Paisley and Goldenrods

From 1927 until 1959, the Goldenrod was the official state flower in Alabama.  During the fall, they grow wild and have the most vibrant displays of color.  You’ll find them growing along the sides of roads, in the woods and sometimes even find entire fields covered with Goldenrods.   To many people, they are just weeds…but to me, they’re like glorious little golden sunbeams that signal Autumn is finally here.   

This is just one small group of Goldenrods that are growing at the edge of the woods behind my house.  They have always been one of my favorite flowers.

I wanted to make a table setting with sprays of Goldenrods as my centerpiece and used a white iridescent vase to hold the arrangement.  Since I wanted the flowers to be the focal point of the table, I decided the setting needed to be very simple. 

I kept the gold damask tablecloth from last week’s table and layered a red paisley runner over the cloth.  This runner is one of my favorites to use in the fall as it has so many different colors in it…blue, green, gold, red, and white.

 

For each place setting, I began with gold baroque chargers.  Then I layered white dinner plates with a gold rim and amber Depression salad plates on the chargers.  I added antique soup bowls and topped them with “Fairfield” glasses in honey gold to use for dessert.

Oops, I  had moved the spoon to take a photo and realized looking at this photo that I forgot to move it back.

I used crystal votive candleholders around the vase and I love the shadowy swirls you can see on the table!

Gold and crystal hurricane candleholders were placed at each end of the table.

Now I have a confession to make…I am a place card-aholic.  Even if it’s simply the four of us at home, I love putting place cards on the table.  My sweet husband says after all these years we should know where we sit!  Can’t help it though…I just adore adding them to the table.

I thought this Victorian lady would be perfect for the table.  She’s wearing a beautiful yellow gown and has a bouquet of flowers in her lap.  Hmmm…might even be some goldenrods in that bouquet!

Dinner is ready and the candles are burning…

One last view of the Goldenrods by candlelight.

I’m joining Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch for another Tablescape Thursday.  We would love for you to come join in the fun!

In the Days of the Golden Rod by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Across the meadow in brooding shadow
I walk to drink of the autumn's wine­
The charm of story, the artist's glory,
To-day on these silvering hills is mine;
On height, in hollow, where'er I follow,
By mellow hillside and searing sod,
Its plumes uplifting, in light winds drifting,
I see the glimmer of golden-rod.
In this latest comer the vanished summer
Has left its sunshine the world to cheer,
And bids us remember in late September
What beauty mates with the passing year.
The days that are fleetest are still the sweetest,
And life is near to the heart of God,
And the peace of heaven to earth is given
In this wonderful time of the golden-rod.

Thank you for visiting and please come back soon!

DG

Jeweled Sunflowers

Fall is my favorite time of the year and with the cooler weather finally here in Alabama, I had the urge to create a table setting celebrating Autumn.

I started with a gold damask tablecloth and layered a white lace cloth over the gold one.  The napkins were an Old Time Pottery find and are a green, white, gold and rusty red plaid.

My inspiration came from these dinner plates and the saucers that I’m using for bread and butter plates.  The dishes belonged to my great-aunt and were given to me by one of my cousins.  The pattern is “Golden Meadow” by Sheffield.

Gold leafed apples rest in “Wexford” sherbets by Anchor Hocking.

 

The salad plates are “Italian Villa” and were a thrift store find.  The colors in the salad plates are a deeper version of the colors in the napkins. 

The green iced tea glasses also belonged to my great-aunt.  They were made by Anchor Hocking probably during the 60’s or 70’s and are called “Rainflower”.  I used “Fairfield” wine glasses, also by Anchor Hocking, in their Honey Gold color.  These wines originally belonged to my grandmother and I borrowed them from my favorite aunt to use in this setting.

The small ramekins for holding butter are “Harvest Vintage” by BH&G.

I love sunflowers, so these made a perfect centerpiece for my table.  I also like the addition of the fuzzy branches and small faux cattails.

These little pumpkin place card holders are really cute!  They were a Hobby Lobby find and best of all, they were on sale. 

