Olla-Podrida: Pottery Barn

Showing posts with label Pottery Barn. Show all posts

Thursday, December 19, 2024

Santa in the Snow Tablescape

This will be my last tablescape for 2024. It will not be the last table that I set, but with the holidays coming up, and all of the activity that surrounds them, I won’t be able to share any more.

This one is a lot of fun. It started with the fabric that I absolutely fell in love with. I bought 2 yards of it, put it over the table, and went from there.

The “placemats,” for lack of a better word, I found a number of years ago at Pier One. I’m sorry that I only bought four of them because I love them so much. The nubby-edged red plates are also from Pier One.

The holly leaf salad plates I got from Pottery Barn last year. I really like these because, with such a simple design, they can be paired with almost anything, and yet they have a big impact.

On top of them is a Fitz and Floyd Santa mug (that you last saw here), doing double duty as a candle holder. It was a snap to put this together. I used a bit of floral foam in the bottom to hold the candle in place, then it was just a question of adding some dried Spanish moss, some greenery, a few berries, and I was done. I think it makes a nice impact considering the minutes it took to put together.

The script greeting at each place setting I found here. The clear snowflake Irish coffee-style mugs that I fell in love with are new this year. I found them here. They will get a lot of use this year holding hot drinks and boozy coffees.

The wooden snowflakes are favorites, and are used all over the house during the holidays, including on the tree.

The deep green stemware makes a nice impact here. When you have a table covering as bold as this one, you have to have equally bold dinnerware.

I found the red napkins here, and struggled to decide which type of flatware to use. I tried, McKenzie-Child’s “Courtly Check,” gold, and ultimately ended up with this very versatile black flatware that makes a statement while being understated.

The Santa in the center riding the bicycle I inherited from my mother. She used to collect Santas of all kinds and had them running down the center of her dining table. I have all of them, of course, but tend to use just one at a time. The tree I’ve had forever, it is illuminated with tiny string lights.

I hope this finds you all thoroughly enjoying your holiday prep. Don’t wear yourselves out!

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday

Friday, October 13, 2023

When Witches Go Riding Tablescape

Does this table surprise you? Well, it surprises me! I had no intention whatsoever of doing a Halloween table this year. This came about when my aunt and my cousin came over to join me for lunch to celebrate my birthday earlier in the month. My cousin brought the napkins made out of Halloween fabric, as well as the spider tea light candleholders. She said now that her children are grown (they’re both in high school) she no longer sets tables to celebrate Halloween, and wanted to know if I would like these items. Would I? Yes, I would! The next day I took down my neutral fall table (that I really enjoyed during the month of September), and set about creating this one.

I started by topping the table with fabric by J. Wecker Frisch; it is not a Halloween fabric, per se, but one that lends itself quite well to the holiday.

I topped it with black placemats, and Italian green chargers (that I brought forward from last week’s table). On top of the chargers, I placed bright yellow Waechtersbach ceramic dinner plates. To complete my plate stack, I added vintage Halloween plates, that I got a number of years ago from Williams-Sonoma.

I was trying to decide what flatware to use, and at one point was considering gold to pick up the gold elements in the plates (that may not be visible to you, but are very much so in person), but ultimately decided to go with that pop of orange, and I’m happy with my choice. You can find the orange flatware here.

Witch broom handled mugs, ample enough to hold soup, a latte, or a big cup of cocoa topped with whipped cream, got a number of years ago from Pier One. The owl stemware is new this year and I found it here.

I paired my cousin’s luncheon size napkins with solid green dinner size napkins to pick up the green elements in the fabric and give the table some added interest.

The skeleton hand napkin ring holding the napkins can be found here. The spider votive candleholders hold green tea lights.

The skeleton candlesticks I got it Michael’s a couple of years ago, the candles are from Colonial Candle of Cape Cod.

In the center I have a vintage look pumpkin from World Market filled with fresh flowers and fern fronds.

Beverages (Serpent’s Venom and Cauldron Cola) are from The Potion’s Cauldron. They have a variety of fun flavors, and bottles to match.

Considering that I wasn’t planning a Halloween table at all, I’m very pleased with the way that this one turned out.

BOO! And Happy Friday the 13th!

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday

Thursday, June 22, 2023

"Morning Mist" Tablescape

Don’t ask me why I decided to name this tablescape “Morning Mist,” because I honestly don’t know. Those are two words that happened to pop into my head while I was setting it, and I decided to go with it.

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?

I decided to do something slightly girly, thanks to the vase, and went with the color scheme of pink and green. The chargers, as you all know, undoubtedly by now, are Bordallo Pinheiro geranium leaf chargers. Topping them are new Kate Spade dinner plates from the "Make It Pop" Collection. I love the green surround, deeper green border, and pink ring in the middle. On top of them are Bordallo Pinheiro Majolica Green Geranium Leaf salad plates.

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 floral napkins are from Pottery Barn. The pink stemware is from Amazon; the green water glasses are by Villeroy and Boch.

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.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday

Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Ho! Ho! Holiday Luncheon!

