Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving weekend is almost over, but I wanted to record for posterity our table for the holiday meal.  Here's a view of the table before I added any flowers.  The tablecloth is new, purchased with our wedding china, Lenox Windsong, in mind. 

 I really like the colors in the tablecloth, and they complement the border of the plates nicely, I think.  Here you'll notice that the napkins alternate -- there were only four matching napkins in the store -- but by Thanksgiving Day, my wonderful son-in-law rectified that, making a special trip to a Williams-Sonoma in Houston to supply four more!  And, to solidify his already-stellar standing with me, he ALSO bought me some peppermint bark while he was in the store! 

 I used two hurricanes with candles and mixed nuts on the table.

The placesetting is simple, as we served buffet-style, so no salad plates or soup bowls were needed.

 Here's another table view that shows the blue-gray border of the tablecloth.  White hydrangeas have also been added to the centerpiece in this view. 

 My wedding crystal, Lenox Moonspun, is shared by a number of my sister bloggers who married in the '70s.  Girls, I believe our pattern now qualifies as "vintage"! 

An across-the-table view. . .

And one final look. 

Thank you for visiting today! 

Linking to Between Naps on the Porch and Cuisine Kathleen.

Dishes and Doilies

My table this week features a wonderful birthday gift from my dear friend Michele, who blogs at Adventures in Thrifting.  Besides being thrifty, she is crafty!  I first "met" Michele online in the 1990s, and we finally met in person a few years after that.  She is my most faithful e-mail correspondent, and we usually exchange two notes per day.  For my birthday last month, she sent me a table runner she'd made from doilies she had collected throughout the year, then sewn together.  It looks great on the dark wood of my dining room table.  She managed to get it the right length by cleverly e-mailing my daughter when she knew she was visiting and asked her to measure my table.  Here's how it looks on my table between tablescapes:

I wanted to set a special table to show it off, so I chose my late mother-in-law's Wedgwood Potpourri pattern.  Its creamy background color is a good match for the doilies.

The scalloped edges of the Potpourri plate echo the shape of the two round doilies in the runner.  I love the cream soup bowls -- and the little flowers inside the rim.  I used navy linen placemats, turned vertically and draped over the edge of the table, and flax-colored napkins, my silver, and blue stemware.  Deep pink alstroemeria blossoms in bud vase napkin rings dress up the placesetting a bit.

Here's the large central doily.  I love this unusual design.

More alstroemeria in a simple pitcher add a little more color.  My mother-in-law had many pieces in this pattern, including the vegetable bowls and salt and pepper shakers pictured here.

Here's an across-the-table view.

And here's a view of the whole table, set for six.

Over on the sideboard, demitasse cups await.

I love these dainty cups -- so sweet, with a little flower inside.

Thanks, Michele, for inspiring another tablescape with your lovely birthday gift!  And thanks, everyone, for visiting my table this week.  I will be linking to Let's Dish at Cuisine Kathleen and Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch, so don't miss all the other tables available there!

Welcome, November

Since I seem to be managing only one post per month (if that) lately, maybe posts welcoming each month are the way to go.  October was busy around here!  One weekend we went to Houston to keep our grandchildren while their parents took a trip, and another weekend, we took the family to Las Vegas to celebrate my husband's big 6-0 birthday.  Both occasions were lots of fun! 

My birthday is three days before my husband's, and our daughter surprised me with a big box from Crate and Barrel that arrived a few days before my birthday.  Inside were eight placemats and napkins!  Does she know me, or what?  Here are the placemats and napkins by themselves, before I set the rest of the table.

I tried a couple of different patterns before deciding I liked this one -- "Elizabeth" from Pier 1 --  best. The flowers around the rim are a great match with the napkins and embroidered flowers on the mats.  Dark green stemware and my silver rounded out the placesetting.

The zinnia napkin rings are some I've had for a while, but their petals echoed those on the placemats.

Here's a look at the table, set for four, as I only have four placesettings of these dishes.  Serendipitously, the alstroemeria I had on the breakfast table worked just fine moved to the dining room table as a centerpiece, along with some off-white candles.

I included this next photo so you can see that the Elizabeth pattern even has flowers beneath the plate! 

Just a couple more photos that I like:

Thank you for visiting my table this week!  I hope you'll also visit Cuisine Kathleen for Let's Dish and Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday!

Tackling the Out-of-Season Closet

Did you follow any of the 31-Day bloggers during October?  I followed two or three really good ones!  One of them, Sarah at Bless Your Dress Mess, inspired me to tackle my out-of-season closet in the guest room.  My main closet off the master bedroom is usually pretty tidy and organized, but my out-of-season closet?  Not so much!  Sarah offers some great tips for sorting through clothes in a way that fits busy lifestyles.  You don't have to do it all at once or decide immediately whether something is a keeper or a tosser.  Check out her series!

Back to my out-of-season closet.  Here are some Before photos.  The closet already had double-hung rods, but as you can see, out-of-season clothes were just hung any which way.  Some of the items had hung out in this closet for QUITE some time, too.  That giant tub held things I haven't worn in at least three years.

 Here's another look at the lower half of the closet.  See all those folded items piled on the shelf above the hanging items?  And can you spot the red leather sleeve of my son's high school letter jacket?  He graduated in 2004, and it has been hanging there all this time.  (Don't worry, son -- I didn't get rid of it!)

To the left of the closet opening is a rod for long hanging clothes.  

I went through the clothes on each rod, deciding whether each item really belonged in that closet -- was it something I would definitely wear next spring/summer?  I found some items that I'll pass along to my mother next spring, so I kept those in the closet, too.  Everything else I moved to another spot or put in a bag to take to Goodwill.

Then I organized everything by clothing type -- tops together, sorted by sleeve length and color, etc.  Here's how the closet looks now.

 Yes, there are actually empty hangers -- and space for guests to hang their clothes.  What a concept!

I am happy to have this closet in good shape again!  Thanks, Sarah, for the motivation!  Now, if I can just get my husband to tackle HIS out-of-season closet. . . .