Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Let's Raise A Glass!

A few days ago, I posted "Bravo To Heinz".  You can read it here.  It was to thank them for being such a visible supporter of our veterans.  One of my great friends who is a big muckedy-muck at MillerCoors emailed me that Miller High Life is doing something even better!  They donate a dime for every Miller High Life bottle cap or pull tab turned in at stores to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran's Association ( IAVA.org ).They donated $1 Million last year and 2012 will be their third year of doing this.  Their slogan is "Getting Vets a Piece of the High Life"!!!!  Warms my heart!  Let's all raise a glass to Miller High Life and their support of this great cause!  I'll go first!!!!!


Monday, November 28, 2011

Twas The Night Before Thanksgiving

T'was the night before Thanksgiving and our guest were arriving at dinner time after a long drive.  I wanted to greet them with a pretty table, but I wanted it different from our Thanksgiving table, which was the same as I used last year.  See it here.

I decided to go dark, since the next day was going to be gold and white.  There were lots of pops of color, though.  Here's the sun hitting the table in the late afternoon.

I've been wanting to use this dark brown poly-silk cloth all season.  Can you see the texture of the embroidery?  These flowers are almost like chenille.

And these are so colorful.

Even though I promised myself that I would not buy any more dishes for fall, I wondered into World Market, saw these, and wondered out with eight of them.  Hey!  It happens!!!

Here's why I had to have them.  I've had this guy for years and my favorite way to display him is as a centerpiece.  I did a cream and brown dinner party with him last fall.  You can see it here.

Then a trip to the floral wholesaler provided these flowers.

I used a round oasis ring for the flowers and I love how they echoed the colors in the cloth.

The charger is an old tan, opalescent plate and then the dinner plate was a cream scalloped one from Z Gallerie. 

The dark brown linen napkin looks pretty faded here, but I don't think it really is.  At any rate, the coral wired ribbon and pheasant feathers perked it up.  My much-used brown handled flatware kept this from being too formal.  Silver would have given it a totally different feel.

Someday I'll learn how to photograph glassware.  This is the stem I used for water.  It is etched with maple leaves and acorns.  Then I added a plain Tiffany wine goblet.  Whose hand has all of those sun spots on it?  Yikes!

Three old wooden turned candlesticks were on each end.  Aren't they handsome?

These little pewter salt and pepper shakers are pheasants, too.

After I had taken a lot of shots, I decided to add these bright green tapas plates as bread and butter plates and then placed horn handled fruit knives on each as a butter knife.  Not exactly proper use, but Emily Post wasn't on the guest list.

This is sort of  the cousin of the centerpiece.  It's on a chest in the dining room where I've done a fall vignette with the same colors and feel as the table.  You can see a post here that I did last fall with this pheasant as the centerpiece.

This sort of says it all.  Here's Michael, our very special friend after dinner on Thanksgiving day.  Can you say low-key and laid back weekend?  When I look back on this wonderful weekend, this will forever be my memory.  Not a moment that we didn't thoroughly enjoy!

And here's Michael the next day, sleeping and reading in the rowboat.  This is a busy man who knows how to relax.  How did we get so lucky to have them for friends?

This was an easy menu that was flexible if they were delayed.
Menu:
Double Cranberry Croustini
Roasted Pear Salad
(I've posted this recipe from our New Year's Eve dinner here.)
Chiopinno (Fish Stew)
Hearty Bread
Pumpkin Praline Cheesecake
(from the cover of Nov. '11 Southern Living)

See this post at these fun blog parties:

Tablescape Thursday

Open House Thursday

Feathered Nest Friday

Inspiration Friday

Fridays Unfold

Seasonal Sunday

Wow Us Wednesday

On the Menu Monday




Friday, November 18, 2011

It's Arrived!!!

I'm not saying that I have never won anything, BUT I promise that I have never won anything this nice before!  Nice?  That's an understatement!

Feast your eyes on this giveaway I won from Alycia Nichols at Table Twenty One.  Can you tell that it's over two feet tall?  Can you see the gorgeous patina to the silver?  Can you tell that I love it?  I almost never enter giveaways, but this baby wanted to be MINE from the minute I saw it.  Alycia's handsome husband, Ramon pulled my name!  (I'm so grateful that if I were having more children, I might name one after him.)
If you are not already a follower of Table Twenty One, waste no time in checking this out. You're going to want to open every link.  Alycia is a retired professional in the event planning arena and her talent in this field shows in every post.  She shows us such creativity and delight in large scaled events or intimate dinners.  She totally follows my philosophy of "It's not done till it's overdone"!  I'm looking for a way to go to Kansas City to thank her personally.  Anybody have any frequent flier miles???????????


Monday, November 14, 2011

Bravo to Heinz!!!!!!!!

I really meant to post this for Veteran's Day, but I was out of town on a delightful vacation.  Not to worry....this will forever be timely. 

I found this at Kroger last week and it was in my grocery cart in a heartbeat.  What a wonderful idea!  Wouldn't it be terrific and fitting if vendors and manufacturers promoted this idea with thousands of items that we buy.  Just like the Susan G. Komen foundation has reached out to so many, many companies and partnered with them for a portion of their profits, why couldn't companies partner with Wounded Warriors, or similar organizations to support our incredible men and women in the armed services?

Are you listening, corporate America?????

How can we make this happen?

