Pink, Gold, and Silver Tablescape

Happy First Day of Winter my bloggie friends!  Today I am sharing my dining room Christmas tablescape which is lots different than in years past. When I started pulling out my Christmas goodies this year, I remembered some pale pink vintage ornaments I had and decided to set up a pale pink, gold, and silver theme rather than my usual burgandy and gold.  I found some gold chargers at a yard sale this summer which made a nice underlayer to my mix and match Limoges dinner plates that have pink flowers on a white background with gold accents.

My little French cherub candleholders are regulars at my table and are perfect for this tablescape since they aren't terribly tall, avoiding having to peek around them to see your table mates.

The pretty vintage balls that were my inspiration ended up in a round Limoges casserole dish and then were set on a vintage Italian florentine tray.

I used pretty pink roses and mixed them with some Christmas greenery in what are usually mercury glass votive holders I got from Pottery Barn a few years ago.

I typically always do this embellishment to my chandelier.  I drape vintage mercury glass garlands and then hang vintage ornaments from them.  Sometimes I have ribbon bows to attach them, but this year, I went simple and just used ornament hangers.

My mom and dad had a few pieces of gold Pickard china which I inherited and incorporated...a cream and sugar, salt and pepper, and a little dish.  I also used my mom and dad's silverware, King Edward by Gorham in addition to some antique silver plate napkin rings. 

Moody lighting compliments of Mr. Cloud. LOL!



I love to tie tulle on the back of my chairs.  This time I used a pale pink tulle and alternated between sparkly silver tulle and sparkly gold tulle.  Lastly, I added a little ornament on each one that I got at Hobby Lobby when they were half price.

A fun little vignette on my dining room sideboard featuring a couple of my great aunt's hand painted plates flanking a pretty maiden plate that I got at an antique show a number of years ago. My little snow angel makes appearances here and there during the Christmas season.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas.  I'll be working right up until Christmas Eve, but then I have a 3 day weekend with my family and friends.  Enjoy your time with your dear ones as well.  My 16 year old got his driver's license yesterday.  YIKES!  Time goes by so fast, so enjoy them while you can.

Sharing with Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday and Bev's Pink Saturday

Until next time,

It's Finally Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Hello Friends, how have you been?  Long time no see...I could regale you with all of the reasons for my absence, but I think instead, I will just share this year's mantel.  It is quite a departure from last year's very white and very peaceful "Mary Did You Know?" theme.  I have to say here that I admire all of you who get your decorating done right after Thanksgiving and every year I think that "next year,  I'll be one of the early ones" and every year, I get to it when I get to it, usually, well...about now.  I guess that's just how I roll and maybe instead of stressing over it, I should just embrace that it takes me a little longer to decide I want to get my holiday on.  Yeah, I think that's what I'll do...I'm 50 years old now, I can do stuff like that.  LOL!  

As usual, I digress.  Back to the mantel.  I made this vintage ornament wreath several years ago when they became kind of popular and you could only find them in a few cool shops and they were made with real vintage ornaments and they were super pricey, like close to $100.  I, being the dedicated DIY'er that I am, proclaimed, "I could do that and it wouldn't cost $100 either."  I began scouring eBay for vintage ornament lots and the glass garlands on the cheap.  In usual fashion, I'm sure I went overboard and bought many more than was necessary which is probably how I came to have like 10 strands of vintage glass garlands and boxes and boxes of vintage ornaments.  I'm fairly certain if I were to add up the cost of this baby, it wouldn't be a dime over $95 plus my time, so chalk up another shrewd business deal to my column.  OK, maybe not that bad, but after all of the glue gun burns I incurred on this one, I'm not sure it was really worth it.  Digressing again...anyway, I'd not had it out in a couple of years and I decided I'd really like to use it so, I cleared my mantel that is usually layered with several white mirrors over top of the big antique gold one and suspended the ornament wreath with a fishing line.  I took a couple of big glass jars that I already had and filled them with some of the aforementioned glass garlands and vintage ornaments.  I liked the look of that and wanted to keep it simple in a fancy way, so I just added a couple of mercury glass votives and called it good.  That is, until a day later when my cute 9 year old boy was helping me with the tree and just disappeared, going up to his room.  He reappeared a moment later carrying his treasured nutcracker that he got at an estate sale a couple of years ago.  He put it on the mantel in front of the wreath.  Despite my control freak tendencies, I had to admit, I liked it.  Then my 13 year old disappeared and came down bearing his Christmas snow globe which he added to one side.  I liked it, too.  I told the 9 year old to go bring HIS Christmas snow globe down and we added it to the other side.  Then, we ALL liked it.  Best of all, it was a family effort and that is really special.  What do you think?

On a completely different note, I have to tell you that on Friday, my local Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint stockist, Shades of Amber, brought in the awesome Marion Parsons, aka Miss Mustard Seed, to do a few little workshops and book signings for her book, "Inspired You".  I had signed up for one of them, mostly because I really wanted to meet THE Miss Mustard Seed.  I know, I'm kind of nerdy like that...anyway, the seminar was very fun, Marian is SUPER nice and down to earth as well as being unbelievably energetic and talented. AND I got a picture with her.  Pretty cool, huh?  I'm hoping that being that close to her maybe rubbed off on me, but time will tell and I guess you guys can be the judge at some point.

Thanks Marian, for sharing your life, your home, your talent, and even some of your sources with all of us.  You're a peach!

I see by the computer clock that it is WAY past my bedtime, so I guess that's it for now.  I'll be back this week with a little more Christmas inspiration as well as some chit chat about Marian's book. 

Until next time,

Vintage Inspiration from Putz Houses and Ornaments

I love little vintage Putz houses.  They don't have to be in great shape, just old and sparkly and cute.  My favorite one is in the lower right.  It was on my parents' Christmas tree for as far back as I can remember.  Since my parents passed away, it has been on my tree, but this year, I decided to give it a more prominent place amongst my other Putz houses so I could see it every day.  Isn't it fun to pull out your box of ornaments and find those that you've had forever and see them once again?  I love it and my boys do too.  The little one's favorite is a small wooden nutcracker ornament that I bought him when he was just a wee one.  He looks for it every year and gets so excited when we finally get to it.  I love that.

I also have some pretty vintage ornaments and here are a few that I snapped real quick this morning.  Not my best photos, but I was in a rush (imagine that????).  Anyway, I am linking up with Debra's Vintage Inspiration Friday and Bev's Pink Saturday, so when you get a chance, pop on over and visit these lovely sites with loads of inspiration for your decorating.

And for the record (and for Bev's special Christmas Pink Saturday post), my favorite Christmas movie of all time is "It's A Wonderful Life".  I cry each and every time I watch it.  My kids roll their eyes when I pull it out every year.  And I love it, every time.  What is your favorite Christmas movie?

Until next time,