Christmas Tablescape

We aren't hosting Christmas dinner this year so I just did a little add and take away on my Thanksgiving table and I've enjoyed the "not so Christmas" table.  This table will be used after the holiday for a small dinner and all I'll need to do a remove the Christmas ornament place card holders and it will look great with a white background of snow outside the window.

I changed out the charger from a gold to garnet and added a cardinal salad plate.  A touch of garnet on the glassware and a place card holder also in a garnet red is all this table needed.  You can see how to make the place card holders here, these are so simple and go together in a matter of minutes.

I kept the bay leaf centerpiece and it looks just as good for Christmas as it did for Thanksgiving. 

I made a bay leaf wreath for the back of each chair, same process as the little boxwood wreaths

 I made here. I picked up bags of bay leaves at Penzy, this is a super simple project and smells good as a bonus.

A large glass candle holder filled with Paperwhites that grow taller every day and an organic element. 

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Thanksgiving Table

This table is set in the bay window of our living room.  As you will see winter came early here in Michigan and dumped two feet of snow on our little town.  It is expected to warm over the weekend and hopefully the bulk of the snow will be gone by Thanksgiving so travel should be clear for those who travel to be with family.  I used an old bay leaf wreath, bay leaf project that was in the kitchen and decided that bay leaves and pears would be my theme for this table.

I elevated the centerpiece on a beautiful square cake plate which I picked up at GW.   It has the same beaded edging as my basic white plates.

 

The turkey salad plates were a score from GW for $3.99 for a set of four. The beautiful gold tones went well with gold tone chargers and popped when layered with my white beaded plates.  They came in one of those cute round boxes that you see everywhere with salad/dessert plates in them.  When I turned the box over I saw the price tag from the Pottery Barn for $49.99.  That made for a happy dance all the way to the 

car. The silver is Maxfield from PB and my favorite set.  I tied linen napkins with twine and added a couple of bay leaves too.

I kept the accessories simple on this table, a white turkey covered bowl that will be filled with cranberry relish for the holiday and turkey salt and pepper shakers along with scattered bay leaves are what adorn this table.

Happy Thanksgiving from our table to yours.

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Harvest Table

It looks like January outside today but my small kitchen table is set for Harvest Time.  

This small table has a beautiful honey color which just yearns for fall colors.

I grabbed a few things from my last tablescape  I had set for early fall.  The glassware  is crackled and from Pier One, I've had them for years and I think they still carry them.  The salad plates and bowls I picked up at TJMaxx, they have acorns around the rim, the under plate is which is solid colored is from the dollar store.  

The pumpkin centerpiece is also a leftover from my early fall tablescape and the silver bowl filled with napkins from the Pottery Barn also holds the flatware for the table and a few feathers tucked in the bowl.

This pillow was last years find at Pottery Barn in January. It was in a bargain bin for a couple of dollars.  It was actually a lonely placemat with embroidered fall decor on it.  It sewed up quickly and if you're familiar with the cost of PB pillow covers it was a real steal.

Thanksgiving table in the works for next week although with all the snow we have I feel that I should jump right to Christmas.  Speaking of Christmas I have a great DIY project from Pintrest I'll be featuring soon.

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Cabbage Patch Table

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This fall season I decided to take a different path with my tablescape.  Looking over the pumpkin selection which was where I had been headed the ornamental cabbages and kales caught my eye.   This tablescape couldn't have been much easier, I had a summer tablescape on this table click here.  I changed out the place mats from the black and white chevron pattern to my wicker and replaced the soup tureen centerpiece with a green pumpkin.  Then an ornamental cabbage was added to each of the small soup tureens that were already the topper for my white everyday dishes and a black and white dot print salad plates.

This table will be used for a small informal fall dinner I have scheduled later this month.  I added a touch of color to each setting with a black and white dot napkin that is a nod to the salad plates.

