A Little of This, A Little of That

Since the rain won't seem to go away, I thought I'd take a few minutes and post what's been going on the last few weeks (and months) since my last post.  This is a hodge podge of pictures I thought I'd share, no theme to speak of, just a little of this and a little of that.

The first picture is of the spring wreath I made for the front door.  It's mostly pink, and I guess the neighbors might think I'm wishing for a baby girl, but I liked the colors.

My children came home for Easter, and we had dinner in the dining room.  I used a garden bunny in the centerpiece, with pink tulips on each side.

It was nice having just the four of us, and we certainly had a lovely time being together!

For teacher appreciation week, I helped my cousin do the tables for a teacher luncheon.  We used decorated mason jars with cut flowers from the yard, big pieces of chalk tied with twine, and apples as our centerpieces.  Simple, but cute!

When the flowers finally bloomed for spring, they were magnificent.

We opened the pool and set the tents up.

Flowers were planted in all the pots.

Now we are ready to enjoy the outside, if the weather will cooperate!

Instead of going out to a restaurant for our anniversary as we usually do, we decided to go to our lake where we cooked dinner outside, and enjoyed the view.  Nothing fancy on the table--but with this view it wasn't needed.

Our dinner consisted of salad with fruit, walnuts, and feta with strawberry blush vinaigrette, fillets, roasted squash and zucchini, and sauteed mushrooms with onions.  We enjoyed being outside and cooking together.

Thanks for stopping by!  Come back and visit soon!

Spring, Wherefore Art Thou?

Waiting for spring is really trying my patience.  I am tired of the cold.  I'm sure everyone else is tired of the cold.  If spring doesn't arrive soon, I am going to scream.  Loud.  So I pulled out some spring flowers, dishes with happy colors, and put together a little simple table for four--dreaming that soon flowers will be blooming and the sun's warmth will bring the world alive again.

Using materials I found in my stash, I put together three spring florals.

I pulled a spring runner from the closet and used greenery down the center.

A nest of eggs is the focal point in each arrangement.

White tapers fill in the spots between each of the florals.

A dainty porcelain napkin ring holds each sage green dinner napkin.

Candleholders are vintage with a delicate silver overlay.

Dishes are sage green and  pink.  I believe they came from HomeGoods or TJ Maxx.

Silver flatware is simple as well, nothing too fancy here.

The fleur-de-lis glasses match the pink plates, and the pattern on the stems reminds me of dogwood.

The runner has a basket of spring flowers at each end, you've probably seen these in the stores.

Bird's eye view!!

At least it's a sunny day, even though you can't hardly open the door because of the frigid temperatures.  This does not feel a bit like Virginia weather.

I think this has cheered me up a bit.  Stay warm, my friends, and let's hope spring arrives soon!!

Thanks for visiting!  

~Betsy

A Valentine's Week-end Setting

I just couldn't let Valentine's Day go by without setting up a romantic table.  I've had these Royal Jackson dinner plates for quite some time, but I haven't used them in a tablescape.

 

I set this table, for the most part, at the beginning of the week, with a pink tablecloth and these mirrored chargers that I purchased at Tuesday Morning.  I also used a battenburg table runner.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for a centerpiece, so I left the table this way for several days.  When Valentine's Day came, my table was still not finished.  Hubby saved the day with these gorgeous tulips.  I wasn't sure that the reddish pink tulips would work, but after adding the red and pink hearts, I liked the combination of colors.  

I found a small crystal cake plate, added the hearts, which also gave the vase of flowers elevation.

A close-up of the Royal Jackson china--

To change this table for any occasion, red marbles or red rose petals could be used in the bottom of the cake plate instead of sparkly hearts.

These gorgeous linen napkins were purchased at an estate sale.  I found 12 that match, and they are all monogrammed, which I love!

I also love bread and butter plates.  When I don't have the matching bread and butter plate, I use these little glass plates, which I also found at an estate sale.  They are the perfect size!

The crystal napkin rings were my mother's.

The iced beverage stems are Cristal D'arques Longchamp and the wines are Fostoria Corsage.

Thanks for visiting!  I hope you all had a romantic and loving Valentine's Day!  I sure did!  Come back soon!!

Snappin' and Draggin'

It feels as if I've been away for quite a while, but actually it's only been two weeks.  So much has been going on!  I will summarize by saying that I've been asked to help a designer with a room in the 2012 Richmond Symphony House, and I opened up a booth at our local antique mall.  I have been having a lot of fun with this booth.  It all started when I read about all the fantastic things bloggers were purchasing at estate sales, so I started going with the sole intent of looking for tablescaping items.  Pretty soon I discovered that if I brought anything else home, I was going to have to take something out.  I started talking with some friends who have booths, and the idea was born.  I kicked it around for a while, but I was feeling a bit scared.  So I asked a friend to go in halves with me, and she agreed to three months, so after that I'm on my own.  I have found some great little pieces of furniture and I've been painting and restoring some pieces, and they have actually turned out pretty well.  My sales were slow the first month, but I have been doing much better this month.  Now granted, I am by no means an expert at this, but I am learning and having fun in the process.

As far as the designer house goes, I will be helping out the designer if she is chosen to do a room.  More on this later.  We will present her plans for the rooms (dining room and study) to the committee in mid-April, and I guess we will find out shortly after that if she's chosen.  If so, I will document the process from beginning to end, but I can't post until the actual showing is over.  I'm hoping she gets the dining room...

In between painting and designing, I set a simple table, but with some of my favorite colors.  I had to include green for St. Patrick's Day, so pink and green it is!

Sometimes I'm snappin' and other times I'm draggin'...

I chose a pretty pink and green Ralph Lauren tablecloth and napkins.

Napkin rings were purchased at an estate sale.

Stems are Navarre by Fostoria.  I found four more of the waters at an antique show recently!! 

The green and pink Bordallo Pinheiro cabbage plates, salads, and bowls were purchased at Tuesday Morning.  I'm thinking I got the chargers there as well.

 Silverplate is Repousse.

Thanks for visiting with me today!  If you're in the Richmond area, come by and visit my booth at the Midlothian Antique Center!!  Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!!