Spring Centerpiece

Last year, I hosted Easter for 11, and had set 2 tables for dinner.  You can see them here.  We've been having a heat wave in the northeast(6 days in a row of record high temps here in Binghamton,) and it feels like summer not spring.  To capitalize on the warm weather, my MIL will be hosting Easter at the cottage this year.  Still, I don't like a naked table, so here is my simplified Spring Table Centerpiece.

I've had the little dollar store bunnies in vignettes in the past, but wanted to freshen them up a bit.  Luckily it's been spray painting weather, so outside they went.

And several thin coats of white and they had more of a bisque appearance.

I laid out some sheet moss, and placed my thrifted footed dish that I found here in the center.  I turned the segmented crystal dish upside down to create a platform for this lantern that I rescued from the curb.  I threw in some mossy rocks and called it done.

This centerpiece took no time at all and carries on the simple natural feel that I have in my Spring Mantel, too.

Thanks for popping in and decorating with me.  I'm linking this up to The Style Sisters' Centerpiece Wednesdays.

 

Giving Thanks

There have been some gorgeous Thanksgiving tablescapes out in blogland lately.  I'm keeping mine fairly simple since we'll be traveling up to Rochester where my MIL will be hosting Thanksgiving this year.  I put an assortment of dried foliage in a large glass vase that I love for it's autumn colors, a floral pick under a cloche, and this large wooden pear that I found clearanced for $2.97 at JoAnns.

I love the size of the pear.  The back(or the front if it was used properly) has a little hole in it, because the pear was meant to be a birdhouse.

I thought that this year it'd be nice to have the family write what they're thankful for and stuff those little notes into the pear.  We can bring the pear up to Rochester and read what we're all thankful for on Thanksgiving day.

I printed up a sheet using my favorite font, Bradley Hand,

and cut the sheet into strips.  I'm sure the strips will have the usual suspects like family and home, as well as things like the XBox, but this year one of the things I'm thankful for is all of you who share in my projects both the successes and failures.

This week I'm also thankful for having my Mullet Wingback Chair featured at both Primitive & Proper and the T-Shirt Diaries.  Cassie at Primitive & Proper writes an incredible decor blog with tons of inspiring pictures and projects.  Robin at the T-Shirt Diaries writes a blog with a mix of topics like my own with a firm bent towards re-use and upcycling.

I'm also thankful for having won a Cutting Edge Stencil from Lisa at Vintage Vine.  She has another amazing decor blog that I've been following for a long time.  I can't wait to put my stencil to good use.  Cutting Edge Stencils have the most gorgeous geometric and floral allover stencils as well as murals and other products.  This is the one I've picked out.

Thanks for popping in and giving thanks with me.  Don't forget to come back tomorrow for my monthly Before Blogging party.  Learn more about it here.

Spook Now or Forever Hold Your Peace

We're closing in on Halloween, and more spooky changes are occuring every day.  There appears to be an axe murderer waiting for you at our front door.

Lightbulbs are being changed out to an eerie, bloody red.

And our Dining Room table has gotten a bit of a spooky overhaul.  Tombstone grey square bowls sit atop of black & white salad plates topping blood red dinner plates.  A skeletal hand holds your champagne.

I placed spooky, tattered runners across the table to serve as placemats for the sidechairs.  You can buy "creepy cloth," but it was easy to make these with some cheesecloth, cut, torn, and hit with a quick spray of black spray paint.  I have a plain black linen tablecloth, but the dancing skeletons on this vinyl tablecloth keeps the mood lighter.

Skull candlesticks flank the centerpiece

where a pirate skull and bones lay.

Eek!  Looks like a few mice have escaped from the mad scientist's lab.

Thanks for popping in and decorating with me.

Outdoor Tea Time

It's officially summer.  I realize the summer solstice was last week, but summer doesn't actually start until both kids are out of school.  Yesterday was the first day of having SB home on what would have been a school day.  Summer means entertaining outdoors, so I made a simple runner down the middle of the table with some bamboo placemats, and put out some fun fruit plates.  I love these bavarian dishes that used to belong to CG's great aunt.  Underneath them are some ironstone dishes that I snagged from HomeGoods.

When it's hot, our tea of choice is iced sweet tea & lemon.  I served this in my amber cut glass pitcher last seen filled with peonies here.

The iced tea glasses were these collectible Pom glasses.  I loved the glasses so much, that I had to buy a Pom juice everytime I was at the grocery just for the glass.

You can't have a high tea without some tea sandwiches.  These are served on a Limoges tray.

There were also fresh homemade doughnuts,

blueberry muffins, and chocolate doughnut holes.

I kept this tablescape pretty simple, because this is who was enjoying the high tea:  SB

and his best friend, the Princess.  Yay, to the first day of summer and 2 more months of swimming, playing, and goofing off.

Yes, she has lettuce in her teeth, but she was also very appreciative of the "fancy" meal.

Incidentally the Princess asked what I was doing when I was taking pics of the iced tea, and I responded, "I'm taking pictures for my blog."  SB piped in with, "Yeah, she does that a lot."

Thanks for popping in and having tea with me & the kids.

Peonies Blooming

Summer is finally here.  My peonies are in full bloom and I had to cut some to bring inside.

Peonies attract ants so it's important that you give them a good upside down shake before bringing them in or you'll find yourself squashing a few once you start arranging them.  I put my blooms in an amber cut glass pitcher that I grabbed from an antique shop a few years ago.

I love the way fresh flowers can brighten up a spot, so I placed them in a corner of my living room.  I ended up changing up the accesories on my end table after placing the flowers there.  I pulled my onyx candlesticks out because I love adding candles to a tablescape.  I picked them up at the antique co-op ages ago and love the heft of them.

I elevated one of the candles on some design books that I enjoy flipping through.

I keep a picture of my friend's daughter on the table, we don't see them as often as I'd like, and I like to keep a pic of her out.  The picture stayed.

In front I placed a low ironstone dish that I snagged for 50 cents at the thrift store.

If you're wondering about the table that's peeking out from underneath the accessories, it's a table that we cobbled together with some scrap wood, a few leftover tiles, and a $4 can of spray paint.  Not bad for $4.

Thanks for popping in and tablescaping with me.  I'm sharing this at Between Naps on the Porch's Tablescape Thursday.