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???????????

Ferns in the Garden - 100th post!!!!!!!

Welcome to my 100th post!!!!

I could never have known, almost a year ago, how much I would love this wonderful use of the internet.  As a celebration of your interest and friendship, there is a giveaway at the end of the post.

First, though, I invite you back into my garden for a dinner among the ferns.

 

This round tablecloth was the inspiration.  Homegoods!!!!  Again!!!!  It came with eight napkins.  I'm not sure who could use eight napkins with a 90" tablecloth, but better too many than not enough.  I'll be set to replace those lipstick-ruined, grease-stained, or just plain lost-in-the-laundry napkins that we all have.

 

As soon as I saw this fern design on the border, I had a great idea. 

I decided I wanted to set the table along this fern bank that we have in the woods.  Then, the thought of dragging the table, chairs, dishes, flowers, ice, and so on into the woods made me come to my senses.

I did take a few shots of some of the elements among the ferns.

So, I left the ferns to the wildlife and set off to the garden.

I brought out this unfinished table that I keep in the potting shed.  If you want to see the shed, take a peek here.

Also, on the border was this design of ferns with white flowers.  Ding, ding, ding!  The flowers were now planned out of the ones that were growing right there in the garden.

And here's the result.

Just two place settings tonight.

Here's how I brought lots of different shades of green together. 

Starting with a wicker charger, I added these simple dinner plates.  You might not believe this, but these plates came from Goodwill.  I was so sure as I picked them up, that they were old French plates, but when I turned them over, they said "microwave and dishwasher safe"!  Hummmm.  Guess they're not old!  They also have "mse" in tiny letters on them.  What do you think?  Martha Stewart Enterprise????

Then I layered the apple green salad plates from Target and the white lion's head soup tureens, also from Target, I think.

Years ago, I bought these little plates at the floral wholesaler.  I use them for tapas, appetizers, or as I have here.

These green glasses for water are made by Imperial Glass, and the little wicker covered ones are for wine.

The flatware is from World Market.  I got it a couple of months ago, and they still carry it.  It is available by the piece.

This green urn is a good size for this small table.

I added these two small baskets for interest and texture.  One is wicker and one is carved ivory.  I bought them from a sweet little antique store on Cape Cod.

There's one more thing on the table.

Our anniversary is coming up in a few days.  I'm giving Mr. Pressed Pants some golf lessons and he has to schedule them, so I'm giving them to him tonight.  Don't tell.  I love pretty papers almost as much as dishes, so I love to wrap pretty gifts and make cards.

These French burlap pillows make these generic chairs more interesting and more comfortable.

This wooden tray holds a brown glass bottle I like to use for water, a couple of bark covered votives, and some bark gathered in the woods for a project I'm working on.

And what have we here?

An ice cold bottle of white wine in this faux bois cachpot.

I put the pasta salad in this lidded tureen from Portmerion.

The ferns on the lid are perfect for this table. 

It was a nice night, and we sat for a long time until we were either going to have to use bug spray or go in.  It was getting dark, the dishes needed to be loaded, and Design Star was soon on.  In we went!

And NOW....may we have a drum roll, please?

I'd love to invite you to enter to win this beautiful book by Joe Nye.

Wouldn't you know that I would find something with toile?

Joe is a Los Angeles interior decorator and party planner.  This beautiful book is rich in photographs and inspiration.  He covers exquisite invitations, lush flowers, and gorgeous table settings. He also offers shopping resources and host/hostess etiquette.

To enter, please become a follower, or tell me if you already are.  If you are not a blogger, be sure that I can reach you by email.  Anyone in the continental US is welcome to enter.  Then leave me a comment and let me know what you like best about this blog.  I promise to have an independent party fairly choose the winner. 

I'll be linking up with Tablescape Thursday with Susan's Between Naps on the Porch at:

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/