Crackled glass votive candleholders have pretty autumn leaves decorating the glass.  I scattered berries, pinecones and fall leaves around the center of the table.  I also used two avocado colored open lace sherbets as holders for votive candles.  They were produced in the 1950’s from “Lorain” depression glass molds. 

Although it doesn’t show in the photos, I love how the candlelight shimmers through the jeweled mosaic hurricane globes.

The table by candlelight…

 

I’m joining Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch for another Tablescape Thursday.  There’s always an open invitation to join in and see all the beautiful tables!

I hope you’ve enjoyed your visit with me and please come back soon! 

DG

Summer Serenity

Don’t grow up too quickly lest you forget how much you love the beach. –Michelle Held

In the Photo Forum at Recipezaar, I participated in the Grilling Special for July.  The recipe I chose to make was Spicy Grilled Shrimp by bratty.  Wow, this was some delicious shrimp!  If you love shrimp and spicy foods, this recipe is a must try.

Along with the grilled shrimp, I served Cheddar Bay Biscuits, fries and a garden salad.  It was a wonderful meal!  In the spirit of seafood for dinner, the table was set with a beach theme.

I love the beach…the warm breezes, the amazing colors of an ocean sunset and the soft sounds of the waves lapping at the shore.  You can almost feel your troubles floating away on the waves.  I’ve tried to bring a bit of that tranquility to my table setting. 

I started out with turquoise straw placemats layered over a white tablecloth.  The dinner plates and bread/butter plates were white rimmed with platinum.

The salad plates each feature a different sea shell/starfish and were found at a local thrift store.

I couldn’t resist buying these goblets after my daughter spotted them on a shopping trip last year.  They just jumped in my cart and begged me to bring them home!   So what’s a girl to do?  I love how the blue glass at the top fades into a green shade at the bottom. 

Butter spreaders have a little blue fish on the handles.  This was another thrift store find that I couldn’t resist.  The napkins were recently found at Old Time Pottery and the napkin rings are clear acrylic with seashells on the top. 

I love how the turquoise blue in the placemats shines through the clear handles on the flatware.

The bowl I used in my centerpiece is an antique store purchase from many years ago.  It’s depression glass, but I don’t know if it has a pattern name.  The bowl is filled with sand and seashells.

Place cards were held by seashells and feature a tranquil beach scene.

The candles have little seashells embedded in them.  Can you spot the tiny starfish in the candle?

Seashells surround the bowl and are scattered around the table.

For the finishing touch to a delicious meal, dessert was Lemon Gold Cake.  This is an old recipe from an issue of “The Progressive Farmer”.  My grandmother had cut out the recipe and saved it with some papers in her chifferobe.

 

Thank you for visiting and I hope you’ll come back soon.

I’m joining Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch for another fantabulous Tablescape Thursday.  Don’t you want to join in too?

DG

 

 

Pink Mimosa and Blue Birds

When I see Mimosa trees in bloom, it always takes me back to when I was a little girl staying with my grandmother.  She had this huge Mimosa tree in her back yard and I would lay in the shade of the tree for hours either reading, playing or just daydreaming. 

From under the tree, I could see through the kitchen window and Grandmother always seemed to be baking something wonderful.  Sometimes, she would bring out a plate of tea cakes and a pitcher of lemonade and we would have a picnic under the Mimosa.

Those summer days seemed to last forever…wish we had time travel just so I could go back and picnic with her again under that Mimosa tree.

We have a Mimosa tree down at our barn and it’s in full bloom now.   I can look out my kitchen window and see those wispy little pink blooms blowing gently in the breeze.

I had originally thought to use cherry blossoms in my centerpiece, but the Mimosa blooms just called to my heart.

I layered a white tablecloth, blue table scarf, and white lace topper on the table. 

The dinnerware has bluebirds sitting on cherry blossom branches and I placed a depression glass sherbet dish on top for dessert.

A cobalt blue salad plate and white butter dish was added.  The iced tea glasses belonged to my grandmother and they have a pretty design etched on them.

The silver salt and pepper shakers were a recent antique store find.

I used a pink damask napkin wrapped with a white one and held together with silver napkin rings.  Silver beaded placemats were used under the place settings.

Mikasa cruets were used on the table to hold salad dressings.

View of the table by candlelight. 

The next you drop by, I’ll be sure to have some tea cakes and lemonade ready.  We’ll picnic under the Mimosa.  Oh and for anyone interested, you can find the recipe for my Grandmother’s tea cakes here

I’m joining in another Tablescape Thursday with Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch. 

DG

My Super Cheap Thrift/Dollar/Flea Market Table Setting

It’s that time again…another Tablescape Thursday with Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch.

I’ve heard many people say “Oh I don’t have the money to buy all that stuff to go on the table”.  Well, I’m going to let you in on a little secret in case you didn’t know it…you can find all sorts of things for table settings and find them cheaply too.   Almost every single item I used on the table below either came from a thrift store, dollar store or flea market…or best of all, it was FREE!  If it didn’t come from one of those store, I bought it at Wal-Mart when it was on sale. 

 

I’m a sucker for curly ribbon…I love it.  There’s just something cute and playful about those little springy curls.  When I found this blue and white ribbon at Dollar General one day, I decided they would be perfect on some napkin rings…so began my super cheap thrift/dollar/flea market table setting, better known as my blue and white table.

Since then, I have been on the lookout for anything blue and white that I could use in a setting.  The whole table finally came together yesterday when I found this blue and white runner at the thrift store.  $.69 and it was in perfect condition!

The blue glasses were from Wal-Mart a couple of years ago and they were marked down to $.50 for each one.  You can’t ask for much cheaper on glassware!

The oil and vinegar cruet set, found at a thrift store, is “Diamond Fire” by Mikasa.  The set still had the stickers on it and I paid a whopping $.99 for it.  The silver was just the slightest bit tarnished when I bought it, but about 2 minutes with some Simichrome and it was sparkling again.  Since my family doesn’t care much for “oil and vinegar”, I’m planning to use the set for salad dressings.

This relish tray with attached slots for salt and pepper shakers was found at the flea market.   I paid less than $1.00 for it and it was intact with all the pieces.  I think I found a bargain!   Since we’re having pulled pork for dinner tonight, the glass insert will be used to hold barbecue sauce instead of relish.

This is my most favorite thrift store find that I used on the table and was also the most expensive item.  It’s a silver plate domed butter dish and has a glass insert under the dome to hold the butter.  Underneath the glass insert is space to put crushed ice so your butter stays chilled.  Hey, for $3.00 I couldn’t leave it behind! 

For the FREE items that I mentioned above, I borrowed a blue and white vase from my aunt to use in my centerpiece.  A trip out to the fence yielded wild honeysuckle for the vase.  I also used another tiny white flower that I found growing at the edge of the woods, but I’m not sure what it is.  Regardless, it was all free!

When my daughter was a little girl, she thought if you had candles burning on the table, you were having a “fancy dinner”.  Didn’t matter if it was hot dogs and chips, if those candles were lit, it was a fancy dinner.  She is almost a teenager now, but still loves to eat by candlelight.  For dinner tonight, we’re having Mean Chef’s Pulled Pork, baked beans, a garden salad, some type of potatoes, rolls and Peach Cobbler.  Nothing sophisticated, just good down home cooking…but it will be a “fancy dinner”. 

The placemats, votive cups and candles were found at Dollar Tree.  The dinner and salad plates were bought at Wal-Mart during one of their after-Christmas sales for 75% off.

It is possible to accessorize your settings with pretty items without spending a fortune!  You’ve just got to keep your eyes and imagination open to the possibilities.  

 

The recipe for Mean Chef’s Pulled Pork can be found at Recipezaar . If you like barbecued pork, I highly recommend trying the recipe.  It is delish!  By the way, while you’re there, please stop by the Table Settings and Decorating Ideas Forum and say “Hi”.  We’d love to have you join us!

DG