A Cozy New Year's Eve '15

After being away for Christmas, home is where I want to be to ring in the New Year.  Mr. Pressed Pants concurs, so we are having a cozy, intimate, boring New Year's Eve....just the way we like it.  I hadn't given the evening much thought until I was in the grocery store picking up dinner.  I spied these flowers in one of those variety packs in the floral department.  I usually pass those by, but since I had a murky plan to use gold on the table, I picked these up.

Can you see the gold dust on these?  Sort of cheesy, but I like it.  Then to top it off, the plastic champagne bottle takes cheesiness to another level, but hey, it's kind of fun.

For the two of us, I decided to set the table in the keeping room.  I really wanted to set it up in front of the fireplace and the Christmas tree, but it is so warm that we'd never light a fire, so why bother.  Just white and gold keeps it simple.  I haven't used gold much for a very long time, but it is certainly trending now, and so I thought I'd jump on board.

A gold charger is topped with some white Juliska-like china that I got at that very high end store, Kroger!!!!  I bought every bit of it they had.  

The most interesting thing on the table is this sweet little bowl wishing "Happy Holidays".  I bought them last year at Homegoods, but this is the first time I've used them.  A cute little gold doily added a bit more sparkle to the look.  I thought they would be perfect for peppermint ice cream with chocolate sauce, a Peterson family tradition.

The flatware I chose was my favorite mis-matched silverplate with these ivory handled knives.  

And the napkins are a gold, sparkly fabric that doesn't show up very well in this photo.

These napkin rings were a gift from a dear, young friend as a thank you for giving her wedding shower.  Aren't they wonderful?  They are a bay leaf design from Art Tables.

Here's a prime example of what makes a high-low table.  The champagne flutes are from Tiffany, and the wine glasses are Waterford........

but these white spotted tumblers are from Old Time Pottery.  One dollar apiece.  Yep.  I love the mix.

We needed some candlelight to set the mood, so I chose these faux bois tapers that I even forgot I had.

I set them in these Baldwin brass candlesticks that I haven't used in almost a decade.  I probably have a dozen of them from the days when my decor was Williamsburg, or wanna-be Williamsburg.

This simple little glass pedestal held our dinner rolls.

It doesn't look too charming here, but trust me, when the sun went down and the candles were lit, it was exactly where I wanted to be.

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The Creative Exchange (Thurs.)

The Happy Scraps

Well, Hello Sunshine

Look what we've got here!!!  Sunshine!!!  After living in Cleveland, Ohio three times, you'd think that I'd be used to dreary skies during the winter, but I've been sorely missing our Georgia sunshine this winter.  I can't remember such a grey, grey stretch.

This was a cheerful bunch of Kroger flowers and they begged to come home and replace some of these darned poinsettias that just won't give up.  I have such a hard time throwing good plants out, but I'm so over them.

Here's this morning's cheerful breakfast table.  Since today is MLK day, Mr. Pressed Pants slept in and my mom, who is visiting, ALWAYS sleeps in, I had time to greet them with a bright and sunny table in the breakfast room.

These exuberant plates from Target set the tone.  What's better than a shot of pink and green?

The table accessories were fun, too.  The s/p set and the cow creamer are both from Pierre Deux years ago.  The majolica leaf dish is a good choice to hold sugar packets, both full and then empty.  The French butter dish and twig spreader finish it off. 

The pink napkins are from the Palm restaurant line of linens, the knot napkin ring from Old Time Pottery, and the flatware is from Cost Plus World Market.  Nothing precious here but the guests!

This glass stoppered bottle and Ikea green glasses both held the oj.

Just a cozy three for homemade French toast and strawberries.  (You can tell it's a holiday when I make French toast, and not use frozen.)

My soul must have needed some pink, because it sure makes me smile. 

See the sunshine out there? 

"Bartholomew" is enjoying it, too.  Now, if this holds, there's a round of golf for me this afternoon.

Joining:

Tablescape Thursday

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Centerpiece Wednesday

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Show and Tell Friday

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My Romantic Home

The Scoop

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Inspire Me Tuesday

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A Stroll Thru Life

Table It

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Rustic and Refined

Home Sweet Home

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The Charm of Home

Sheltered Nest Friday

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French Country Home

Wow Us Wednesday

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Savvy Southern Style

Make It Pretty Monday

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The Dedicated House

Fridays Unfold

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Moonlight and Mason Jars (Wed.)

Juliska Look-Alike

 

This is certainly my lucky day!!!!  I've been mooning over this Juliska pattern that I've seen in lots of high end stores for some time.  My favorite display was one I recently saw in Neiman's where they showed it with a very grayed down lavender.  Beautiful!

This is another similar pattern by Juliska called Berry and Thread.  I think it must be one of their oldest and most popular.  This five piece place setting is $141.  Not totally outrageous, but since I have several cupboards full of nothing but white dishes, they were not coming home with me.

This is a photo from pinterest that I pinned with similar dishes.  They weren't identified in the linked post, but I love the way they are used.

