Inspiration for an Easter Tablescape

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Easter is one of my favorite holidays, and since I love setting a pretty table for any occasion I took the time to put together a wonderful tablescape for Easter.

I hope that this provides you with some inspiration to decorate your table this year!

I enjoy runners as a base for my table.  Since Easter is all about the outdoors I chose a runner made of linen that is cream colored with a tan border to represent natural fibers.

As a center piece I choose an arrangement of green hydrangeas with a pop of color and whimsy by adding a berry spray in the middle that shoots up and droops wonderfully.  This bring the colors of spring flowers indoors.

Next up are the place settings.  I love layers.  I start with a round charger made from natural fibers to again bring out the nature aspect.  White dishes are a workhorse in my tablescapes.  You can use them everyday or dress them up for more formal settings.  In this display I layered white dinner plates and white salad plates.  In between I added a wonderful cabbage green dinner plate.  Cabbage screams Spring and pulls this together well.  On top I set a wonderful white footed bowl.

Small cabbage bowls are set to the side and can be used to hold Easter treats, or a small side dish.  I've put a wicker nest filled with green wood grass and a decoupage egg at each place setting this year.  It lends a touch of elegance and whimsy. 

Attention to small details will also help pull this together.  I've pair some sweet lace edged light green napkins with a big yellow flower napkin holder.  Again with the spring theme these colors compliment the whole table.

What's Easter without bunnies?  I love bunnies and would not have a table without them.  Here they are depicted in a wonderful platter, and a sweet little teapot!  Pull out all your bunnies and scatter them around.

 Last but certainly not least I've taken a little time this year to decoupage some eggs.  Using blown eggs and a couple of napkins you can create these treasures that will elevate your table to the next level and add that extra special touch.  I was so happy with how these turned out and they are more vibrant than show in the pictures.  These will keep for years, and I can't wait to make more!

I hope you found some inspiration to decorate your table this year. 

Happy Easter!

Thanksgiving Tablescapes and Helping Tips Cheat Sheets

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Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I wanted to bring you some Thanksgiving inspiration for your table this year. Along with a couple of Cheat Sheets that I created.

First up is the tablescape.  I'm all about a well dressed table.  I just love decorating and changing up the table to create a theme or just enhance a mood.  MGG can attest to that as I have a spare closet full of various, dishes, tablecloths, napkins, and serving pieces!  It's a problem.  Along with cookbooks.  But that's a story for another day!

Each year I change the mood of my Thanksgiving table.  Last year I went with a frosty winter theme filled with the colors of silver, greys, and mercury glass with touches of orange pumpkins. 

The focal point was a beautiful mercury glass apothecary jar I used as a vase to hold off white hydrangeas, surrounded by silver candlesticks which held white tapers.  Orange pumpkins that hold side dishes are displayed.  I also found a wonderful glass pumpkin that I picked up which added more sparkle.  Add in some smoky grey wine glasses and the table is ready for the food.

The place settings started with silver chargers, followed by white dinner plates, and then a favorite salad plate that have deep oranges and rusts with a pumpkin motif.  Add in some southern styled silverware and a fluffy white napkin and you are set for a simple yet elegant dinner.

This year I changed the mood by going will deep fall colors such as copper, rust, deep oranges, creams, and silver/mercury glass. I also added a pop of green to bring in the outdoor feeling inside.  The textures are different as well, with silk, glass, wood, and ceramics.

I used the same mercury glass apothecary jar as a vase.  This time I found some muted green hydrangeas which gave the table a pop of color.  Surrounded by silver candlesticks with cream tapers and cream mini pumpkins.  The runner is copper silk with a nice sequin accent. 

For the place setting I used wood chargers to give the table an earthy feel.  Cream dinner plates topped with a salad plate that displays fall leaves in deep reds and rusts.  Top that with a lidded cream colored pumpkin bowl.  Gold crinkle glasses frame each plate along with clear wine glass goblets to give a more substantial feeling.

Dinner is served!

I hope you enjoyed the tablescapes and found some inspiration for your own table.  Now I've would like to share with you 2 cheat sheets that I created for Thanksgiving, and beyond.

TURKEY ROASTING TIMES

PUMPKIN PIE SPICE

Have a wonderful, peaceful Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Decorations!

I can't believe the year has gone by so fast and it's already time for Thanksgiving.

I know that you all are planning your menu and getting ready to prepare tried and true favorites for that special dinner.  Me included!

But, before I share a few new recipes to try this Thanksgiving Day I wanted to share with you something just as important.  Thanksgiving decorations and tips!  I love to dress a table.  I do it often even for casual dinners.  The tablescape to me is a creative expression that sets the tone for the food.  

Let's have some fun and take a look at some of my favorite Thanksgiving tablescapes.

Centerpiece:

 

(terrible picture...sorry!)

A large hurricane sleeve filled with fresh gourds, pumpkins, squashes, and fall leaves.  Perfect for the season.

 

Birch tree candles from Pier One top clear glasses pillar holders of varying heights.  The pillar holders are from Pottery Barn.  A nice fall runner and some pine boughs and white pumpkins help keep this seasonal and elegant.

Place Settings:

Each place setting holds a wonderful stoneware leaf salad/dessert plate and is topped with a bottle brush turkey that can also be used as a place card holder.  A bit of whimsy.

A more rustic yet elegant styled table.  Antique silver charges topped with grey dinner plats and topped with a wonderful pumpkin salad/dessert plate are all wrapped in linen napkins.  Rustic wood flatware add a cozy touch.  Serving dishes are a joy when shaped in fall pumpkins.  Serving dishes and dessert plates from Williams-Sonoma.



