Despite the fact that many people start decorating for Christmas after Halloween, for me, the Christmas season doesn’t officially begin until the day after Thanksgiving. As such, I have spent the past number of days going up and down the steps carting up my holiday decorations. During this month I hope to have a number of different tables to share with you, beginning with this one.

 

What I hope to convey with this table is that you do not have to have Christmas dishes, or any type of Christmas decorations in order to create a festive, seasonal table. Upon close inspection, there is nothing Christmassy on this table at all, with the exception of the Christmas colors of red and green, colors that I chose because they are the color of apples as reflected in the Franciscan “Apple” dinnerware pieces that I have used here.

A hunter green tablecloth provides the base. I manufactured a red runner out of some fabric that I had stored in the closet. I simply folded it to the size that I wanted and ran it down the center of the table.

The charger plates are Italian ceramic; I inherited these from my mother. I topped them with a bright red dinner plate from Pier One. A Bordallo Pinheiro geranium salad plate was placed on top of this, with the final piece being a bread and butter plate in the Franciscan “Apple” pattern.

The cups and saucers are also Franciscan apple. The red stemmed water glasses are by Villeroy and Boch; the wine glasses are from Rogaska in the “Gallia” pattern. 

The Milano red flatware by Ginkgo International in the Le Pris pattern seemed the perfect choice. The Apple napkin rings that I used here I have had for decades, and have no idea where I got them originally. I decided to go bold with lime green napkins, and I really like the look. 

This is a lovely table that would be perfect for a holiday lunch, while employing no specialty pieces whatsoever. Start shopping at your house for items that you can use for the holidays. 

 

This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday

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It doesn’t seem that long ago, but it has been nearly 10 years since I wrote a post about the play food that I used to love as a child, you can read it here. Despite the fact that I haven’t been a child for a longer than I care to admit, I still love play food. Recently, I was shopping at one of my favorite places, The White Hare, when I found this pitcher of lemonade. It was a part of a set that included glasses of lemonade, but they were mason jars, and that wasn’t the look I was going for. I cannot tell you how long I circled this pitcher before I bought it, their 20% off sale justifying the expense. 

 

A pretty tablecloth can make even the simplest table beautiful. This is one of my favorites, because it always says summer to me. 

I kept the antique crystal candleholders from last time, pairing them with a white ironstone pitcher full of yellow Alstroemerias. 

Bordallo Pinheiro geranium leaf chargers.provide a good base for yellow Waechtersbach dinner plates. They are topped with Bordallo Pinheiro Majolica Green Geranium Leaf salad plates on which I have placed a mini wreath (also from The White Hare) and faux lemon.The bubbly green water glasses are Villeroy & Boch; stemmed juice glasses were inherited from a family friend. 

One of my favorite sets of salt and pepper shakers is this cut lemon pair, adding a touch of whimsy.

  Flatware, that I get a lot of use out of, is Flatware is vintage Noritake Primastone.

 

I hope this table brightened you day.

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This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday

 

As a consequence, I feel compelled to do tables with a gardening theme, so this is my offering for the month of April. The seed packets scattered about on the tablecloth are part of a set. I am so excited about these because it will allow me to grow things that I haven’t grown before -- at least from seed -- scallions, for example. Fingers crossed that they grow.  

  I paired them with round woven placemats atop of which I placed Bordallo Pinheiro geranium leaf chargers. 

 

 

The wine glass that I chose featured blue hydrangeas that echo the blue hydrangeas the bunnies are holding in the centerpiece. This glass is by Portmeirion.

 

Also from Portmerion is the cup and saucer. The glass and the cup and saucer are a part of their vast “Botanic Garden” and “Garden Harmony” collections. I find this entire set irresistible, but my wallet says no.

 

 

The pair of bunnies at center is reused from my Easter table. They work well in a garden theme, although most gardeners do not want bunnies in their gardens. The little stand holding the brunch menu I got from Michael’s years ago. I don’t use it nearly as often as I should. I have decided that I am going to find one of my mother’s handwritten recipes and use this stand to display it in my kitchen.