 

Well, it pays to keep your eyes open!  This morning, as I was running into Kroger to do the very unglamorous job of looking for garbage disposal deodorant, these plates jumped out at me!  At $1.99 each, how long do you think it took me to gently place 8 dinner plates and 8 salad plates into my cart?  Folks.......that is not a typo.  $1.99 each!

And for another $2.99 I grabbed these salt and pepper shakers.  They had other serving pieces, but I passed on them. 

 

 

I found these real-deal Juliska s/p shakers on line and I think I remember they were $65. 

There's no denying that I'd far rather have the real Juliska, and that it is no doubt a much higher quality, but you better believe that I'm feeling great about this score!  Now, if I could only find Juliska's Country Manor (in blue, please) knocked off at $1.99 a plate, I'd be delirious!


Silver New Year's Eve 2010

As I began to gather things for our New Year's Eve table for 2011, I realized that I wanted to re-create the table that I did last year.  Sooooo.......I'm reposting that blog rather than photographing everything again.  Our meal will be different this year, but I'm pretty sure that things will look the same.  Wishing you a wonderful 2012!!!!!!!!!

After doing most of the prep work for dinner, I decided to try photographing the dining room table in the strong late afternoon light.  I really didn't think I would like the shots, but some of them were very pretty.  This one gives you a view of the table and I particularly like the reflection of the nadina berries in the salad plate.  I put the place settings all at one end of the table, as there were only three of us and I wanted it to be intimate.  We are stay-at-homers on New Year's Eve.  All we need is a nice, quiet dinner and then we watch the neighbor's fireworks and call it a night!

I've used this cloth the last two years as my New Year's Eve choice.  It is an organza overlay with a white hotel linen cloth under it.  It's almost ethereal in it's silver and white lightness.

Here's a close-up of the detail that became the theme for the table.

Here's how I used Dollar Store glittered snowflakes to echo the detail.

I used the two different sizes for the Waterford water goblet and white wine.  I also found silver snowflake place card holders at Kohl's last year.  This place was for our honored guest, "The Queen", aka, my sweet mother.  She is spending a couple of months with us to escape the cold up north.  (Funny, on the day she arrived, we had snow!!!)  She is responsible for my obsession with love of dishes and I'll have a partner in crime for a couple of months!

Here is my choice of dishes for the evening.

The silver leaf charger is from Pier One, many years ago.  The dinner plate is made by Gibson.  I bought the 20-pc. set for about $30 or $40 several years ago.  It isn't fine china by a long shot, but it gives a good look for the price.  I never worry about breakage, because you never break the icky stuff, just the precious, irreplaceable items.  The silver salad plate came from Kroger this year.  Who knew?  Kroger!!!  The flatware is my favorite collection of mis-matched silverplate.  I just buy pieces I love and only try to have a common shape to the handles.  In this case, I look for a keystone shape and it is very easy to find.

Last year, I found these dessert plates at Target and they looked great again.

If you've ever been at Homegoods and seen this Palm Restaurant line of linens, BUY it!  It launders great!  Here, I tied it with wired silver organdy ribbon and slipped a silver noise maker into the band.

Each placesetting had a silver bud vase filled with a Casa Blanca lilly and red nandina berries.  The berries were the only color on the table and I loved it like that.  The faux mercury glass votives came from Michael's last year and I put one of these at each place as well.

I was ready to put the rest of my Christmas decor away last week, but I hadn't tired of this vignette yet.  It's a mixture of vintage and new items on a heavy silver tray.  (Since the tray is sort of tarnished, I'll pretend I was going with the Shabby Chic look.)  It made a great centerpiece, even though I turned it sideways to cozy up the end of the table.  This was the side we saw as we were seated.....

And this was the "back" side of it.

This guy was on my breakfast table, all in white, for the "Ski and Snowshoe" table I did last week.  You can see it here. It's just some greens and berries added to a white serving tray with mica snow.

Here's the rest of the bunch of lillies on a chest in the dining room.  I usually dislike strongly scented flowers in the dining room, or on the table during dinner, but I make an exception for lillies or peonies!

Then, as darkness fell......

We sat down and brought in the new year.

Here's a peek at our salad course.  It is a roasted pear salad with cranberries, almonds and Saga bleu cheese.  After this course, I forgot all about pictures, as we were enjoying ourselves so much.  Trust me, my mom and I outdid ourselves and the dinner was great!  The menu is at the end of the post.

My wish for all of you is to experience the good fortune I felt that night.  I was in a beautiful home with two of the most important people in my whole life, enjoying a good meal and their unending love.  May you share these blessings as well.  Happy New Year!

Menu:

Dr. Pete's Praline sauce

over block of Cream Cheese

Assorted Crackers

Roasted Pear Salad with

Saga Bleu Cheese

Jalepeno Cheese Grits

Grouper with Crab Stuffing

Dill Sauce

Pecan Pie

Note:  As I read this menu, it sure sounds heavy on the CHEESE!!!!  Didn't notice it at the time!

I am posting this at Between Naps on the Porch on Tablescape Thursday and the recipe for the salad on Gollum's Foodie Friday.  Both of these special blogs are a wealth of inspiration.

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

See Jenny Matlock's Alpha-Thursday

for New Year's Greetings
http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/search/label/Alphabe-Thursday