Santa in the Snow Tablescape

 

This will be my last tablescape for 2024. It will not be the last table that I set, but with the holidays coming up, and all of the activity that surrounds them, I won’t be able to share any more. 

This one is a lot of fun. It started with the fabric that I absolutely fell in love with. I bought 2 yards of it, put it over the table, and went from there.

The “placemats,” for lack of a better word, I found a number of years ago at Pier One. I’m sorry that I only bought four of them because I love them so much. The nubby-edged red plates are also from Pier One.

The holly leaf salad plates I got from Pottery Barn last year. I really like these because, with such a simple design, they can be paired with almost anything, and yet they have a big impact.

On top of them is a Fitz and Floyd Santa mug (that you last saw here), doing double duty as a candle holder. It was a snap to put this together. I used a bit of floral foam in the bottom to hold the candle in place, then it was just a question of adding some dried Spanish moss, some greenery, a few berries, and I was done. I think it makes a nice impact considering the minutes it took to put together.

 The script greeting at each place setting I found here. The clear snowflake Irish coffee-style mugs that I fell in love with are new this year. I found them here. They will get a lot of use this year holding hot drinks and boozy coffees.

 

The wooden snowflakes are favorites, and are used all over the house during the holidays, including on the tree.

 

The deep green stemware makes a nice impact here. When you have a table covering as bold as this one, you have to have equally bold dinnerware.

I found the red napkins here, and struggled to decide which type of flatware to use. I tried, McKenzie-Child’s “Courtly Check,” gold, and ultimately ended up with this very versatile black flatware that makes a statement while being understated.

The Santa in the center riding the bicycle I inherited from my mother. She used to collect Santas of all kinds and had them running down the center of her dining table. I have all of them, of course, but tend to use just one at a time. The tree I’ve had forever, it is illuminated with tiny string lights.

 

I hope this finds you all thoroughly enjoying your holiday prep. Don’t wear yourselves out!

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 This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday

Lunching with Lapins

Today is Opening Day in the world of Major League Baseball. I know that I am not the only one who is excited about this. In fact, I even celebrate Opening Day Eve! I have cleared my schedule, just for the occasion, as I do every year, and, as I do every year, I always wonder what happened to the month of March. I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that it’s February, and that is long gone.

In just a little over a week we will be celebrating Easter. It is such a lovely, thoughtful holiday, symbolizing energy, growth, and rebirth. It also means there are going to be bunnies nibbling on my carrot tops; this table setting features those wonderful, sometime vexing, little creatures. Come and join me for a delicious lunch with lapins.

 I love the bunny plates. They are largely covered up, but that doesn’t matter, I know they are there. I bought these quite a few years ago at Williams-Sonoma, realizing that their use would be limited. Still, I could not pass up that adorable face.

The bunny plates are resting on Bordallo Pinhiero geranium leaf chargers, on top of round woven placemats.

Because there is turquoise in the design of the bunny plate, I thought it would be fun to use turquoise stemware (Pier One ages ago) and I love it! I love it so much, that I’m thinking I need to use these a lot more often during the summer months.

On top of the plates are small ivy wreaths that I picked up when I bought that bedding at one of my favorite spots, The White Hare (a fitting place, considering the topic of this post). They surround white ceramic bunny eggcups, holding pastel M&Ms. I’m not one for soft-boiled eggs, but that doesn’t keep me from buying eggcups. I find they can hold salad dressing, little treats (like they’re doing here), or flavored butters equally well.

The bunny ears napkin rings are new this year and from Amazon (and are now on sale!). I chose the gray (they come in a variety of colors) because it matched my bunny plates so perfectly.

 The green checked napkins are from Pottery Barn.

 

The centerpiece consists of a glasses-wearing hare peeking out of a pot of greens (another White Hare purchase), alongside a pitcher that I bought from another favorite spot, coincidentally named The White Rabbit. Are you detecting a theme here? It is full of faux tulips in white and pale green.

The hammered flatware is from Mikasa.

The oversized cabbage bunny mugs are by Maxcera. I use those all summer long.

The three-legged white ceramic bowl holding stonewashed cloth dinner napkins (in case we need extras) and pastel eggs is new (as are the napkins and eggs). I fell in love with that bowl, finding it to be the perfect vessel for holding napkins; it would work equally well for holding dinner rolls, pastries, toast, etc.

You are going to see variations of this table throughout the summer months. I am really enamored with it. I may just pair of these little bunny goodies with a patterned tablecloth to see how I like it.

I hope you’re having fun decorating for spring.

Happy Easter to all!

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This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday

 

Year of the Tiger Tablescape

Chinese New Year, beginning this year on February 1, is a colorful holiday in one of the most colorless months. I find my simple observance of it to be quite a perk after all of the activity of Christmas and New Year’s.

 

This “Year of the Tiger” table was relatively easy to put together because, as a lover and maker of Chinese food, I tend to keep things on hand like chopsticks, and Chinese take out boxes. Recently, I added fun and colorful Chinese fans to the mix. I gathered these things into a basket, tucked a bit of crinkly, shredded black paper left over from Halloween, to fill in some spots, and my centerpiece was born.

