A Little Fall Decorating

We have been traveling a lot lately, for family reasons and for work, so when we finally got to enjoy a weekend at home, I pulled out some fall decor and had fun arranging it around the house.  I haven't bought anything new this year -- except some potted mums -- but opening my boxes marked "Fall" and "Halloween" was still fun!  Come on inside!

The entryway table includes a basket of potted mums that will look better (I hope!) when the flowers are fully open.

Across from the entryway, is the dining room.  Here's the sideboard, with some ceramic pumpkins that hold candles.

Come on into the living room.  I've added a small pumpkin and some gourds to my lantern and topiaries.  I love the star-shaped gourds!

 Opposite the fireplace is the sofa table, which holds a large real pumpkin inside a fall berry wreath from Pier 1.  The candlesticks are also from Pier 1.

Moving into the kitchen, here's the baker's rack with some seasonal pieces.  The lowest shelf includes an old blue metal roaster of Grandma Rachel's filled with wicker pumpkins I've had for years, as well as some wooden ghosts from Pier 1 (I should own stock!).  .

The top shelf holds an orange pitcher and some of my everyday dishes, Mikasa Windsor Park.  I like blue and orange together, as you can tell!  The middle shelf holds a fall village scene.  Arranging the fall and Christmas village scenes was always my son's job, but now that he's grown and living far away, I decided to take a turn! 

Thanks for stopping by!  Now go check out some great tabletops at Marty's Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life.

Simple and Sunny

My inspiration for this late September table came from some napkins I picked up on sale at Williams-Sonoma several months ago.  I have always loved sunflowers (don't most people?!), and I've looked forward to setting a table featuring sunflowers.  Our HEB grocery store obligingly advertised sunflowers as their weekly special, so I began to shop the house for the rest of the things needed to set a simple table.

I started with some striped placemats from Crate and Barrel that repeat visitors have seen before, then added some dark yellow plates from Pier 1. 

I included the green glasses my father-in-law gave us earlier this year when he moved into a retirement apartment.  I used this tablescape (with a few more placesettings) when hosting our daughter's family and my father-in-law, and he told us that the glasses originally belonged to my mother-in-law's parents.  Her father managed a grocery store in Mississippi, and the glasses were some sort of premium back in the 1940s.  I was interested to learn that the glasses were older than I'd thought, and it was fun to see my grandchildren drink from glasses their great-great grandparents had owned!  The pattern is Inspiration, by Anchor Hocking, and is also called Burple -- but Inspiration sounds much nicer!

The silverplate is also from my in-laws' collection, purchased to augment their silver when hosting large dinner parties.  I was able to identify the pattern on Replacements.com as Wm. A. Rogers' Park Lane, but it's apparently also known as Chatelaine or Dowry.    Any ideas why it would have three different names?

Here's the whole table, with the stars of the show -- the sunflowers!  They can be tricky to arrange, so I used florists' tape to bind the stems together so they'd behave in the vase.  You might also notice that I've turned two placemats into a runner across the center of the table, to add a little interest.

Here's one more look at these wonderful flowers.  I'm writing this post almost a week after taking the photos, and the sunflowers still look great in my dining room.

Thank you for stopping by!  I hope you will leave a comment before you leave to visit all the wonderful tablescapes at Susan's Between Naps on the Porch!

Switch 3

Again this week I'm presenting a table we set at my daughter's house on a recent visit, this time using her everyday china.  When she married ten years ago, my daughter chose Switch 3, one of Villeroy and Boch's prettiest patterns, in my opinion.  Each piece has a different design, but they all coordinate beautifully.  We have had fun adding some of the extra pieces to those she received as wedding gifts. 

The placesetting includes placemats and napkins made to match this pattern.  I especially love the salad plate design!  The silver is the Gorham Chantilly that belonged to my in-laws.

Here's a really close look at the pattern!

Villeroy and Boch made dozens of items to go with this pretty pattern.  Here's a candleholder...

And here's the large casserole dish.  Love the checked border!

My daughter kindly climbed on a chair to get this bird's eye view for me.  If you visited last week, you'll recognize the same flowers on this table.  Notice anything else?  After I uploaded the photo I saw that the placemat in the top left is different from the others!  I asked my daughter about it, and she said the placemats are reversible! 

