Little Red Truck Table

You may be thinking that the Peterson's didn't even celebrate Christmas this year, because I have yet to post about any holiday parties or meals.  I even got an email from a reader who asked if I were ill!  Well, you see, my sweet, 91 year old mother can no longer travel, and this is her first year in an assisted living facility.  That meant that if we were to be together, I had to travel to her.  Thanks to our older daughter hosting us at her home, we had a wonderful time and have found a new "normal".  I'm finally back in Atlanta, and we hosted a very informal dinner for some old friends.  I was happy to use these cheerful place mats from Target and they made such a fun table!

Isn't this cute?  This "woodie" with the tree on top is sort of an iconic symbol of our modern Christmas.  This was us years ago when our girls were small, but the vehicle was a blue Ford Pinto wagon!!!!

For a centerpiece, I used a red pick up nestled in some simple greens.

To echo the stripes on the border of the placemat, I used a small red and white striped plate that I found at Kroger.  Then I placed a hunter green salad plate from Walmart on top of the red dinner plate from Ballard's.  Now, that's diversity!

Then, just for giggles, I used a little car from the Dollar Store and tied a sprig of greenery on it to mimic the design element of the placemats.

In order to let the design on the placemat show, I slid the plate stack over to the left and balanced it out with the placement of the napkin.  This gave me lots of room for the glassware.

 

This green handled flatware was from World Market and I placed it on top of a simple cream linen napkin with a bit of faggoting on it.  Yes, I know I broke the "rules" about placement by putting it all on the same side, but taking liberty with your table is part of the creative process.  Right?  That's my story.......

These red vintage goblets gave the setting a bit of spunk.  We just brought our pre-dinner wine glasses to the table with us as we were seated.

Old Imperial Glass salt and pepper shakers sit on the cream canvas runner.

These heavy wooden candlesticks and brown tapers echoed the wooden sides of the station wagon on the placemats.

I found this simple and refreshing and planned a menu that was also simple.  I made a green salad with pine nuts and blue cheese crumbles for the first course, then we grilled lamb chops and paired them with cheese grits topped with roasted cherry tomatoes.  A baguette from Whole Foods and a store-bought tiramisu finished things off.  And lots of good wine!  And laughter!

We have several more get togethers planned, so I'm not in any hurry to take down the Christmas tree this year.  Usually that's my task as I watch the football games on New Year's Day.  Fortunately, the tree this year has yet to drop even the first needle.  It's as fresh as the day we put it up a month ago!  

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The Happy Scraps

As Traditional As You Get

I think Lenox's Holiday pattern is just about as pretty as you can get and as traditional.  I have used these dishes with plaid, with stripes and with vibrant colors, but tonight, for our Christmas dinner, I decided to go with the most formal use of them, and here's why:

I was gifted this gorgeous tulle Christmas topper, handmade by my grandmother many, many years ago.  She made it for my mom, who never used it!!!!  Can you imagine?  It was a pretty good fit over my standard white Williams Sonoma linen cloth, too.

Look at this detail!  All of the applique and beading!  That line you see is sequins, and the edges are scalloped felt.  Over time, the felt and the tulle have yellowed a bit, but that is fine, as these dishes are a cream, and I have never liked the way they look on a stark white cloth.

See the edging?

The designs are fabulous.

Look at this handwork!  No Stitch-Witchery!  No hot glue!  These are all hand sewn with a million TINY stitches.  Thank you, Grandma!

Early this fall, I found these napkins at Homegoods.  They go perfectly with this china pattern.  I only found seven at the first store I saw them, none at the next one, none at the next next one, and then.....Eureka!.....one more in Cleveland when I visited our girls.  The flatware is mis-matched silverplate that I find much more interesting than my sterling.  That stays in the safety deposit box and I use this all the time.

I loved the color this glassware gave the table.

My daughter gave me these incredible French knives with china handles and brass blades.  I think they are really fruit knives, but I use them as bread and butter knives here.

I already had these place cards.

Since I REALLY didn't want any spills or messes on this precious cloth, I pulled out these crystal knife rests.  No....that is not tarnish on the blade.....it is the reflection of a red goblet. 

Every once in a while, I clip these little candle holders onto the chargers and it makes the meal really special.

I totally overbought these red carnations.  It always takes so many more to pave the flowers, so I didn't want to run short.  But I chose a smaller cachepot than I planned on, so I have a ton left.  Fortunately, carnations last so long that I'll find a use for them. 

Since I had so much gold going on, I substituted these gold angel candlesticks for the crystal ones I started with.  I always use them for Valentine's Day, but I never before thought to use them for Christmas.  Duh! 

I think the table looked pretty in the afternoon as I photographed it.

But it looked truly beautiful with this precious lady sitting there by candlelight. 

Joining:

Tablescape Thursday

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Inspire Me Tuesday

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Seven Barks Gift Tags

Are you looking for some special gift tags for those dog lovers in your life?  Or for those who just love the vintage feel?  Well, if you follow this blog, you probably know that I am crazy about Seven Barks Find Goods stationery, and now they have a limited edition holiday line that is really unique. 