Years ago when I threw an Asian theme party for my parents for one of their anniversaries, I bought the fabric that I used here as a table covering and napkins, and hand painted Chinese characters on plain glasses that, at that time, I bought for $.50 each at Old Time Pottery.

The plates, celebrating the Year of the Tiger, may look like a special purchase, but I assure you they are not. That is nothing more than a picture of a tiger beneath one of my most used Duralex clear plates. These, luncheon-sized (9 inch) plates can turn any table into anything that you want it to be just by changing up the picture below. I used them, as you may remember, in this post.

 

The butterfly dishes for holding both sweet and sour and mustard sauces, I have had for decades! I was quite enamored with these when Pier 1 carried them back when I was in college, and couldn’t resist buying them. It was an odd purchase for someone accumulating items to set up housekeeping for the first type, but I guess that says everything about my character, personality, and shopping tendencies.

 

The teapot and teacups with their leaf-shaped saucers belong to my number two son. A number of years ago he asked me if I could store this set for him, and then never seemed to want it back. It gets pressed into service every year at this time.

Because not everyone is as adept with chopsticks as I used to be, a knife and fork are included. It saves on cleanup. :-)

 

I hope that you found this table as enjoyable to view as I did putting it together. Previous Chinese New Year tables can be found here and here.

 

Now go celebrate something colorful!

 This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday

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Joyous Christmas Tablescape

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Tablescape inspiration can come from the strangest places. The inspiration for this table came from none other than Melissa’s Produce. Considering the lack of produce used here, this may give you pause for thought. The truth is, in addition to their quality produce, they also offer a wide variety of beautiful gift baskets. A couple of years ago the red sleigh basket that I used as the centerpiece was among their offerings, this one fill​​ed with beautiful apples. I thought it would make a lovely addition to this year’s table alongside my mother’s Santa carrying a tree.

I filled the basket with bits of greenery in which I interwove tiny battery powered lights. I then added a couple of wrapped gifts using fabulous wrapping paper that I got this year and I’m crazy about! It was pure serendipity that it matched the napkins, also a purchase this year from Pottery Barn.

The Christmas tree candle holders were my mother’s at one time. I am totally in love with these, and used sturdy colonial candles in them.

The greenery placemats are from Pier 1, a number of years ago, as are the plaid plates on top of them. Every time I use these, I get lots of comments. The salad plates on top are called “Christmas Tunes" and are from 222 Fifth.

The cranberry stemware that works so well here, giving the table a jewel-toned glow, is a product of Avon from years ago; the flatware was my mother’s as well.

Napkins, as mentioned above, are from Pottery Barn. I cannot emphasize enough the fabulous quality of their napkins. They are heavy duty, wash beautifully, and always keep their shape. Sadly, I have forgotten the source of the pine cone napkin rings.

Yet another lovely addition to this table are the miniature baskets (my mother’s as well -- she used to set a stunning table), that I filled with mint-filled chocolate Penguins that my little granddaughter was selling as a part of a fundraiser for Brownie troop.

Make your Christmas dining merry and bright!

 This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

 

Thanksgiving 2020-Style

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There is little dispute that Thanksgiving 2020 is going to be different from any we have celebrated in the past. Whether your gathering this year is going to be big or small, I am certainly not going to judge. My family decided against the big gathering this year, so I will have the smallest crowd ever, there will only be three of us.

Despite the fact that it will be a small group, that does not mean that I won’t be serving the same delicious food, and setting a beautiful table.

 

This year I am opting for rustic charm over casual elegance.  The tablecloth was a local purchase from a shop that has since closed. The table runner I found at Pottery Barn years ago; I love its versatility. I have yet to find a season where I can’t press this into service if need be. Black and cream plaid placemats are topped with round rattan placemats on which I have placed a tin charger from favorite local shop, The White Rabbit.

Plaid dinner plates from the late, great Pier One are on top of that. Beneath one of my favorite patterned soup bowls -- that pattern being David Hardin’s “Autumn” -- I have plain orange salad plates, gifted to me by my cousin. She no longer needed or wanted them, so passed them to me. I was both pleased and surprised at how well they blended with so many of my dishes.

I am a sucker for sentimentality, so always include something of my mother’s at each holiday table. The flatware and stemware both belonged to her. The flatware always garners a lot of comments. It’s pretty to look at, fun to use, and I love the whimsy.

The centerpiece is a pumpkin tureen surrounded by orange berries made specifically for the tureen. It, and the candlesticks (with their own berries), were part of a table display at a local shop, sadly, now long closed. I loved it so much that I bought everything. It’s been around for ages, but I still love it today as much as I did when I first saw it.

 

Lovely leaf salad plates will hold freshly baked croissants and honey butter. Each one represents a different color of the beautiful fall leaves that we have been lucky enough to experience this month.

Whether you’re serving two or ten, or just dining alone. Make the occasion special.

 

 

This post is linked to Tablescape Thursday.