Back in my youth, I would host multiple holiday gatherings, enjoying each one of them. As I got older, the number dropped but at least, in my opinion anyway, the quality soared. This year I decided to host a holiday luncheon. I spared no expense. There were four of us, including me, and we were all looking forward to it. I worked for weeks in preparation, cleaning, decorating, planning the food, making the food, ordering fresh flowers and greenery…you get the idea. It was originally scheduled for Saturday, December 10, and then due to illness of one of the guests, I was lucky enough to be able to change it to Sunday, December 11. All systems were go until 9 o’clock that morning when I learned that one of the ladies had fallen, and the other had taken her to the ER. What was it that Robert Burns said about the best laid plans? Yeah.

On the plus side, the house is clean, it looks lovely, and I have a lot of delicious food. Truth be told, as many of the dishes that can freeze, will be frozen, I have plenty for some future event. But just because it can’t be enjoyed in the way in which it was originally intended, does not mean that I can’t share it with you.

This table went through numerous changes before I decided upon this final one. On top of the checkered tablecloth are black and cream placemats that you can’t see in the picture, but would be able to see during dinner because the leafy green placemats (that look like greenery surrounding the plates), are surreptitiously removed when the diners grab their plates to hit the buffet. There’s no way I’m going to insist that my guests hack their way through greenery to get to their food.

Originally I had tin chargers under the greenery and pine cone plates (that I got at Pottery Barn years ago), my intention being to match the tin to the reindeer vessel that made up the centerpiece. Later I discovered that the red charger plate with embedded rhinestones looked much brighter.

The Santa plate on top I inherited from my mother. It is from Fitz & Floyd 1989. It would be removed and later used to serve dessert. The flatware is from Cabela’s, and has a pine cone design to match the pine cones in the plates.

I tried a number of different cups, saucers, and mug combinations, deciding that the white mug was the best as it picked up the white in Santa’s beard making things brighter. The emerald green water glasses I inherited from my mother. They have made many Christmas appearances. The wine glasses are from Mikasa and in the “Park Lane” pattern.

The darling wooden Santa napkins rings were, again, my mother's; the napkins are from Pottery Barn.

The candle holders that look like trees I inherited from my mother as well. I always admired them on her table, and am now thrilled to have them on mine.

The little ceramic baskets with holly leaves at each place setting, holding a Lindor milk chocolate truffle, I inherited from my mother as well. They are bone china from the Philippines, 1986. I always like to have a little goodie at the table. In addition to this little treat, each diner was going to go home with a can of hot chocolate mix from local chocolatier, Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate.

The centerpiece I have mixed feelings about. I had ordered this requesting the “Premium” (read: the absolute BEST and most expensive) size, and paid the premium price. This looked a little puny compared to what I was expecting. On the plus side, the vessel is darling, and I intend to make my own arrangement for future years that I guarantee will look much showier than this one.

I had covered the serving area with fresh greenery, and used place card holders to display the names of the dishes. I find that people really enjoy knowing exactly what they’re digging into.

The champagne flutes were a new edition this year, intended to be used for serving the house “Poinsettia” cocktail, a tasty mixture of cranberry juice, Cointreau, topped off with champagne.

Whatever you do for the holiday season, and however you do it, I wish you great success!

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday

Thursday, December 1, 2022

Christmas at the Lake Tablescape

This is a table that came about quite by accident. I was clearing things off of the large table in the dining room, placing some of the pieces on my table for two in the conservatory. Before I knew it, I had a nice table setting coming together, so I just went with it.

The canoe once belonged to my mother. She had a very rustic, woodsy guest bedroom that I always loved. When I had to clear out her and dad‘s house, I took everything from that room, but up until now wasn’t entirely sure how to use it all. I had brought the canoe up from the belly of the beast and just set it on the table in the conservatory and loved the way it looked. I decided I was going to go with a rustic, in the woods, by the lake kind of vibe.

The placemats are among my favorites and are from Pier One. If I’m ever struggling to get in the Christmas spirit, these placemats always do the trick.

They are topped with tin chargers on which I have placed both an earth tone stoneware dinner plate, and black stoneware salad plate, each from different collections. On top of the plates are super cute little sauce pitchers that I am absolutely in love with. They work well at breakfast for syrup, or at dinner for barbecue sauce, mustard sauce, or horseradish sauce, depending upon your entrée.

The napkins and the twig reindeer (one of a set of three) are from Pottery Barn. I’d like the casual, knotted look that forms a half circle around a green-stemmed dessert dish that I inherited from longtime family friend, Betty. To replicate the bells in the placemats, I chose larger bell ornaments, and I love the look. Each guest can go home with one as a remembrance of the gathering.

The coffee mugs are new this year and I think they work well here. The champagne flutes I have been using for a variety of different cocktails, so I couldn’t resist putting them on this table to give it a bit of sparkle.

The flatware, one of my favorite sets, is from Cabela’s.

The rustic tea lights (aren’t they adorable?) are bits of hollowed out bark. They are perfect for this table! In the photos you’ll notice that I used real tea lights. I think I would use faux tea lights if I planned to have them burning for any length of time. I wouldn’t want to catch the wood bases on fire.

I hope you enjoyed seeing this table as much as I enjoyed putting it together. Pretty much everything on this table came from Amazon. Click on the highlighted names of the various pieces to take you directly to the listing.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday