Christmas 2017

It appears that Christmas 2018 is right around the corner!  Never got a chance to post pictures from 2017, so now is as good a time as any!  Hopefully this will get me motivated to begin the decorating, as it does take me longer to do now than it used to.  The first picture is of the garland on the stairs in the foyer.

 Dining room

Dining room tree

Kitchen (almost didn't post this one because I'm in it)

Family room, mantle and tree

 Close up of mantle

 Tree (before skirt was added)

Christmas arrangement in urn

 Coffee table vignette

 Family room silhouette angels

 Kitchen table centerpiece

Hope your decorating is progressing.  Time sure does fly when you're having fun!

Enjoy and Happy Happy everything!!

A Bridal Tea

My daughter was recently asked to be a bridesmaid in the wedding of one of her dear friends.  She and two of the other bridesmaids decided to kick off the wedding events with a bridal tea.  Since my daughter lives in New York, and the other girls live and work here in the Richmond area, she asked for my help.  Of course being the wonderful mother that I am, I agreed.  

The girls met and planned what they wanted to do.  They decided on the pink and gold color scheme, and an early afternoon tea.  So with about a week to go, I pulled out some accoutrements, and started to stage the centerpiece for the tables.  I decided to use a silver tea set, silver candlelabras with candlecups for flowers, and stacked teacups.

The day arrived and the girls came over early to help set up.  We snapped this picture while still setting the table with plates, glasses, and the centerpiece.  Minutes after this picture was taken, buckets of rain came down, and even though we had canopies set up, everything was soaked.  We had a decision to make.  Take a chance that the rain would stop, or bring the event in.  We all wanted it to be outside, but it just wasn't worth the chance.  Problem was we only had two hours to re-set everything inside, get the food prepared, shower and dress.  Not enough time, so the girls called all the guests and asked them to come an hour later.  Luckily, that worked out.

We threw everything in the dryer, ironed some of the napkins, and set up my kitchen table with a leaf.  It was a little crowded, but no one seemed to notice.

 Yes, everything would have been much prettier outside, but you can't control the weather.  It still looked pretty, with the pink and white flowers, gold trimmed vintage glasses, and all the teacups.

 I used the gold paper doilies instead of chargers to save space, and white vintage plates trimmed with gold.

 We decided the pink tulle table runner looked best for a romantic, vintage feel.

We used a variety of teacups and pearls.

 Party favors were cellophane bags filled with loose tea from "Alice's Tea Cup" in New York, and a Chocolate Chip scone.  We placed these in the cups and saucers at each place setting.

 The girls had a drink before eating, and the choices were Sweet Tea Sangria, Suicide Tea, Fruit Infused Water, Strawberry Lemonade, and regular Iced Tea.

 I used glass candle holders as bases for the stacked teacups.

 For flowers, I used hydrangeas from my yard, pink roses, pink and white carnations, and baby's breath.

 We set up the food table in the dining room with a long white cloth topped with a pink floral cloth.

 The menu consisted of tea sandwiches--cucumber and pimento cheese, ham biscuits, caprese bites, cheese straws, and strawberry/blackberry spinach salad.

 Part of the centerpiece was this cloche filled with stacked cups, and small vases filled with flowers.

We set up desserts on the island.  We had rainbow cookies, brownie bites, 

 candy-dipped rice krispy treats,

Cheesecake filled strawberries, different types of banana bread, pound cake, and of course cupcakes.

Can't believe I don't have a picture of the cupcakes, but they were delicious.

 Desserts also included scones and macaroons.

 The girls decorated the family room with "tea" type accessories.

Hope you enjoyed our Bridal Tea.  The pictures would have been lovely if we could have set up outside, but everything turned out ok in the end.

Thanks for visiting!

