Planning for Easter

This table is something of a dry run for Easter.  We may have as many as ten around the table this year, as our son and his family are moving to the Austin area the week before Easter.  I will finally have all my chicks in one state -- yay!

I knew I wanted to use the pretty Castleton Gloria china that my mother surprised me with two years ago.  You can read the story of that surprise here.  Gloria has a thin robin's egg blue band around the rim, so I pulled out these coordinating placemats, which were a gift from my sister.

I also wanted to use these cute dessert plates, as well as some pastel gingham napkins, all from Pier 1 this year. I added egg cups in colors to match the napkins and some paper mache eggs I've had for years.  Here's the pink version . . .

the lavender version . . .

the green version . . .

and the yellow version.  I was pleased with how well all the different pastels worked with the robin's egg blue. 

 For a simple centerpiece, I pulled out two nests and added robin's egg blue eggs.  (Is that redundant?)

For Easter dinner, I will remove the candles and add fresh flowers, more placesettings and real eggs in the egg cups as placecards.  And the grands might "need" a chocolate bunny at their places, don't you agree?

Thanks for stopping by!  I will be linking to the party at Cuisine Kathleen, so hop on over to see other tables featuring eggs, birds, and/or nests!

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!

Blue and Yellow Outdoor Table

The inspiration for my table this week was this bouquet of deep yellow ranunculus my husband brought home from HEB, our grocery store.  Aren't they stunning?  I have never seen them at HEB before, but I hope they will keep stocking them.  I read about ranunculus online, and apparently they can be grown in our part of Texas, so I plan to look for bulbs at the nursery this fall.  Have any of you grown them?

I decided to use the flowers on our first outdoor table of the season.  Although we have gone from Lovely Spring weather to Fiery Furnace weather in the last few days, it's still nice and breezy here in central Texas.  I chose a blue and white Williams-Sonoma tablecloth for the patio table.

Blue and yellow are perennial favorites at my house, and this table also gave me a chance to showcase some pretty salad plates I bought on my recent trip to Sur la Table in Austin.  In addition to those cute rooster napkin rings, these plates caught my eye.  They are made of melamine, and I love the design.

 Here's the placesetting, anchored by a yellow dinner plate from Pier 1 and a blue and white napkin from Williams-Sonoma.  The blue glasses almost vanish on that tablecloth!

 Here's a closer look at the salad plate's pattern.

 And here's a "rim shot" that shows how perfectly the blues in the plate and the napkin go together.

 Another tabletop view. . .

 The glasses are Villeroy and Boch's My Garden pattern in blue.

 And a few more views of the lovely ranunculus. . .

Thank you for visiting my outdoor table this week!  I will be linking to Tablescape Thursday at Susan's Between Naps on the Porch so be sure to visit there to see lots of spectacular tables!

Turquoise Breakfast Table

On a recent day trip to Austin, we went to Sur la Table because they were having a big sale.   Just inside the door, my eye was caught by a display of turquoise with stripes and polka dots -- all on sale!  There were also roosters involved, but my friend Michele and I have a No Roosters pact.  I tried to hold firm -- sorry, Michele -- but these napkin rings were just too cute not to bring home with me.

Here's the simple breakfast placesetting.  Please excuse the lighting issues -- the sun wasn't cooperating when I took these photos, and I turned on the light over the table for some shots.  In addition to the striped placemats and napkins, also from Sur la Table, I used woven chargers from Pier 1, our everyday stainless flatware, and acrylic stemware from Target -- bought on clearance a couple of months ago.

Here's a closer look at the stemware, which will be perfect for the patio this summer.

For the center of the table, I used two more turquoise pieces in the Sur la Table collection -- this cute ceramic berry basket and the polka-dotted pitcher.

Here's a view of the table, set in the breakfast area.

Here's a diner's view.  I hope Michele will forgive me for breaking our pact -- though, surely our agreement didn't extend to cute turquoise polka-dotted roosters? 

Thank you for visiting!  I will be linking to Tablescape Thursday at Susan's Between Naps on the Porch, so be sure to check out the great tables shared there every week!