Here's another view of the whole table that also gives a better look at the square baking dish.  I think this Villeroy and Boch pattern sets a pretty, cheerful table!

Thank you for stopping by!  I hope you will leave a comment before you leave to visit all the wonderful tablescapes at Susan's Between Naps on the Porch!

Rosalinde for a New Generation

In a post last week, Cherry Kay of Entertaining Women included a wonderful phrase about family dishes passed down to her:  "I am blessed to shepherd them for a season."  I love the image that evokes of enjoying and caring for family treasures, then passing them on to others.  Last weekend we were in Houston to celebrate my father-in-law's 88th birthday and to see my grandchildren in a church musical.  I took the opportunity to play with my daughter's dishes, starting with the beautiful Haviland china in the Rosalinde pattern passed down to her by her paternal grandparents.  Our plan was to set a modern-looking table with this vintage china pattern.

We started with bright green chargers my daughter found at Crate and Barrel.  The rippled chargers echo the plates' scalloped edges and bring out the green in the pattern.

The Gorham Chantilly silver was also passed down from the same grandparents.  They had an extensive collection, because they frequently hosted dinner parties for their university colleagues and friends, so the silver was divided between my daughter and my son.  I contributed the pink napkins, bought on clearance at Macy's recently.

Here's a closeup of the delicate china pattern.  My in-laws collected both American and French versions, which differ slightly, but both include the gold rim. I believe the French-made pattern has a cream-colored rim.

And one of the silver pattern...

The crystal also came from her grandparents, but is of more recent vintage.

Here's an attempt at a bird's eye view.  The silver metal vases and crystal candlesticks are my daughter's.

Pretty pink petals!

Here's a look at the whole table.  The bright chargers, simple flowers, and the bare table lend a modern feel to this pretty vintage china.

Thank you for stopping by!  I hope you will leave a comment before you leave to visit all the wonderful tablescapes at Susan's Between Naps on the Porch!

Pears, Pears, Pears

The inspiration for this week's tablescape was a set of dessert plates I bought on clearance at Crate and Barrel last January.  I noticed yesterday that they're available at Crate and Barrel Outlet, if you "need" some!

For the placesetting, I used some striped placemats and an orangey-red napkin, also from Crate and Barrel, and a yellow dinner plate from Pier 1, along with my usual silver and everyday glasses.

For a table featuring pears, what's needed for a centerpiece?  Yep, some actual pears.  I began with this fun candleholder that my mother gave me for Christmas one year after I admired it at Little Rock's wonderful Fifth Season gift shop.

Here's a closer look.  Love the colors of these pears! 

Here's a look at more of the table.

Then I decided to try something different with the pears.  Using some of the flowers and berries from last week's centerpiece, I arranged pears in a vintage yellow casserole.

Here's a closeup of the fruit, flowers, and berries.

And here's how the table looked with this centerpiece and candles in old brass candlesticks.  Which look do you like better? 

Thank you for stopping by!  I hope you will leave a comment before you leave to visit all the wonderful tablescapes at Susan's Between Naps on the Porch!

Red + Gold + Green

For a Tablescape Thursday a couple of months ago, I set a table with three plates from Pier 1 in their Elizabeth pattern.  I only had three plates for that table, but after reading my post, my sweet daughter brought me a fourth one from her store in Houston. Then, last weekend while browsing at Pier 1 (where Halloween is in full swing, by the way), I spotted a stack of Elizabeth dishes in the Clearance section!  I picked up four salad plates plus these napkin rings, which might have been made for this pattern.

Here's a look at the placesetting.  I'm using the back side of some placemats my daughter gave me and some green linen-y napkins I've had for a while.  If you've visited me before, you'll recognize my silver and my everyday glasses.

Here's an up-close look at the pattern and the napkin ring.

Even closer....

I decided to add some small dipping bowls my son gave me for dipping bread into olive oil.  LOVE that.

For the centerpiece, I found some alstroemeria and hypericum berries in just the right shade of rusty red at HEB, and arranged them in a green pottery pitcher from Marshall's.

Here's the view from the host's end of the table.  I chose some old brass candlesticks, as they seemed to go better with these colors than silver or pewter ones.

Here's another angle with a better view of the candlesticks. 

Thank you for stopping by!  I hope you will leave a comment before you leave to visit all the wonderful tablescapes at Susan's Between Naps on the Porch!