Trees Top the Table

Hopes that these trees fresh from the studio would provide the inspiration for a holiday table were rewarded.

With the trees not being the traditional reds and greens, it took a little effort to find just the right combinations for holiday decor. This cranberry runner topped with flexible gold mesh and ornaments of pink and turquoise do the trick.  All were pieces that had been used at one time or another which meant the only investment was time.

With the centerpiece in place, it was time to move on and set the table for the annual Christmas brunch enjoyed by friends who have walked many miles together, sharing their joy, problems and concerns along the way.

Dark green chargers are first on the table

followed by a favorite fun collection of holiday tableware, Santa plates

and cups and saucers that are almost but not quite red and green, at least not in the traditional sense.

Now the table is set, friends have gathered, brunch is ready to be served,

the door is open wide, so won’t you come join us for laughter and cheer?

Here’s wishing you the happiest of holidays with friends and family.

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Joining Tablescape Thursday and Pink Saturday

Out With Pumpkins & Gourds

Once the calendar hit December, I knew it was time, time for the pumpkins and gourds to be bagged and put out with the trash.  I could do that without too much regret because I got a lot of mileage from them.

Next, it’s out with the traditional Spode Christmas dishes that  only appear during the holiday season.  Taking them from the cabinet where they hide for the better part of the year is like finding an old friend.  I am going to use these or other seasonal tableware every day from now until the end of the year…really!

Let’s start here at the bar where most nights the hubby and I share our evening meal.

Simple it may be, but with a touch of holiday flair, it’s a pleasant place to enjoy dinner at home.

And, if you want to come by before dinner, I’ll pour you a glass of eggnog, plain or with a little spirits.   Come in the morning and you’ll be invited in for an eggnog latte.  Tis the season!

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Joining Tablescape Thursday

What’s It All About?

Black Friday?  Cyber Monday?  What’re they all about, an exercise in retail mania?

Is it just me or do some of you remember when the Christmas season didn’t start until after Thanksgiving and the time from one Christmas to the next seemed an eternity?  That anticipation made the holiday  so special.

These days we don’t even make it to Halloween before Christmas decorations fill the stores and reminders tell us how many more shopping days there are until Christmas.  Talk about stress!  Before Thanksgiving, streets, malls and shops are fully decorated and Christmas music is playing nonstop on the radio.   Can we at least digest our turkey before all the hubbub begins?

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not a bah humbug person.  I love the holiday season with all its  decorations, festivities, music, smells and tastes, but it’s just gotten to be too much too soon.  Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, I’m ready to begin preparing for Christmas. This year I’m going to resist the traffic and mall crowds and focus on the meaning of the season, share the joy of friendship, spend time in my studio attempting to create gifts, sing along with the music, do a little baking if I can resist the temptation to overindulge.

Hmmm, I better get started.  There’s only 27 more days til Christmas!  See, I fell right into that trap of feeling the pressure.

How about you?  How are you going to ready for the holidays?

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Joining Metamorphosis Monday

The Raven Cometh

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, 
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. 
“‘Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door
Only this, and nothing more.”

The Raven

Edgar Alan Poe

What was the raven looking for when the door opened and he flew in, landing on the table?

Was he attracted to the Pottery Barn runner adorned with one of my handwoven runners?

Or perhaps he was looking for the witch whose hat was left behind

or maybe hoping to find some tasty morsel tucked in the leaves and berries of this arrangement fresh from TJ Maxx.

Whatever his goal, he decided to stay for dinner at the table set with hobnail edged dishes, also from TJ Maxx.

So long as he stays where he is, keeps his squawking to a minimum

and doesn’t nibble at the gourds when I’m not looking it’s OK with me.

If the raven causes a problem, he’ll have to answer to all you scapers at Tablescape Thursday.

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Entertaining with Ease

“Entertaining is not about perfection; it’s about connection.”

One of our favorite ways to connect with friends is to have them for dinner.  Usually, it’s a small group, no more than 8, sitting around a square table, enjoying good food and engaging in conversation and laughter.

It’s not likely the table will be fancy, but some thought will have been given the presentation.

 This night flowers the colors of summer are arranged in small vases.  They add warmth to the table without getting in anyone’s line of vision.

Square black dinner plates from Ikea are being used for the first time and they are accented with my favorite pottery bowls designed by Nan Kilbourn Tara.  Each bowl has a different vegetable, and the size is perfect for so many things.  

In this setting I like the contrast between the black and terra cotta and how the bowls pick up the warm wood tones of the table.

Black napkins are folded  in half, folded accordion style and then fanned out for the finishing touch.

Now the table has just the right feel and warmth for tonight’s dinner.  Won’t you join us?

By the way, though I like the look of the Ikea plates, I didn’t like hearing utensils scrape against them.  The plates are  a little thin and that may be the reason for the annoying sound.

Joining Tabletop Tuesday, Tablescape Thursday and Alphabet Thursday with T=tablescape

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The Table Fairy

I dubbed him the table fairy, the one in our Foodie Adventure group who stayed up later than the rest of us and surprised us each morning with a lovely tablescape.

In this beautiful villa were many wonderful accessories to work with, and the table fairy managed to find just the right ones.

The table was at first simple , adorned with woven baskets filled with fruit

and little vases of flowers made the salt and pepper tray look not so plain.

