Dansk Winterfest

For this week's Tablescape Thursday at Susan's Between Naps on the Porch, I'm featuring my everyday Christmas dishes, Dansk Winterfest, which we use throughout the holidays.  I found these dishes at a wonderful Dansk outlet that used to be in the French Quarter in New Orleans.  I was so disappointed when I discovered it had closed!  The table is set in the breakfast room today.

 Here's a look at the placesetting.  I was drawn to the pattern because it includes blue, my favorite color, and because of its casual, modern look.

Here's a bit closer look at the pattern.

And here's the "rim shot."

 The pattern also includes glasses and mugs.  I'm using only the glasses for this table.

A few years after I bought the dishes and glasses, I found the matching candleholders at an outlet near Princeton, NJ, while visiting my daughter and son-in-law.

The simple centerpiece also includes a rustic wooden tree from Pier 1 several years ago.

Here's one last look at the table.

Finally, here's a closer look at the baker's rack, decorated for the season.

Thank you for visiting my table this week!  I hope you will leave a comment before you check out the rest of the tablescapes set for this Tablescape Thursday at Susan's Between Naps on the Porch!

Thanksgiving Tables

I've been out of town this week, so didn't have time to set a table for Tablescape Thursday.  Instead, I'm posting some photos from past Thanksgivings, before I joined the tablescaping tribe.  I didn't take many pictures of my tables back then, so this won't take long!

This table is from 2007, when there were just three around the table -- my husband, my son, and me.

This was a super-simple centerpiece -- a glass bowl with yellow apples anchoring yellow-striped alstroemeria and hypericum berries.  I've had the tapestry runner for years.

The placesetting included my wedding china, crystal, and silver, and I dressed up the napkins a bit with a sheer ribbon and sprig of faux berries.

This was last year's table.  We had eight around the table, with my father-in-law and my daughter's family joining us.  The centerpiece is again a simple one -- my favorite kind!  I used two types of mums and hypericum berries in a silver-and-glass piece from my in-laws' collection.

I used my grandmother's wedding china, Admiral by Heinrich H&C, and I set the dinner plates on gold pottery plates from Pottery Barn to highlight the gold in the design.  The embroidered linens were also my grandmother's.  I do not look forward to ironing that tablecloth this year!

In this view, you can also see the small silver bowls holding Seckel pears, which I found in a large container at Sam's.  They are so little and cute -- not to mention tasty!

You can see more of the pears in a glass bowl on the sideboard, which held dishes we needed for dessert.  Salad plates allowed us to try more than one dessert!

 And, finally, here's one more super-simple fall centerpiece idea.  The wooden candleholders are from the Pottery Barn outlet in San Marcos.  I hope to get back down there soon!

Happy Thanksgiving, and thank you for visiting my table this week!  I hope you will leave a comment before you leave to visit all the wonderful tablescapes at Susan's Between Naps on the Porch!

Thank you, Marigene!

This week's table features some pretty blue glasses that Marigene of In the Middle of Nowhere sent me as a gift.  I was very touched when she offered to send me some of these glasses after I admired them on her table!  I love the ribbed design and the soft shade of blue.  The pattern is called Sirrus Blue, by Libbey, and Marigene insists they are all over the place in her part of the country.

The glasses are great with my everyday dishes, Windsor Park (Mikasa - discontinued).  The placesetting also includes blue placemats (Walmart), orange napkins (Crate & Barrel), and my silver, Belvedere (Lunt).  I love using orange and blue together this time of year, especially.

We are in the kitchen again this week, and I've pulled the pumpkin bought at HEB back in early October in from the entryway table to serve as a centerpiece, along with a wreath of faux fall berries and pine cones.

Here's a look at the tabletop.

Here's a better look at the Windsor Park pattern.  I am still not tired of these bright colors!

 Here's the whole table. . .

 And a view toward the baker's rack.  Maybe you can spot the small Pilgrim couple I bought at a craft show many years ago?

Thank you again, Marigene!  You're a sweetie to send me these pretty glasses!  Thanks, too, to my visitors this week!  I hope you will leave a comment before you check out the rest of the tablescapes set for this Tablescape Thursday at Susan's Between Naps on the Porch!

Veterans' Day

When I arrived on campus this morning, I saw this from my office window.  The Air Force ROTC cadets are taking turns holding a flag vigil.  Periodically, another set of cadets arrives, salutes, then takes the place of the others.  Those leaving their posts slowly pivot and walk away.  It's very moving, and I wanted to record this reminder.  My father is a veteran of the Korean War, and my father-in-law served in World War II. 

New Breakfast Table!

This week's tablescape features our NEW breakfast table.  Here's what the old one looked like:

And here's the new one!  I wanted something rustic looking with a distressed finish so we wouldn't have to worry about scratches or dents.  The chairs belonged to my in-laws and have been in storage since my father-in-law moved to an independent living community earlier this year.  I like the way they look with the table, although we will probably look for other chairs eventually.

This is the first round table we've had, and I wanted to try some round placemats with it.  These are from Walmart -- just $1.99 each!  I'm using the Elizabeth dinner plates from Pier 1 again -- love these colors for a fall table!  The green napkins and flower napkin rings are also from Pier 1, and this is our everyday stainless flatware.

For the centerpiece, I pulled out a gold planter to hold some pretty red and gold daisy mums.  Then I noticed a huge and beautiful pomegranate in the fruit bowl.  My husband bought it to use in a dish he was making, but it was the perfect color to highlight the red in the plates and the flowers, so I pressed it into service.   Since this table was set for Sunday night's supper, I added votive holders for candlelight.

 

These olive green glasses are from The Great Indoors, a store we discovered on a trip to Colorado.  If you have one near you, you are lucky!  They also sell online, though.

Here's a closeup of the daisy mums -- love the striking colors!

Here's a view looking toward the living room.
 

Another view. . . .

Here's one more look at the whole table.

Thank you for visiting my table this week!  I hope you will leave a comment before you leave to visit all the wonderful tablescapes at Susan's Between Naps on the Porch!

Birthday Dinner

This time of year is always busy for our family, as my husband, our daughter, and I all celebrate our birthdays.within one week. When our son, who was born in February, was little he asked plaintively, "How come MY birthday is the only one that's not NOW??"

The inspiration for this week's table came from one of my sisters, who sent me a set of beautiful "jeweled" mercury glass votives -- and some chocolates! -- for my birthday. 

I decided the votives called for a "dressy" table, so I chose to use my wedding china, crystal, and silver.  The first time I used them for Tablescape Thursday,  I asked my visitors to suggest other colors to try with my Lenox Windsong china and got several good ideas.  Ellen, who blogs at Scribbler Unfocused, suggested gray or charcoal, so I began to look for some table linens in those colors.  Here I'm using the same charcoal herringbone runner and gray napkins I used with my mother's Castleton Mayfair two weeks ago.

I had three mercury glass hurricanes that coordinated with the new votives, so I used those to hold creamy hydrangea blossoms (thank you, HEB!).

To complete the centerpiece, I added some candles in my candlesticks.

Here's a closer look, in which the herringbone pattern of the runner can be seen more clearly.

Here's a closer look at my silver, Lunt Belvedere --.

and my crystal, Lenox Moonspun. 

A few more table views. . .

And now some views with the candles lit . . .

And, finally, one of the pretty votives from my sister.  Thank you, Leigh Ann!

Thank you for visiting my table this week!  I hope you will leave a comment before you leave to visit all the wonderful tablescapes at Susan's Between Naps on the Porch!