 

The pumpkin centerpiece had to be elevated for this table so I set it on a wire basket turned upside down and put all the lids from the small tureens under it.  This wasn't my best effort for a centerpiece and I may still work on it a little before my dinner party but for today I am happy with this.

Happy Fall to All.

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Black & White

I have two tables that I usually have set with some sort of a tablescape most of the year.  This one today is in our living room and I decided to do something out of my comfort zone.  I normally don't use placemats and certainly not a bold black and white chevron print.  Way out of my zone but the ones below caught my eye on the clearance bin at Home Goods.  The placemats were the start of a black and white table with one small splash of color.  I had planned to use a few peonies from my gardens but the poppies out front were just screaming to be the pop of color for this table.

For each placesetting I took a small tureen from my entry cabinet.  I paired each of them with a black and white dot under plate and a white dinner plate and also has a small dot that outlines the under plate.  Most of these mini tureens no longer have the ladle with them, the indention is there but no sign of the ladles when I came across them.

 I inserted two touches of silver to this table, the other piece is a silver water pitcher. 

I think the mix of the contemporary and the old with the white stoneware is a perfect combination.

This particular piece is very similar to the large tureen in the center of the table.

This piece does not have the ladle indent, its too large to be a sugar bowl so I'm not sure what its function was.  If you have an idea please let me know.

I hope you enjoy my nod to vintage meets contemporary.

Easter Tables

I have two tables set for Easter although there won't be an Easter dinner here this year.  Its just part of my decorating I guess.  The first tablescape was used last weekend when a few friends were here for a simple evening meal.  What was suppose to be a quiet evening of girl talk was interrupted by a terrible storm that came up quickly and left us without power until the following day.  The problem was that I made made two quiches that were in the oven when the power went out.  I was hopeful for a short time that the power would return but when it didn't I fired up our gas grill and continued to bake the quiche.  We ate a little later than expected and by candlelight but it will be a dinner we won't forget soon.

Bunny Black and White Table

It all started with the large silver bowl that was sitting on the table waiting to be cleaned and polished, I started dumping things into it that were in need of placement somewhere in the house for the spring decor.  As it turned out I liked the randomness and left it just as it was.

I had picked up these darling bowls at Home Goods a month or so ago and couldn't wait to use them.  The monogrammed napkins were a clearance purchase from Hobby Lobby, I think I got a dozen of them for a dollar each.

 I placed the flatware wrapped in a lace napkin in each of the tumblers.

 We had to add the candles because of the lack of electricity so I had to move much of the detail from the table to make room for the candles. We did have a wonderful time and won't forget our evening for some time to come.

The second table was set with some fabulous new Bunny plates that my daughter ordered for me from William Sonoma.  Each plate has just captured my heart but this first one is my very favorite.

William Sonoma Bunny Plates

Is he not the cutest bunny you ever saw?

 Rather than a pretty pink cupcake sitting inside the cloche I settled for a bunny and a few faux eggs.

Blessings to all.

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Work With It

Winter is a long reality here in Michigan and this winter is turning out to be a challenging one.  When the Christmas decorations come down I tend to leave some winter items up for a couple of months.  Today I have my dining table set for a friends luncheon.  It seems to make more sense to have a gathering after the holidays when everyone's life settles back into a normal pace.  If you would like to see last January's table from 2012 please click here.

 

After the holiday I was able to pick up two small fir trees to use as a centerpiece.  I dropped them into some shiny paint buckets I had leftover from Christmas.  I had used them for planting Paper Whites and  Amaryllis for the holidays.

Happy New Year everyone, I hope your winter is a short one.

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Luncheon Table

Last week I had a few friends in for a Christmas luncheon.  The menu was simple, I have a tendency to over think and over serve with my menus so I decided that I was going to enjoy the company of my friends rather than spend my time in the kitchen getting courses ready for those sitting at the table.

The menu was a beautiful ham and cheese quiche, cranberry chutney, a spinach salad with dried cranberries and feta and for dessert I did a Christmas platter with a variety of cheeses, fruit slices and butter cookies with a raspberry filling.