Each day, however, became more special as the table fairy really started to show his creative flair .

Pink tulips and candles would do any tablescaper proud

as they add  a touch of elegance to the morning gathering.

My favorite of his creations was this.  I don’t what the wooden piece is, but it was perfect filled with flowers and fruit.

The table fairy centered his creation among pink and purple flowers from the living room, and his effort drew  appreciative response from the breakfast crowd.

Naturally, the women were more than a little impressed with the table fairy’s handiwork, and even the men acknowledged it though they were challenged to figure out what they could contribute in order not to be completely outdone!

Now, I’m wondering if he does this same work at home during late night hours!

Joining Tablescape Thursday, Tabletop Tuesday and Pink Saturday

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Spreading the Love

Why we blog is interesting, and I’m sure everyone who has the nerve and energy to do so has a different reason.  For me, the intent was to keep in touch with people in both of the places where I live, but along the way something happened.  I began hearing more from people who were unfamiliar to me, and over the months relationships have evolved.  I still prefer face time, but I am so grateful to my blog friends for having become a part of my life.

One such special friend can be found here, and I am flattered and privileged  to have received her love today.  I love her blog, er blogs.  She writes five of them, and each offers something special.  She is not only a whiz with words but quite good with a camera.  Visiting her blog is for me like having morning coffee with a good friend.

She suggested sharing the link to a first blog.    My first WordPress post was February 24, 2010, and would you believe it was a tablescape!

I’m not sure why I chose that as a subject other than I like to do fun tables for dinner guests.  Since that first one, others have followed almost every week and linked to other wonderful creations at Susan’s Tablescape Thursday. What a coincidence that Jeanne showed her love today and gave me the opportunity to show again that first post which had only two photos!  Since then my camera has been a lot busier as photos tell as much as words.

Jeanne’s idea to introduce her readers to other blogs is a good one.  I have many favorites, and if you are curious about them and my interests, click on any of the ones listed on the right under Ideas and Inspiration.  There’s much there from which to be inspired.  Happy reading!

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Still Thinking Pink

Since pink has been on my brain this week, why not continue the thought on this week’s tablescape?

Mother’s china is the place to start.

Rather than placemats this week, the plates will be set on gold chargers that are a nice complement to the beautiful handwoven cloth from Morocco.

The chargers are a bit dressy and the Richlieu pattern is a little more girly than is usual for me, so the challenge is to add a few touches that make the table more relaxed.

Pink and green floral napkins are more casual, and tucked into these funky napkin rings they will be just the right touch.

In the center of the table are sassy tulips and poppies which are a bold contrast to the  pinks.

 

 

 

 

 

Here, as on most of my tables, the stemmed glassware doesn’t match.  I have always been drawn to etched stemware from the late 1800′s-mid 20th century and have a number of patterns from those eras.  For me, having things that don’t match add a bit of whimsy to even the most serious table.

Twilight is settling in, the table is ready, and now all we need is you to join us for dinner.

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This post is linked to Tablescape Thursday and Pink Saturday.

In the Pink

Here you will find a blog post by a gal who really likes pink.  I know this to be true because she is my daughter, and she is making up for being pink deprived as a child.  She ends her post by asking if pink can be found in your house.

I would have thought my answer to be no, at least for the most part, but take a look around and you will see pink, not the soft, pretty pink but PINK!

Pink is the sofa in the breakfast room,

the handwoven pillow

and throw in the living room

the ceiling that runs the length of the gallery

and the cabinet over my desk.

Pink is in this painting that has such a story to tell,  in the funky pottery piece that sits close by

and in my favorite needlepoint rugs.

It is on and below the piano.

Yes, there is quite a lot of pink in my house and you know what?  I like it!

What are your feelings about pink?

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This post is liked to Seasonal Sundays,  Pink Saturday and Open House Party.

 

A New Look

Do you ever have a room you just can’t get right?  For me, it has been our bedroom which is a really wonderful space, but somehow it has never come together.  I’ve tried different colors on the walls, changed bed coverings, rearranged the art and always there’s something not quite right.

Here I had in mind a crisp gray and white room, but when the Venetian plaster was done, the walls were not as gray as I envisioned.  The white  bed set is nice but, again, the look left something to be desired, and adding the red pillows from a past color scheme didn’t help.    When all is said and done, the room strikes me as cold, and I like a friendly, comfortable bedroom.  In addition to the colors not working, there is another problem.  Do you see it?

If you guessed the long bank of window, you are right.  I love the windows and the light, but the shades don’t do anything to warm up the room, and I am not a curtain person.  So, what’s a girl to do?

A slightly altered color scheme just might work.  Here we go, add more of the not quite gray wall tone along with some new accent colors.

And what about a soft, sheer curtain, just enough to soften the starkness of the window.  Maybe I could live with that.  OK so far, but once I honed in on the changes, there was another problem.   The painting over the bed is totally out of place so I went shopping in the house and found another piece of art which works surprisingly well.

Not only are the colors complementary and the dimensions right, it gives the illusion of a headboard, an unexpected bonus.

The real test comes when the hubby walks in.  He’s used to my changing things around and usually just shakes his head, but this time he said, “Hey, you know this really looks good.”

Sometimes a little tweak here and there makes a big difference.

Linking today to Metamorphosis Monday, Blue Monday and Show Off Your Cottage.

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