 

From our clan to yours, we wish you a year filled with health, joy and enough.

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how grey the day may appear.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.

I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.

(The copyright for this poem belongs to the author: Bob Perkins)

 

Teal and White tablescape

Back in June, the girls found themselves as guests at Diane's again. She is certainly a wonderful hostess and pulls out all the stops to entertain her guests. Sit back and enjoy this gorgeous table!

Sorry about the phone pictures. Can you believe I left the camera at home? Me either! Teal, silver and white is really a very comforting and elegant setting.

Silver napkin rings held the napkin and sheath in place. Sheath from Pier One. Teal plates on silver chargers with a Pier One salad plate. Personalized place cards to make everyone feel wanted and welcomed.

The teal glass plates let the charger shine right through.

Silver goblets always make a statement. Individual salt and peppers also graced each placesetting. Notice the peacock feathers sticking out of the rose centerpiece.

Gorgeous votive holders provided ambient light closer to the table. 

The table looked so opulent!! And the food matched the table decor, over the top wonderful!!

So glad you stopped by. Thank you Diane for your hospitality, generous invitations, delicious food and friendship!  Linking to Cuisine Kathleen's Let's Dish and Susan's Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch.

Thanks all for coming by. I so appreciate your visits and comments. Summer has taken it's toll on us. The days are long and miserably hot (not complaining, really), the yard keeps calling with things to do and we've been on a trip or two. I'm sure things will get back to normal!!  Oh wait, my sister in law, her daughter and four of her grands will be here this week...  so much for normal!!

Buttercup, Buttercup Tablescape

Buttercups remind me of my grandmother. I lost her when our eldest son was 18 months old. She never got to see him and I really regret that.  We were on our way to Germany when she passed away. I miss her so much some days.  - Okay, I do know those are not buttercups in that photo. I can't dare bring them into the house, our little inspector likes to chew on plants and buttercups(part of the Ranunculus family) are poisonous. I didn't know that as a child, did you?

But these buttercup plates by Copeland Spode are harmless and bring me much pleasure.

I love the scalloped edges of these salad plates. I love the Fleur de Lis like inner border. I love the basketweave/wicker portion, too. And I. am. totally. smitten. with the buttercups. Did you ever place a buttercup under your chin? Did your skin reflect the yellow color? Then you like butter. I'm sure my chin glowed brilliant yellow!!! I've read where some people can have a reaction to this seemingly innocuous darling, little blossom if it touches their skin.

I paired with with a gingham place mat and a solid yellow napkin. Click HERE to link to a fun post on pairing dishes with napkins that I wrote about on Monday. It's a tutorial on a fun iPhone/Pad app.

The darker brown faux bamboo flatware was a perfect choice to pick up the browns in the plates. I also used a gingham napkin with the two solid yellow place mats that were on each end of the table. I had to mix, only have 4 of the gingham place mats and you know perfectly well that it's okay to mix, right?

The still thriving ferns came to the table yet once more. Adding some sweet yellow fauxs in the pots almost gave the feel of sitting in a wonderful, grassy field filled with some buttercups while whiling the hours away.

A little bit of history from somewhere on the web: Copeland Spode appears on some pieces of nineteenth-century English porcelain. Josiah Spode established a pottery at Stoke-on-Trent, England, in 1770. In 1833, the firm was purchased by William Copeland and Thomas Garrett and the mark was changed to Copeland Spode. In 1847, Copeland became the sole owner and the mark changed again. W.T. Copeland & Sons continued until a 1976 merger when it became Royal Worcester Spode. The company was bought by the Portmeirion Group in 2009. Pieces are listed under the name that appears in the mark. Spode still appears in the mark for pieces formerly made by Copeland Spode, pieces that include earthenware and bone china. I think this mark is from 1891-1900+. Spode designed this pattern in 1885. There is more history on this pattern found by clicking HERE.

Three stemmed hurricanes filled with ice cream salt and some candles are placed amongst the ferns.

 

I also brought out my sweet birds. Yellow and white. Easy conversation pieces.

 

My Little Buttercup

(Randy Newman)

My little buttercup has the sweetest smile
Dear little buttercup, won't you stay awhile
Come with me where moonbeams paint the sky
And you and I might linger in the sweet by and by, oh...

Dear little buttercup, with your eyes so blue
Oh little buttercup, you' re a dream come true
You and I will settle down in a cottage built for two
Oh, dear little buttercup, I love you...

Everybody !

My little buttercup, has the sweetest smile
Dear little buttercup won't you stay awhile
You and I will settle down in a cottage built for two, oh

Dear little buttercup
Sweet little buttercup,
My little buttercup
I love you

I am so glad you dropped in today and got to play with my buttercups for a bit. Maybe they took you back in time to fields of flowers, sitting on your grandma's lap, and relaxing in the midst of summer.

Cast:

Placemats and yellow napkins - Villeroy and Boch

Gingham napkins - Pier One

Chargers and napkin rings - Pier One or World Market

White dinner plates - Wedgwood Windsor

Salad plates - Copeland Spode

Glasses - Mikasa French Countryside

Stemmed Hurricanes - TJMaxx

Linking to Cuisine Kathleen's Let's Dish on Wednesday evening

and to Susan's Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch.

Do come by and see the pretty settings the ladies and gents have prepared for you.