Fireside Dinner

I have had to put in extra hours this week at work so am relying on some "old" pictures for TT at Between Naps on the Porch.  If you want to be inspired by lots of fabulous versions of tablescapes, head on over to Susan's blog on Thursdays. You won't be disappointed!




This is a tablescape I did near the end of November last year when Mr. Delight and I were having some friends over for dinner.  We decided it would be more cozy and intimate if we moved our round table and wing back chairs in front of the fireplace.

Please Click on Pic for Full View

While it was still fall, it was also just before I was going to decorate for Christmas so instead of going with a more autumnal tablescape, I went with the rich tones of gold and burgundy.

For a more vintage feel, I used my Battenburg lace placemats.  As we were having steak and seafood, I placed gold vinyl placemats(cut in half) next to each place setting.  These were used to protect the tablecloth from any drips of garlic lemon butter that might happen to fall from the individual butter/candle pots (seen in next pic). A clear shell-shaped plate will hold the shell remnants.

Please Click on Pic for Full View

For a centerpiece, I used my trio of glass vases filled with faux burgundy roses and leaves in the bottom part and gold beads with burgundy votives in holders in the top portion.  Gold glitter grapes were tucked in the spaces at the bottom.

Please Click on Pic for Full View

I remember it was a wonderful evening spent enjoying friendship, food and a few glasses of wine in front of the fire on a cold wintery night.  Mr. Delight did most of the cooking so I felt like a guest in my own home which was a real treat!

Next week, I hope I have more time to play with a more traditional fall 'scape or maybe even my Thanksgiving one as that is not very far off for us Canadians!

Fall Decor 2009

 

I've finished my fall decorating for this year (well, I'm always tweaking, right until I put it away!) and managed to get some pictures taken and uploaded.  As this post includes a tablescape and fall decor I'm linking it to Between Naps on the Porch hosted by the Hostess with the Mostess, Susan as well as the Fall Party that Rhondi at Rose Colored Glasses is hosting.

 I'll start with a little tablescape I did on the small table we have next to our dining room windows...a favourite place of mine to decorate!
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I added some chocolate brown in the way of a tablecloth to the more traditional gold and oranges of fall.

No, it's not an optical illusion, one green plate is really smaller than the other! A faux pas on my part as I quickly took the place settings from another table I'm working on which had included two different sizes of the green plates (don't have enough of one size).

My favourite sunflower tealight holders by Partylite add a warm glow to the table.

This is a vignette I did on one end of the island in the kitchen. Unfortunately, I didn't move the tall apothecary jar into a positon so you could see the cute little ceramic pumpkins inside!  Got the little turkey at HomeSense last year on the clearance table for $3.

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A bit early but I've put out this little Halloween display using jack-o-lantern votive holders inside the top portion of my trio of glass vases. (click on pic for full view)

Coffee table display using a little chest that I usually keep my drink coasters in and a leaf bowl.

Fireplace mantel decorations

Display on side table (opposite side table is decorated the same)

Sunflower vignette in corner of dining room

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Fall Decor on one end of sofa table. The tall metal candleholders are by Partylite and can hold pillar candles or votive holders.

Grouping on other end of sofa table

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Full view of sofa table

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Hope you enjoyed the tour of my fall decorations.  It is such a wonderful time of year and so fun to decorate with all the vibrant colours!  Grab a mug of hot apple cider, sit back and relax while you check out the many fabulous tablescapes at BNOTP and fall decor at RCG!

Last Year's Fall Decor

I will be posting my TT earlier than usual this week as I am going out of town on a little shopping trip with my mom and want to have it ready to link up to BNOTP.





Many thanks to the amazing Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting Tablescape Thursday yet again! I am still working on putting out this year's fall decorations but since I wasn't a blogger then, I thought I would share with you a couple of things I did last year including a tablescape that was one of my favourites of the season.


This display happened by accident last year as I was unpacking all of my pumpkin bowls ( ordered from the Shopping Channel quite a few years back) from their boxes and I didn't have anywhere to put them at the time.  I created a grouping on my dining room table and decided to add to it with some fall florals, leaves, faux pears and pillar candleholders.

This was a little vignette I set up on our kitchen island.  I got the "Give Thanks" pumpkin at a local grocery store and put it next to a cross candleholder.  It helps symbolize the theme of Thanksgiving to me.  Here in Canada, it won't be long until its Thanksgiving Day.

Dining Room Corner Display

Some fall decorations and a hot beverage help make this table into a cozy nook for reading.

Coffee Table Display (click on pic to get full view)

Fireplace Mantle Display (click on pic to get full view)

Mr. Delight and I love eating many of our meals here at this little table for two by our dining room windows.  I used the rich bold colours of autumn to create a more dramatic tablescape. 

The mosaic vase and all the candleholders are from Partylite

I swapped out the pumpkin bowls for these new acorn bowls (HomeSense two years ago).