Monday, November 7, 2011

Master Bedroom Before and After




Welcome to our master bedroom.  You asked....I finally am posting!  This is a rather long, slow trip around the room, so go get a cup of coffee and settle in for the tour.  We have lived in 12 different places and our bedroom has always been blue.  Here it is painted a calm, grey-blue by Divine Paint called almond.  I know, that color name makes no sense, but that is really a wonderful kind of high-end paint.

This is the way the former owners had the room.  I can't believe that this is the only "before" photo I have.  The art work is clearly the stand out in this pale room.

Here's the star now.  This king bed is the first thing you see now.

This fabric was the jumping off point for the room.  I most often work like this.  You KNOW how I love toile and this one was just what I was looking for.  The dark color in this can be read as black or brown, depending on how you want to use it.  I layered this duvet over a cream matlasse .

The Euro shams are the perfect size to use this repeat of the fabric. I found a beautiful crewel for the brown pillow and the small linen pillow in the front is covered in the same fabric as I put on the loveseat.

I have to give Mr. Pressed Pants credit for finding this leather bed with nailheads.  It is a Charles Rodgers bed that he saw in an ad in House Beautiful and suggested that we get it.  I was very reluctant to order sight unseen, but I was so touched that he found it, so I gave it a go.  Well, let me tell you that this is the most wonderful, quality piece of furniture.  I've used this source since, I am so happy with this.  He was adamant that the bed not have a footboard and so he's happy, too.

I have collected black and white engravings for this room.  It seems that they look great with this toile.  This one is called "Vue de Naples".

This end table is my side of the bed. 

I have a few very special photos and.......


some reading material.  This decorated toe shoe is an award I received from The Atlanta Ballet.

On the wall, over this table hangs the announcement and envelope from my father's birth.  His name was Fredrick Owen, and just below it in one of the photos is our youngest grandson, Owen Fredrick.  Oh, the circle of life!

And this is Mr. Pressed Pant's side of the bed.  I promise you that I took these photos just "as is", and you can probably believe it when you see this one!

The toile tableskirt is trimmed out with just a subtle bit it cording.  You can see the carpeting well here.  It is the most expensive carpeting we put in the entire place.  I love sisal, but in order to add comfort underfoot, I chose this with sisal on the bottom of the weave and wool on the top.  This would never be a good choice for a family with kids or dogs, because it is almost impossible to clean because of the combination of materials.  But, we are very careful with it and we love it!

These very heavy silk linen draperies were here from the previous owner.  They are lined and interlined with a very heavy fabric called "bump cloth".  I've never seen it used other than under tablecloths for a luxurious feel.  These would keep the light out if we ever closed them, but we don't need the privacy and they are always open.  The trim on the edge was a black fabric when we bought the house.  I didn't care for it, but the draperies are awesome, so I added a leading edge of linen and topped it with this stripped ribbon trim.  You can see a glimpse of the back yard, so you can understand how we love this big window and spend lots of time looking at the deer playing and the lake.

The love seat is one of a pair that we have had forever.  It is a Williamsburg blue twill that I didn't care for, but I wanted to keep the pair matching, so I just slipcovered it.  This needlepoint pillow is special, because Mr. Pressed Pants bought it for me just as our darling Springer Spaniel, Nittany, was dying.  The Anichini throw is a most luxurious gift from my friend, Jan, who is a remarkable gift giver.  She visited us from California once and saw this room.  Somehow she managed to remember these rather unusual colors just perfectly.

I chose this playful little pleated skirt.

This zinc pot with dried blue hydrangeas is from the tablescape I did here. 

The wall across from the bed holds a large dresser and a couple of cherry bamboo chairs.  That clock like thing is the timer for the security lights.  Don't you love the look?  I told you I just shot things without editing!

Here's a portrait of our younger daughter, Susie, taken a year or two ago. (Ahem)  That baby doll went everywhere with her.  I considered it our third child.

And here is big sister, Amy.  Does the Dorthy Hammill hairdo and the Little House On the Prairie dress tell you anything?

These old black and gold metal trays have the feel of old tole trays, but don't add unwanted pattern to the space.


I'm still charmed by this peasant girl feeding the birds.  It is called "Le Poulailler", or Poultry Yard.

And this one on the other side is "Les Petite Bergeres", or The Little Shepherdesses.

This chest on chest holds Mr. Pressed Pants clothes.  Every time I "improve" the vignette on the top, I find it removed and these small Lladro figurines returned here.  I guess that's the way it will stay!  Weird!  He sure picks his battles!

This last engraving that hangs over the chest is called "Golden Hours".  I just love that big Bernese Mountain Dog and the little puppy.

These watercolors are very sentimental gifts from our daughters.  They are of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, where we once lived and they have both chosen to return to.  The top one is the gazebo in the center of the village, and the bottom one is the hill that goes into the village where every Halloween, the senior class rolls hundreds of pumpkins down to smash at the bottom. Great memories!

I almost forgot to show the chandelier from Restoration Hardware we hung. I just couldn't do a fan, although it might have been nice to have the air moving in the spring and the fall.  I'll sacrifice this and take airconditioning in order to not have to look at a fan, thank you.

OK.  We've been touring long enough.  Now let's go down the hall and grab a glass of wine. Hope you enjoyed the visit!
I'll post the master bath renovation next!

I'm posting this at:

Metamorphis Monday

Amaze me Monday

Inspire Me Monday

Masterpiece Monday


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