Hugs,

--Betsy

A Christmas Eve Tablescape

Christmas has come and gone.  Everything has been packed up and stored for another year.  Before we move on to the next big thing, I thought I'd post the rest of the Christmas photos.  There was no party this year, but we had some of my children's friends over at different times, accompanied by their parents, who are our friends.  I enjoy the Christmas decorating, even though it is a ton of work, and I'm hoping that down the road my children will have good memories of the beauty and joy of the season.  And maybe even of their mother, haha!  I know they appreciate our efforts as they get older, and I think they even enjoy being with us.  We, of course, love having them home, and I always get sad when they have to leave.  So one last glimpse of Christmas! 

While shopping at Tuesday Morning, I ran across this reindeer.  He was so regal and beautiful, I knew that he had found a home.  Since I am a regular shopper at this store, the kind ladies are always looking out for me.  This reindeer had a mate that came in on the next truck, and they kept it in the back for two weeks, waiting to see if I would want it. Unfortunately, I didn't come back in for awhile, and they sold it as soon as it was put out. A lesson learned, check back frequently, you  never know what's on the very next truck!

I decorated this fella up using poinsettias and a bow.  He sits on top of a field of decorated greenery.

The poinsettias I used are also in the arrangement on the sideboard.  The colors used here were that silvery gold, not the bright gold or dark gold often used at Christmas, but I decided to use gold accoutrements instead of the red that I usually use at Christmas.

I used mercury glass votives and finials that I used last year on my table, and I also added some silver and glass ball ornaments.

We ate our Christmas Eve dinner in the dining room, and my husband's brother joined us.  Normally, I have 7 or 8 for Christmas Eve, but this year it was just the five of us.

I used my battenburg tablecloth again, because I can change the look by using an under-cloth, and it fits my table well with all the leaves.  Since Rudolph was so big, I kept the leaves in the table for the entire season.

I also used my antique silver candlelabras with silvery candles.  I special-ordered them in October, and they are nice and tall!  

My gold-rimmed antique stems were used for dinner as well.  For dinner we had our usual--beef tenderloin, potato casserole, broccoli casserole, romaine salad with fruit and blush wine vinaigrette, spinach squares, and hot rolls.  We had drinks and appetizers in the kitchen before, which were pecan cheddar spread, shrimp cocktail, and hot crab dip.  For dessert, I had a tray of goodies I had been preparing all week.  No one left hungry.  We did start in the afternoon, and we just kept eating and socializing into the evening!

I put up my small Christmas tree in the corner of the dining room again this year.

My husband likes to hunt.  Let me re-phrase that--he likes the whole idea of hunting.  He likes being outside and looking at the game and beautiful surroundings.  He gets impatient, and doesn't necessarily like killing the animals.  He enjoys watching them, but often just lets them go.  We do have a problem with the deer population, though, and they can cause a lot of harm.

I enjoy decorating with deer at Christmas, and I use them all around the house.

I also used my Lunt flatware, and gold dinner napkins, and my Christmas china.  I again used my silver chargers I lucked out and found at the local Goodwill store.

While shopping at Pottery Barn, I ran across a beautiful red velvet spread that I thought would look great on my bed at Christmas.  After looking at the price tag, I thought it was a big extravagant, but I loved the look. Again, I found something similar at my local Tuesday Morning store.  This coverlet is just a great red color, and I thought it went well with the gold in my bedroom.  But they did not have the pillow shams.  Lucky for me, the kind ladies called around until they located two for me at another store!  Love those girls!!

I also did a bit of work in my son's room before he came home.  We had his room painted (revere pewter, by Benjamin Moore, I think) and I did purchase this new comforter and shams at Pottery Barn.  

We are headed to New York at the end of the month to help my daughter move (just to a new apartment, not home).  I started a new blog--totally unrelated to tablescapes--but if you get a chance, take a peek.  It's concerning helping my grown-up children with the next phase in their life while trying to help myself!  It's called Seeing Stars In My Eyes.

My photography isn't the greatest, sorry about that, I have two very nice cameras and neither one of them is working.  All the photos above were taken with my cell phone.  Some aren't too bad, and it is convenient, but I will try to get the cameras repaired in the near future. 

Thanks for stopping by!  Stay warm and carry on!  --Betsy

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