Nightfall makes the setting all the more romantic!(click on pic to get full view)

Played around with some photo "effects" here.

Hopefully, I will have all of my fall decorating done by next week and will be able to share some new vignettes/tablescapes with you.   In the meantime, you know where you can find tons of eye candy in the form of fabulous tablescapes.   Enjoy TT for every little pleasure it brings you!

Back to School

This week marks the return to school for many students.  While I don't have any little ones to send off, our twenty-one year old son left for his second year of university last week causing me to reflect on the many years of  "the first day of school" our children had growing up.  Naturally, that became the inspiration for my tablescape this week.  I must also give credit to Michelle at sweetsomethingdesign as I was so taken with her Back to School 'scape a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to give it a try too!

I also went with the apple and sunflower theme that Michelle used to create her fabulous 'scape.Those two items just seem to say "September and Back to School" all on their own.

Notice the sunflowers on the layered square tablecloth....

Added some "school supplies" in a square glass vase...

Mr. Rooster says "Rise and Shine! Time for School!"

Two apple scented pillar candles were placed on one side of the centerpiece

The centerpiece was created using a dark green metal pedestal bowl filled with faux apples, sunflower and leaves.

I found this recipe for Jumbo Breakfast Cookies which are supposed to be a good way to get kids who won't eat breakfast to have a "breakie on the go" as they have Cheerios, rolled oats, whole wheat flour, raisins, etc in them.   Recipe to follow.

They are actually really delicious, nice and crispy and go good with a cold glass of milk.

For those of you with school aged children, enjoy the "first day of school" every year....those days fly by and are soon just a memory.

Many thanks to the incredible Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting Tablescape Thursday once again.  It is always a highlight of my week to be able to check out all the fabulous tablescapes which you will find links to on her blog.   Just click on the button below and enjoy!


Jumbo Breakfast Cookies

1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 egg
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats
1 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups Cheerios cereal
optional:  1 cup chocolate chips

1.  Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
2.  In large bowl, stir together sugar, butter, peanut butter, water, vanilla and egg.  Stir in remaining ingredients except cereal.  Gently stir in cereal.  On ungreased large cookie sheet, drop dough by rounded 1/2 cupfuls (rounded 1/3 cupfuls for 15 cookies) 4 inches apart.  Flatten dough to about 1 inch thick.  (Bake these crispy cookies as soon as the dough is mixed.  Letting the dough stand awhile or refrigerating the dough will make the cookies softer.)
3.  Bake 13-15 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand until cool before removing from cookie sheet. (Important to do this as they can easily break into pieces while warm.)  Store loosely covered.

From Here to... Maternity!

Remember that old movie, "From Here to Eternity"? Well I've used that title with a bit of a twist to design this week's tablescape for TT.


 

At the end of July, a co-worker of mine returned to work after having gotten married and I had wanted the Staff Room table to reflect an appropriate "Welcome Back" so I set about creating a "From Here ...to Maternity" tablescape.  Unfortunately, at the time, I had forgotten my camera and was unable to take any pics of the setting there.  I have recreated the look of that tablescape here at home and can now share it with you.

I divided the tablescape into three sections and linked them with the framed words/pics above.  It starts with the "wedding theme" section.  Their wedding took place on a beach (see my first tablescape - beach) and thus, the reason for the shells and couple kissing on the sand in the glass vase.  This is where the "From Here...." starts out.

The next section is related to "married life" for the new bride.  As you can see, it doesn't reflect the "fun" side of it! LOL! (I know, this is kind of sexist, isn't it...men clean too!)  I placed new bottles of dish soap & toilet cleaner and a duster in glass vases and surrounded them with rubber gloves and sponges/cloths.

The final section was the "baby themed" area which was the "......To Maternity (?)" part.  I rolled baby blankets into glass vases and found the cutest, softest little doll at a local store for $3 which I placed in a wire basket and covered with white napkins.  All of the little teddy bear ornaments were given to me by my daughter years ago.

Since I was recreating this at home, I decided to take the liberty of dressing the table as if it was more for a wedding shower buffet luncheon (just playing here) and put out some of my white plates with basket weave on the borders and my blue flower plates.   I arranged the forks inside the napkin rings which are lovely crystal (ok, acrylic!) pendants that my sister-in-law gave me last Christmas.  Should we have ice tea or lemonade in the glasses?

I have left lots of room on the table for the wonderful appetizers, tea sandwiches and baked goodies I'm sure the "cook" is whipping up as we speak.  Of course, there will be a beautiful fancy cake in honour of the bride.

Or instead of a luncheon, maybe it should be an evening bridal shower?

Hope you enjoyed this "From Here....To Maternity" tablescape as much as the new bride did!  She, along with all of my co-workers thought it was amusing and lots of fun.   

Don't stop here....there are lots of fabulous tablescapes awaiting your perusal over at Susan's Between Naps on the Porch.