Olla-Podrida: old time pottery

Showing posts with label old time pottery. Show all posts

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Valentine Breakfast Tablesetting

Yesterday I gave you six ideas for making some delicious breakfast or brunch dishes. Today I am showing you a simple but lovely table setting that you can effortlessly create to serve your delicious breakfast treats.

Not all tables have to be over-the-top fancy and loaded with eye candy. Those tables are fun, don't get me wrong, but when I have the first meal of the day, I like to enjoy it in peace and quiet, sipping espresso and nibbling a croissant, while watching the birds at the feeder and listening to the rustle of the morning paper behind which Mr. O-P is huddled and happily engrossed.

I chose a simple black and white color scheme with a shock or two of red, one in the Sur La Table Italian ceramic napkin holder (the napkins belonged to my mother), and the other in the Fiestaware pitcher full of white Alstromeria.

The white plates were bought years ago for 50 cents apiece at Old Time Pottery. That was one of the best investments that I ever made. The white cups and saucers are from Amazon. The white bowls and condiment set are from the Pottery Barn Great White Collection.

The whimsical plastic flatware is from a picnic basket set that we got as a wedding gift (20 years ago) from Crate & Barrel.

The little black polka dotted under plate is from 222 Fifth and yet another great investment as I seriously use these plates everywhere, here and here for example. No one has an inkling that they are Christmas plates.

The glassware is my favorite La Rochere.

This post is linked to:

Table It Monday

Tuesdays At Our Home

Before and After Wednesday

Open House Party

Centerpiece Wednesday

Wow Us Wednesday
Work It Wednesday

What’s It Wednesday

Clever Chicks Blog Hop

Thursday Favorite Things

Tablescape Thursday

Create It Thursday

Home and Garden Thursday

Show and Tell Friday

Friday Unfolded
Fridays Flash Blog
Simple and Sweet Fridays

What To Do Weekend
The Weekend re-Treat

Feathered Nest Friday

The Weekend Social

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Seaside Picnic Table Setting

You don't have to live near the beach to have a beach picnic. Just set your dining room table with natural and “beach-y” elements and you're good to go.

I have loved the elements of the sea from early on. I have no idea where this love came from, but it has been with me since my youth. When other kids had comic book characters on their sheets, I had fish and sea life. I miss those sheets. I raised live fish from my high school days until I married and had children (who, it turns out, took a lot more care than a fifty-five gallon tank of fish!). This love, naturally, gravitated toward tableware, and I have been collecting various forms of sea life dinner and serve wear since the seventies.

The linens, from Pottery Barn, are favorites of mine. They always make me feel as if I'm at a clam bake. I can almost smell the smoke from the wood fire and the salty air.

The placemats from Pier One seemed the perfect choice here, reminiscent of fences along the grassy dunes.

Flatware came from a Crate and Barrel picnic basket received as a wedding gift. It's not every table that can successfully support plastic utensils, but it works here, providing a casual, outdoor feel, not to mention a touch of whimsy.

The salmon (natch!) rimmed chargers are from Fitz & Floyd's “Coquilles” pattern.

Nubby white plates from Old Time Pottery seem at home in any table setting.

The blue fish plates were an eBay find. I love how the blue picks up the same color in the linens, and how the plates frame the word “Menu” on the napkins. How perfect is that?

Starfish candle holders were an impulse buy at Pier One. I bought them to cluster as a part of a centerpiece, but far prefer having one at each place setting. It is so cozy.

The runner and sea urchins are from Pottery Barn (the urchins are vase fillers), the driftwood fish from One King's Lane. Sea glass vase filler from World Market adds a bit of sparkle.

As I was setting the table I noticed how perfectly the throw and pillow went with this setting.

The pillow is one of a large number of clever and well-made items from Heather at ElliotHeathDesigns on Etsy. You can find this exact pillow here, or check out her shop here. No matter what your decorating style she has a gorgeous pillow to match.

Now, how about joining me for some Piña Colladas and crab cakes?

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

First Dinner of the Spring!

I invited my parents over for dinner and preseason baseball on Sunday (when I served the wonderful meatloaf and delicious Chocolate Stout Cake - were they lucky, or what?!). It was a spur-of-the-moment invitation, so the table was something that I put together in about ten minutes time. After a winter of high color, pattern, and intensity, I wanted something soft and simple, with the same hint of green in the table setting that I see daily emerging outside my window. This peaceful, almost zen-like table setting was the result. It felt so much like spring to me, and it was so nice to reacquaint myself with old favorites like the rooster napkins and the fish water pitcher.

I used Fiestaware flatware, giving each one of us a different color.

I found this set of napkins when cleaning out the dining room closet (okay, just one shelf, but it took me a couple of hours). I'd forgotten about these, so it was like having something new.

Individual salt and pepper shakers can be so much fun at each place setting and it eliminates the need for asking or reaching.

I bought this fish pitcher when I was still in college, long before I married or thought I'd be hosting as many dinners as I do. It reflected my love of the ocean and it appealed to my sense of whimsy.

Table runners - Pottery Barn Placemats - Pottery Barn Centerpiece - Pier One Plates - Old Time Pottery Flatware - Fiestaware Salad Plates - Gift Glasses - La Rochere Cups - Amazon Napkins - Williams-Sonoma This post is linked to: Tabletop Tuesday, Tablescape x 3 and Tablescape Thursday

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Last Call Tablescape

I am really into lanterns these days for some reason, well, I know the reason, it's from paging endlessly through Pottery Barn catalogs and drooling over all they have to offer at prices I can't begin to afford, or more accurately, justify. I wanted to have one more small dinner gathering -- something I refer to as "Last Call" -- before the onset of the holidays when chaos abounds, so when I found this lantern at Old Time Pottery I just knew I wanted it as my centerpiece.

From there I went through my stash of fabric, pulling out this one to put on the top of my table as I wanted the meal to be more casual and relaxing. I topped this with bamboo placemats, and sprinkled the remaining bits of candy corn and autumn mix around the center. My favorite Fiestaware dinner plates in gold and cinnabar were alternated and topped with harvest salad plates. Pressed into service again you'll see the yellow flatware and goblets (Versatile!). As I'd packed the mugs that match the Fiestaware I decided to use the Shenango Incaware coffee cups and saucers, just a portion of the restaurantware that I collect.

The napkins were simple black (again, made by my mother), the gold tone leaf napkin rings I bought years ago in a cute shop called The Country Store in St. Charles, MO)

The yellowware bowls were placed on either side of the centerpiece for easy access as they were filled with the two difference sauces that I served with the salmon cakes that I'd made for dinner, one sauce horseradish based, and the other a pesto based. The rust-colored, pumpkin-shaped spongeware plate with matching bowl is what I use to serve breads and flavored butters.

I hope you enjoyed looking at my tablesetting for my "Last Call' autumn dinner. I wish you could have joined me.

Dinner plates: Fiestaware

Salad plates: Autumn Splendor

Napkins: My mom

Table Fabric: Hancock Fabrics, years ago

Yellowware bowls: Antique shop

Lantern: Old Time Pottery