Serving Tips:

 

I've posted this cute way to serve finger foods before.  I just love the idea for olives or pickles so much that I had to share it again.

VEGGIE BOWLS

Carry the harvest theme one step further with bowls made from fresh squash.

What you need:

• Winter squash such as butternut or acorn
• Olives

Make it

1. Cut squash so you are left with the ”bowl” of the vegetable to carve into a container.
2. Scoop seeds and stringy flesh from the inside of each squash.
3. Wash and dry well.
4. Slice a small piece off the bottom of each so they sit flat.
5. Place on a platter or tray and fill with olives.

I hope I've brought you some inspiration and that you have fun decorating for this very special day!

Easter Dishes 2013

I'm planning out my menu for Easter Sunday, hope you are too!

I just heard that it's supposed to rain here on Easter.  That's okay.  It gives us an excuse to stay inside and eat the wonderful feast, and then curl up on the couch for a movie.

First, let's talk tablescapes.  Time to pull out the fancy dishes and decorate the table for the special meal.

Here is what my table will look like.

  
I created the centerpiece with  two large stalks of grass that are sprinkled with butterflies.  Three bowls, everyday cereal bowls, used to hold speckled eggs tying the centerpiece together.  Add a bunny (gotta have a bunny) a nice runner, and some outstanding rose patterned bowls and salad plates.  These top some basic white dishes.  Add some wine glasses and you are good to go.  This is perfect for Easter brunch, dinner or lunch.  It really sets the mood.   

 (Just need to add some fancy napkins and cute holders, some flatware and I'm set!)

On to the food...This year I'm being really adventurous and making all new dishes for Easter.  Crazy, I know!  But I have confidence that they will all turn out okay, and I'm trying to pick a variety of dishes that don't take all day to make.  I think I've got it down.

Since I haven't made any of these recipes yet I don't have pics to show you.  But want I want to provide you with are the recipes so you can get some inspiration for your own dishes.


Salad:  Spinach and Strawberry Salad
Main Course:  Ginger and Thyme Brined Pork Loin
Vegetable:  Steamed Carrots with Garlic-Ginger Butter
Starch:  Roasted Acorn Squash with Quinoa and Red Rice Stuffing
Bread:  Bunny Tail Buns
Dessert:  Carrot Cake With Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting

Anyone have any ideas for another dish???  Or maybe a great drink?

Thanksgiving Decorating Ideas

I'm off on a trip to visit family over this Thanksgiving week.

I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday celebration filled with family, joy, laughter, and love.

As a parting post...(I'll be back in a week.)

I found some really cute Thanksgiving Decorations to share with you.

I really love this idea...

FLOWER POWER PUMPKINS

This is what happens when your pumpkins want to get all dressed up and come to the party.

What you need:

• Scissors
• Fresh or silk flat flowers
• Pumpkins and gourds
• Glue gun and glue sticks

Make it

1. Using scissors, trim the stems from the flowers.
2. Glue flowers on pumpkins with hot glue gun.

This craft is not intended for children. Always supervise and assist young children when they are working with scissors or small pieces of craft materials.

Great for appetizers...so cute and unique

VEGGIE BOWLS

Carry the harvest theme one step further with bowls made from fresh squash.

What you need:

• Winter squash such as butternut or acorn
• Olives

Make it

1. Cut squash so you are left with the ”bowl” of the vegetable to carve into a container.
2. Scoop seeds and stringy flesh from the inside of each squash.
3. Wash and dry well.
4. Slice a small piece off the bottom of each so they sit flat.
5. Place on a platter or tray and fill with olives.

Always supervise and assist young children when they are working with scissors or small pieces of craft materials.

This is wonderful for houses that have staircases...
I saw some cute wheat stalks at the grocery store yesterday
that would work great for this!

SHEAVES OF GRAIN

The harvest of grain gets the respect it deserves in this beautiful banister showcase. Make it rustically authentic by tying it up with twine, or a bit more elegant by using ribbon.

What you need:

• Dried grains from a farmer’s market or a craft store
• Twine or ribbon

Make it

1. Tie bundles of grains to each baluster on your banister.

Always supervise and assist young children when they are working with scissors or small pieces of craft materials.

articles from Kraftrecipes.com

This is the centerpiece for my table.  I just took a glass hurricane sleeve and filled it with pumpkins and gourds of all colors, shapes, and sizes, and added fall colored leaves as filler.

So much fun!

Here's another great earthy centerpiece idea...

and we can't forget a great place setting...

Hope this gives you some great ideas on how to start a decorating tradition and create memories that last a lifetime!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy 4th of July!!! Tablescape

Happy 4th of July!

A friend sent me this comment on Facebook and I thought it was so appropriate that I had to share:

"Remember this as you celebrate this weekend! The American flag does not fly because the wind moves past it. The American flag flies from the last breath of each military member who has died protecting it. American Soldiers don't fight because they hate what's in front of them...they fight because they love what's behind them. "

Here's some great ideas for a pretty 4th of July tablescape.

We're having an outdoor party.

The table is set with a red, white, and blue theme.

A sweet red basket holds patriotic napkins, flatware, drinks, glasses. and patriotic flags.  The white flatware tied in bundles with a deep navy colored napkin are a great touch! 

A white colander is all set to hold slice of watermelon and other fruit.

The place settings consist of a red wicker charger, a navy blue plate peppered with white dots in a floral fireworks pattern.  A salad plate in a lighter blue version also in a white dot floral pattern.  A white bowl tops the set.  So pretty!

Some great ramekins used for condiments will keep in the theme...

Simple and easy...that's always best...oh and to have fun!  Happy 4th of July!