There are twelve tags to a box, with these three designs.  Any dog lover will like all of these, but I think that beagle is just precious.  The flip side of each design has this to/from design and they come with a selection of cute ribbon ties.

I've been in touch with Seven Barks, and they are prepared to fill orders immediately for your wrapping pleasure!  Several social media etail sites carry them, or you can order directly from them at sevenbarks.com.  Check out their disposable holiday placemats and napkin cuffs, too. And who couldn't use a gift of those coasters?

More Precious Than Fine Art

Here's the way our daughter's refrigerator looked over the Christmas holiday.  Don't you just love this?

Apparently, Alf (????????) lost an eye coming home on the bus, but he's still a handsome dude.

And, as with all valuable art, it's signed by the artist.

Christmas Magic 2012

I love this photo of our grandsons that I took on Christmas eve morning.  Oh, the joys of an ipod!

I even used this for my Christmas card photo with this caption:

mry crstms n hapy nu yr, luv, 

lnda n lary 

After all, Christmas is the time to spend quality time with those you hold dear, right?

I'm back in Atlanta after 3 weeks in the arms of my wonderful family.  I'm looking forward to resuming blogging and I'm enjoying catching up with all of your lovely posts that I have missed.

It is my wish that you all enjoyed those precious times as much as I did and are looking forward to the new year.

Pinecone Appetizer

Do you need a two-ingredient, FAST appetizer that salutes the season?  I made this over the weekend for a dinner with friends, and I've made it lots of times when I am taking an appetizer to someone's home because it travels so well.

Boy!  This photo sure looks unappetizing, but I promise you that it didn't really look like this.  I used a pimento cheese with jalapenos that I purchased ready-made at our Publix, and simply shaped it on a silver tray, roughly in the tapered shape of a pinecone.  You can use almost any cheese ball and re-shape it.  Then I simply stuck toasted whole almonds into the cheese, starting with the point and layered them all the way up to the top.

(Aw, man.  I really do apologize for these photos, but I was more interested in "gettin 'er done" late Saturday afternoon and the lighting was much less than ideal.)  Anyhow, I then added some real snippings of Leland Cypress, a ribbon, and a small ornament.  Pine would look better, but it was raining and the cyprus was just outside the door.  Just keeping it real, folks!

 

See more holiday ideas at the giant Christmas Wonderful link party hosted by these kind bloggers:

Uncommon Designs | The Cards We Drew | Life as a Thrifter | Ginger Snap Crafts | a girl and a gluegun | A Pretty Life | Frog Prince Paperie | Commona-My House | Dimple Prints | kiki & company | Confetti Sunshine | BellaGrey Designs | Clean and Scentsible | Holy Craft | hoopla palooza | Not Just a Mommy | Giggles Galore | Simply Designing | I Dig Pinterest | Happiness is Homemade | Paisley Petal Events | Bloom Designs Online | The Scrap Shoppe | She’s Crafty Crafty | Three Little Monkeys Studio

Pine Cone Cloche Tutorial

It seems as though every time someone sees this cloche full of pine cones, they ask me, "How did you do that".  It's pretty simple, and if you don't mind spending some time in my garage with me, I'll show you how to do it. You can see a dinner party using this as the centerpiece here.

I put up an old card table in the garage to work with greens and decorations for the holidays.  You get to see the good, the bad, and the ugly.  With warts!  So, I start with a clean glass cloche that fits into this terra cotta saucer.

This is a reproduction of an old French saucer that I got at Boxwoods in Atlanta.  I like the profile of it.

Then I grab an appropriately sized pot that will hold the glass upright when turned upside down into it.

See?

(Can you believe how much junk we have?)

Ok.  Focus, Linda.  In this photo, the cloche sort of disappears and it looks like I just have stuff in the bottom of the zinc pot, it is actually sitting in the bottom of the cloche.  (Which is the top.....get it?)

Pick it up occasionally and check to see that the outside edges are attractive and show a variety of items.

Then, when the cloche is full......

I put a piece of styofoam on top that will fit inside of the saucer.

Then I put the saucer on top......

and flip!

Next step is to put some reindeer moss around the edge, hiding the styrofoam and closing the gap.  Sometimes, I use a stick to make sure the edges under the glass are covered.

I have some little pieces of lichen that I scatter around, to make it look a little more natural.

Add some fresh greens, berries, and a bow and there you have it! 

 

I'm linking up to a giant Christmas Wonderful party that these kind bloggers are hosting:

Uncommon Designs | The Cards We Drew | Life as a Thrifter | Ginger Snap Crafts | a girl and a gluegun | A Pretty Life | Frog Prince Paperie | Commona-My House | Dimple Prints | kiki & company | Confetti Sunshine | BellaGrey Designs | Clean and Scentsible | Holy Craft | hoopla palooza | Not Just a Mommy | Giggles Galore | Simply Designing | I Dig Pinterest | Happiness is Homemade | Paisley Petal Events | Bloom Designs Online | The Scrap Shoppe | She’s Crafty Crafty | Three Little Monkeys Studio