Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

I hope everyone is enjoying family, or serving others, or doing something meaningful today! We will have our Thanksgiving meal about 1:30 so I'm taking a break in preparation. Here is our Thanksgiving tablescape...linked to "Tablescape Thursday" over at "Between Naps on the Porch."



The Churchill salad plates came first. I took them to a local fabric shop and found this great fabric for the runner, which ties in so nicely with the Fostoria green glasses. Of course, I brought in cut pine and dogwood branches in a Hull "Brown Drip" pitcher.














Mikasa "Italian Countryside" dinnerware
Churchill "Thanksgiving Turkey" salad plates
Fostoria "Argus" glassware
Landers/Frary/Clark sterling/mother of pearl  butter knives
Wallace "Louvre" sterling flatware
Woven chargers, napkins, Walmart


Happy, happy Thanksgiving!!

"1. A psalm of thanksgiving. Shout with joy to the LORD, O earth! 2 Worship the LORD with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. 3 Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. 5 For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving Eve...

I'm sure you are all busy with family and cooking for tomorrow! I wanted to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving!!!  I'll be spending it here with my family. We really had Thanksgiving last night as our church served the community a free Thanksgiving dinner for the first time. We also gave away turkeys, and coats and blankets. That, for me, is what it's all about!!!

So now I get to concentrate on my family and just got the cornbread out of the oven for making "dressing" as we call it here. I also just finished sewing up my table runner so I can put my tablescape together, lol! At least, I have it all planned out so I'm not as far behind as it seems.  I will post photos tomorrow, hopefully!

Enjoy giving thanks!!

Anita

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Friendly Village Tablescape...

Once again, I am excited to be participating in Tablescape Thursday" hosted by Susan at "Between Naps on the Porch." If you come here first, be sure to go by there and see the many gorgeous tablescapes! 


I had the opportunity to do a tablescape with my mom for a festival at her church. Ladies there decorate tables for this annual dinner. Not only do you get to bring all your things from home, you then get to eat at these beautiful tables a fabulous catered meal. And then, you get to tear it all down and bring it home!  

We wanted to use her Johnson Brothers "Friendly Village." She has quite a collection of this and most are the older pieces which have that beautiful color.   I will apologize for the lighting because it made for some really bad colors in the photos, but I think you will enjoy the tablescapes all the same!!



We used two different vintage linen napkins. I turned one diagonal and the other square.
I placed the iced tea spoons although they are normally brought with the tea. We served the tea at the beginning.


I made the place cards with the help of the computer. It took forever for me to get the color right. 


I love these little votives nestled in the cranberries. I just moved these to the center of the table when dinner began.


The arrangement is different types of pine, nandina berries and holly. I used a vintage silver punch bowl and tray from Spain. Unfortunately, you cannot see the cranberries around the base, but you could see the reflection there in person.




Here is the "Bling" I promised! These lovely sterling silver candleholders were passed down in our family.


I love this crystal...it is "Cristal d'Arques Durand Longchamp." I first saw this crystal when I lived in Washington D.C.  I bought a few at a time, and now I have twelve four-piece-place settings.


Of course, I used the Wallace "Louvre" sterling from 1893. This pattern is so old that many pieces are just not available. The iced tea spoons are Alvin "Bridal Bouquet." I think it is a nicely, complimentary pattern for the Louvre.


These sterling and mother of pearl butter spreaders are by "Landers/Frary/Clark."





And now some of the other tables...



Most were more fun and casual...



I think this one is really elegant...












There were 25 tables in all, and I didn't get photos of all of them but you get a sampling! The most fun was doing this with my mom. We have never done anything like this, so that made it all worth it!

What I would like to do it take an event like this and use it as a fund raiser for a community cause. If any of you have done anything like this, let me know!

I hope you enjoyed my festival of tables!! Thanks for stopping by:-)

Anita

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Apples for Autumn...

It is "Tablescape Thursday" again over at "Between Naps on the Porch," and I am thankful to Susan for hosting this wonderful event!  


Today, you are getting two for one! I wanted to share a beautiful tablescape my mom did with her Franciscan "Apple," and one I did with a fruit pattern by Sakura called "Sonoma."














Here we go with mine...You might notice I always have the table bare. I really like to see the wood  because it is so rustic and warm. We do actually use our tablescapes. I generally will do one, and we use that dinnerware for the week.













There you have two different apple-themed settings!

Next week I have a huge treat as my mom and I are doing a table for a festival that promises to be fabulous! I am so excited about doing it with her and also excited about seeing the other tablescapes. I promise lots of photos and a lot of bling!

Thanks for stopping by:-)  Anita

South to San Juan...really!!

I'm a little late for "Outdoor Wednesday" because with all the rain and storms, we had no power! Better late than never because we are going south again, but this time for real! What could be better as we look forward to cold, chilly days than a trip to the beautiful island of Puerto Rico? I thought I would share my husband's home with you. We were there for the New Year with his family. I hope you enjoy this little taste of the Caribbean!!

This is San Juan looking north...


There is some incredible Spanish Colonial architecture in "Old San Juan."  I love these wrought iron doors and the tile stairs...


Looking toward "El Morro." I love blue and green together and this is the ultimate!!





My husband is from Barranquitas, which is in the middle of the island. This is near there looking North toward San Juan...






This is looking South toward the Caribbean Sea. If you look closely, you can see the sea at the top of the photo. The view is breathtaking.


I think he is a little homesick...


Beautiful sunset in the fishing village of Salinas looking South to the Caribbean Sea.


I hope you enjoyed your trip south!

Thanks to Susan at "A Southern Daydreamer" for hosting Outdoor Wednesday!!

Sunday, November 8, 2009

South to Old San Juan...

Good monday morning everyone! On to today's before and after. I am posting the bathroom attached to the "Vintage Caribbean" bedroom from last week. I had wanted to do a textured wall and was afraid to try. When I finally got the nerve, the result was so rewarding. It was hard work and very messy, but I will do it again...somewhere!

Here's the before...


It's not awful, just not great.

Here is how it all started. I used basic, quick-drying spackling compound and dry wall finishing tools. I tried one little patch hoping for the best. My family really enjoyed looking at this...not really!  It was like this for about two weeks before I decided I could do it and went on.


I layered this compound on over every wall surface in the entire bath! Then, after drying, I sanded it lightly, primed, then painted the base color. I then glazed on top of that with plastic bags. That took forever to dry but I love the result...




The mirror did not have any frame. I am very particular about using things we have, so my wonderful husband took 100-year-old wormy chestnut mouldings from my grandparents old house and cut them down to frame the mirror. The old victorian house was dismantled around 50 years ago and all the beautiful mouldings and trim were painstakingly bundled together and stored in an old guest house where they remain today. I am determined to use as much of this treasure as I can!!


I replaced all the fixtures with black iron...well, actually my dad helped me with that! I did put up the light fixture though.


This is what you do with a pot rack...use it for towels!




My husband was very proud of my effort and pleased that our bath reminds him of the houses on
his beautiful island, Puerto Rico. Here we have our tropical getaway in the mountains of North Carolina!

I love trying little projects like this. It is a great project if you have walls that aren't great, especially in an old house. I encourage you to try. I'm glad I finally got the courage for this one:-)

Happy Met Monday!!