 Hopefully, enjoying meals at this table will satisfy me until I can get out and plant those seeds.

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I so much enjoyed putting together my last table that I decided to bring forward many of the same elements, the table covering in particular. But even though it looks very similar to my last table, there are more differences than you might imagine at first glance.

 

Focusing more on black in this table than I did in the last one where I used the same table topper, I chose mirrored black flatware. Glassware here is by La Rochere. 

 A nod to my mother comes via the use of her pewter pitcher.

 This week, like last, Italian food will be served, I have chosen Italian salad and Cavatappi with Pesto. Bon Appetit!

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 This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday

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When I have one person for lunch, we always dine in the conservatory. It’s my favorite room in the house, and it soon becomes the favorite of any and all who visit. Those who dine with me do have to agree to sit down with a plant or two, sometimes hovering over their plate, when they come dining. While I have tried to reign myself in over the past couple of years, I recently couldn’t stop myself from buying a small vanilla plant (in the white pot on the pedestal to the left) in the hopes that I live long enough to see it flower and (dare I dream?), bear.  I do have blossoms on my coffee plant, so who knows what’s going to happen?

  I also found this little face vase, irresistible, and had to have it as a vessel to hold terrarium plants that I decided to take out of the terrarium because I was finding it a bit overgrown. Doesn’t she have the sweetest face?

Continuing the plate stack are these wonderful Longchamps wine label appetizer plate, topped with lightly floral soup bowls from Hartstone Pottery, part of a snack, set, that I inherited from my mother.

The hammered flatware is Mikasa "Opulent" (a new favorite) also found on Amazon, as is this super cute little cream pitcher (that comes as a set of two for a fantastically low price). Isn't is darling?

The silver salt and pepper shakers belonged to the late Mr. O-P’s maternal grandmother (!!).  I discovered these when I was digging around in a box of things in the belly of the beast. Honestly, I just never know what I’m going to find. I fell in love with them on sight, and they have been a fixture on the Conservatory table ever since. If you look closely, you can see the initial "K" because his grandparents' last night was Keogh.

If you’re ever in the area, stop by and join me. A table is always waiting.

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 This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday

You may (or may not) have noticed that I’d taken a bit of a break. That’s because I decided, at long last, to clean. I am not a cleaner. My mother LOVED to clean; me, not so much. She came to help me clean before a party once, and said that she really enjoyed cleaning at my house because she could really see results. That pretty much says everything.

 

This past week I decided to tackle the conservatory. I divided it into quadrants, so as not to be overwhelmed.  For those of you who have plants, and I am talking a lot of plants, you know how time-consuming it is to care for each one individually, particularly if you grow citrus indoors, and that citrus has scale. Scale produces a type of sap, called “honeydew,” that is a clear, sticky substance that, I soon came to realize, pretty much had stuck to everything from the floor, sofa, cushions, to the windowsills, etc. I spent a good portion of last week on my hands and knees, with Dawn and a soft sponge, scrubbing. On the plus side, those trees are now outside and being treated, and the conservatory is sparkling clean, and all the plants look beautiful and healthy.

I became enamored with the carrot theme around Easter and that inspired the purchase of the Maxcera carrot mugs, the Spoonflower carrot fabric (that had me hemming napkins and the table topper), as well as digging out my plates for the summer, including this set from Williams-Sonoma featuring beautiful carrots.

 

The carrot fabric napkins that I made paired nicely with the green checked napkins that I had gotten from Pottery Barn. Naturally, I had to have orange flatware to go along with it. (Imagine how lovely these would look with dark blue, not to mention fall colors.)

Carrots have those wonderful green tops, so I thought my Villeroy and Boch glassware appropriate.

 

The Chantal carrot bowls (purchased at Home Goods more than a decade ago) alongside are favorites of mine. They are whimsical and fun, and perfect for serving small salads be it fruit, coleslaw, or leafy green. The Blenko pitcher reinforces the carrot orange. 

 

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This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday