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Monday, June 28, 2010

O Canada!


In honour of Canada Day on July 1st, I've created a patriotic tablescape in our little cabana.
Rather than state the obvious as I usually do when narrating, I'll leave it all to the words of our national anthem to take you through the pictures.
(I'll post a few details at the end)

O Canada!

Our home and native land,


True patriot love in all thy sons command


With glowing hearts, we see thee rise
The True North strong and free

From far and wide,


O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.


God keep our land glorious and free

O Canada! We stand on guard for thee.


O Canada! We stand on guard for thee.


Happy Canada Day!


Although we Canadians tend to be a little bit "laid back" in our patriotism I, for one am very thankful to be a Canadian and am happy to celebrate the fact that I live in this magnificent country!

Thanks for looking!  
Of course, I will be joining Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch. Thanks to Susan for hosting this fun time each week! Be sure to head over and check out all the other patriotic tablescapes!
The details...
Centerpiece - glass vase (from long ago) with flags wrapped in red napkin
"Canada" vases - created with the use of vinyl cling-ons from the Dollar Store, faux red/white roses inside with tall glass votive holder
Hurricane shades over Partylite pillar candle holders (from long ago)
White plates - "Maria" by Pier 1
Red plates - ? no name set of four (from long ago)
Stemware - created with the use of vinyl cling-on from Dollar Store
Napkins & Centerpiece tablecloth - Bandanas from Dollar Store
Gold-en flatware (from long ago)

Monday, June 14, 2010

Time for Cake

 

I've mentioned in a past post (here) that at the office where I work, we celebrate all the birthdays for the month on a day when all those people happen to be working.  We all take turns making the cake however, it has become "yours truly" who decorates the table.  A job any tablescaper would love!

These are some pictures of what I came up with for the June birthdays last year.  I did a practice session at home and transported it all to set it up in our Staff Room.


Lime green, lemon yellow and white were the colours of the day.




My mom let me borrow this lemon/lime pitcher and glasses.  I used them to serve lemonade to the birthday gals.
This lemon/lime tray was a thrifty find at a goodwill shop.  Once it was on the Staff Room table, I used it to serve the lemonade.


I love using repetition for centerpieces as it allows all those seated to have the same view.
  Here, I went with three matching vases with a handpainted floral design on them. 
Inside, I placed faux yellow tulips and other stems wrapped in a white cloth napkin (to hide the stems).  These were placed on lime green napkins turned on the diagonal topped with a small white doily.  Two little ducklings survey the table.



Each birthday place setting consisted of a white placemat, gold charger, white luncheon plate, lime green napkin topped with a yellow dessert plate.  Since cake was the only item being served, a single gold fork was centered on top. A votive candle and name card personalize the setting.



Here is how it looked all set up at my house. Made me want to invite the birthday gals over instead of transporting it down to work! 
We would have had more time to linger too rather than fitting the celebration into our coffee break time.


Of course, we mustn't forget the most important part...the cake!  It was actually my turn to do the cake and I made this Pineapple Angel Lush Cake. It is so easy and tastes so summery!  (Recipe below)


 I will be linking up with Susan's Tablescape Thursday at BNOTP.  Be sure to stop by and see the marvelous displays of talent there!



Pineapple Angel Lush Cake

Ingredients

1 (3 1/2 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding

1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice, undrained

1 cup thawed whipped topping (or you can use actual whipped cream like I did!)

1 (10 ounce) package prepared round angel food cake (or you can buy a pre-made one if you have them in your local stores)

10 small strawberries for garnish (optional)

Directions

Mix dry pudding mix and pineapple with juice in medium bowl.

Gently stir in whipped topping.

Cut cake horizontally into 3 layers.

Place bottom cake layer, cut side up, on serving plate.

Spread 1 1/3 cups of pudding mixture onto cake layer.

Cover with middle cake layer.

Spread 1 cup of the pudding mixture onto middle cake layer.

Top with remaining cake layer.

Spread with remaining pudding mixture.

Refrigerate at least 1 hour or until ready to serve.

Garnish with strawberries (optional).

Store in refrigerator.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Where Do I Keep it All?

Congrats to The Tablescaper who is celebrating her first year blogiversary with a terrific meme and I thought I'd join in the fun.  I'm excited to see how others store all their dishes and pretties.

And since it all has to do with tablescapes, I'm linking to Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday as well.

To the people I know, it seems like I have a lot of dishes/pretties but compared to other bloggers out there, I better go shopping!

This is the Dish Pantry Mr. Delight made for me in the closet of our son's bedroom when he moved out.

These pictures are from last year and I've since "added to my collection" and Mr. Delight is promising to add more shelves in this bottom area.(He really is a "delight"!)



My glasses and stemware are kept in this china cabinet.



I have a closet in a downstairs room that I use for all my tablecloths, runners and placemats.
I used to keep my napkins here as well but
 have moved them to an empty chest of drawers in a spare bedroom as they were continually getting messed up!
 I have grouped them in sets of 4 napkins and put an elastic around each set.






This is another closet in my daughter's old room which is where I store my vases, candle holders and other pretties when not in use.


I got a little "kiddie" step stool that folds up so I can reach the top shelf easily.

Another dresser in this room holds all my candles, a drawer for votives, a drawer for tealights, a drawer for pillars, etc.




Yet another chest of drawers in the basement holds various "supplies" for tablescaping.




Do I dare say, there is ANOTHER dresser in the basement that houses all my smaller candle holders.


I'm pretty sure all tablescapers are looking for the IDEAL storage for their dishes and pretties no matter where they live.  
After trying to come up with the perfect solutions, I've realized no matter how you store things (not just dishes), ultimately you will have to CLEAN and STRAIGHTEN every so often.
There is no ideal method that does not involve some of that!
I'm fortunate though that I didn't get into this hobby until after my kids left home and I can now use their closets and old dressers!

Although it involves a bit of running around (aka exercise) if I put it altogether, I can end up with something like this...and that's the fun of it!

 
 Thanks for stopping by. 
Do you have room for all your "stuff"?