 

My choice of dishes for this luncheon were my Lenox Winter Greetings.

   My centerpiece was an old silver faux feather tree that I sprayed with snow flocking, I decorated it with White House Christmas ornaments that I've collected over the years.

A large cross stitched Santa held court on the table but was removed for the luncheon.

The take home gift at each place setting was a vase of Paper Whites.  I picked up some vases at the Dollar Store and planted one single Paper White bulb in each vase about a week before the luncheon, they opened the day before the luncheon.  I did spray the bottom of each vase with faux snow but after I took these pictures and I forgot to take another picture.

Merry Christmas from Grace & Favor

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Winter Party

The past few years I don't seem to be able to get my act together before Christmas so my annual Christmas party had fallen to the side.  A couple of years ago I decided to host a party after the holidays and call it my Winter Holiday party.  It works much better for me and I think my guests are more relaxed and rested not having to try and squeeze in one more party during the holidays.

The table I set last year was all done in white Winter's Table 2012.  This year I did two tables, one in white and the other in white with a touch of red.

I used my Lenox Winter Greetings china for both tables.  One table set with a gold and white tablecloth and gold colored chargers.

The table in the bay was a rework from a Christmas tablescape.  I left the tall tree as the centerpiece until we were ready to sit down to dinner and then replaced it with a large glittered house and some winter flocked trees scattered around the table.  A few white jingle bells and a little glittery snow and the table looked fresh again.

The gifts for my guests were large glass coffee/soup mugs that I chemically etched each guests initials into.  I had planned to fill each cup with some great flavored hot chocolate and homemade scones but a reality check for me in time management changed that to a large Hershey's Kiss instead. I placed the gift at each place setting.

Some time ago I saw napkin rings on Pinterest made from old sliver forks.  A quick trip downstairs to our work room was all I needed to have some unique napkin rings for the white table.

I think the tables blended well with the use of the same china and hopefully everyone had a relaxing winter afternoon.

And re-purposed boxwood wreaths that were hung on the back of my dining chairs Boxwood Wreaths for another holiday table were moved to the windows in the bay and the french doors on the first floor to add a little more winter greetings.  I think I'll keep them up for a month or more for added winter decor. 

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Dining after Christmas

As in many families our Christmas celebrations extend after the actual holiday.  This weekend my children will gather at the house to celebrate the holiday.  Today's tablescape is a buffet table that of course doesn't have any food on it yet as we won't be gathering until tomorrow.  I decided to do a Woodland table for this day in mostly reds.

I haven't decided which dinner plates I'll use so for now I just put out a few dessert/salad plates.  The tablecloth is a quilt from Ralph Lauren.  When I took this shot I didn't have the little tree decorated nor the water tray covered but it did happen later.

Since the tree was my centerpiece so to speak I decided to use this wooden container, some sort of harvesting tool to make a tower of red apples on the opposite side balanced the table.

A tray of banana bread was set in the center of the table where the food will go on Sunday, I just didn't want to have the center empty for the picture.  I layered a runner on top of the quilt to break up the red a little.

These pine cone napkins were picked up this summer at Tuesday Morning in the Outer Banks.  I love the idea that they can be used all winter rather than just at Christmas.

The coffee mugs I got at Smith and Hawkins a few years back and my friend Sheila just sent me these cute little dessert plates that go very well with the mugs.

This large candle is a of course a flameless candle since my track record with real candles is legendary.  As you can see it has a remote which I forgot to remove from the table before snapping this shot.  The copper dipper will hold a bowl of fruit salad and the large pine cone bowl in the center will also more food on Sunday.

When I finally got the tree dressed which was a very simple garland of popcorn and cranberries I snapped this picture.  Stringing this was not a fun project and I'm on the hunt at the after Christmas sales to find a faux garland like this should I ever decide to use one again.

And the last element to this tablescape was dressing the chairs with boxwood wreaths tied to the chairs with burlap ribbon. 

Happy New Year everyone

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