Let The Holidays Begin!

We had a flurry of entertaining late summer and early fall, then a flurry of vacationing, so it seems like quite a while since we've had folks here to dine.  I feel like this meal will be Holiday '15 liftoff!  We are expecting some dear friends that we have not been with for a long time.  They will be on their way from their summer home to their winter home and they are putting Atlanta on the route so we can re-connect!  Oh, joy!!!!

This arrangement of real and faux gourds has been on our dining room table most of the fall.  While I am usually all about fresh, it is such a treat to take this bin out of storage and decorate the table..Slam bam, done!  I don't worry about rotting or drooping or fading. (I might have to re-think the fresh bias.)

This turned out to be an abundantly beautiful table.

Since I already had the centerpiece sitting on a green linen runner, I didn't want to take it all off and add a tablecloth, so I used cream colored straw placemats to make a contrast on the dark wood table.  Then a cream charger from Z Gallerie, and a dinner plate with the image of a cross cut of a log.

Then, (drum roll please), this salad plate that makes the whole darn table work!  I love it so much.  These were a gift from one of my bridge buddies and the are just about one of the most perfect gifts.

This light wood handled flatware is an old Martha Stewart pattern that, again, shows up well on the table.

I "auditioned" several different napkins before I decided on this dark brown one and then I tied it with a wood slice as a placecard.  I was wishing I had a woodburning tool to write the names, but settled for a brown magic marker.

The glasses are some I use often.  The green stem is from Swoosie's and the amber tumbler is from Bobby Flay's line at Kohl's.

These little plates from the floral wholesaler make a good bread and butter dish.

I regret not buying enough of these little salt and peppers to use them as individuals.  They were from the dollar bin at Michael's a few years ago.

Somehow, water served from this French bottle seems so much better than any of my many pitchers.

This rattan coaster is waiting the perfect bottle of wine.  Hmmm.  What should it be?  Something crisp and white.

Buried in the midst of the gourds, grapes, and nuts, are these wonderful old twisty candlesticks.

As you can see, one reason I like this table so much is that it suits the colors already in this room.

We can't wait to share a meal with these friends.  When you put your feet under the same table, magic often happens.

This year, may the abundance of the harvest season......

translate into an abundance of riches from the presence of your friends.

Joinng:

Tablescape Thursday

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Between Naps on the Porch

Share Your Style (Wed.)

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No Minimalist Here

Show and Tell Friday

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My Romantic Home

The Scoop (Mon.)

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Cedar Hill Farmhouse

Inspire Me Tuesday

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A Stroll Thru Life

Be Inspired (Tues.)

Elizabeth And Company

Table It (Sun.)

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Rustic and Refined 

Home Sweet Home (Fri.)

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The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday

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French Country Home

Wow Us Wednesday

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Savvy Southern Style

Monday Funday

All Things Heart and Home

Make It Pretty Monday

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The Dedicated House

Fridays Unfold

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Moonlight and Mason Jars (Wed.)

Celebrate It Sunday

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Share It One More Time (Sat.)

designthusium.com

A Tribute to the Dogwood Festival

Many, many people in Atlanta look forward to the Dogwood Festival each year.  It was held this past weekend, and it was full of music, art, food and celebrated the lovely dogwood trees we are so privileged to have here in this beautiful city.  I put together this table as a tribute to the many volunteers that it takes to hold this event.

We have lots of dogwood here, both as specimens and many wild ones in the woods.  They made beautiful fillers for these old blue Ball jars.  I kept the white linen cloth and the burlap runners that I had on the table for "Bunnies and Burlap" (here).

I posted a very similar table to this before, when the dogwood was blooming.  It was probably my favorite table ever.  You can see it here.

I love the colors of taupe, turquoise and white together.  Can you see the faux bois design on the salad plate?

The light wood on the flatware seemed just right with the burlap, and I used these white linen napkins with turquoise linen flower napkin rings.

I put bread sticks in these glass lined, birch covered votives.

The glassware was plain Tiffany stems with turquoise glass tumblers made by Martha Stewart.

I love this easy, easy centerpiece.

These birch-like candles never even got lit, as it is staying light so much later these days.

I knew we are headed for a full week of rain, so I grabbed my clippers and cut a huge bunch of limbs for this granite bucket by the front door.  Is it too much to mix the dogwood and the forsythia?  Oh, who cares?  I'm so into spring!

Joining:

Tablescape Thursday

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Between Naps on the Porch

Centerpiece Wednesday

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The Style Sisters

Show and Tell Friday

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My Romantic Home

The Scoop

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Cedar Hill Farmhouse

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.)

Dogwood Days

I'm recycling this post done with nests to join Cuisine Kathleen's  linky party featuring birds, eggs, and nests!  Be sure to see her many posts and inspiration from lots of bloggers.

 

Our dogwood trees have been so beautiful, especially the specimen down on our lower terrace.  I've wanted to do a table featuring the dogwood, and I almost waited too late!  The petals are starting to fall and they are definitely past their peak.  

The table is serene with a narrow color spectrum of taupe and white with just a tiny hint of pale robin's egg blue.  Sort of an anti-bunny table!!!  You can see the sideboard decorated for spring in the background.  I posted a tutorial  last year on how I put it together here.

These great place mats were the basis for the color selections.  They are a very light weight, loosely woven linen with this embroidery in each corner.  I found them at Boxwoods in Atlanta, and I'm expecting I'll use them often.

The glassware is a high/low mix that I love.  The wine glasses are from Tiffany's basic line, and the tumblers are from Martha Stewart's line for Macy's from several years ago. The pale, pale aqua color lends just a touch of color.  They are very thin, so I've already broken a couple of them.

I'm using these white faux bois plates again. My last post with them can be seen here.  They look like the cross section of a log.

I added a small bird's nest from Michael's with an aqua speckled faux egg and a fresh dogwood blossom.

The bread and butter plate is a very thin wood grained plate and I added individual butter spreaders that have twig handles.

This light colored, wood handled flatware seemed appropriate for the light colored table.

This  taupe and white checked linen napkin was placed between the plates to give them a bit of contrast.  We brought them back from a street market in Aix in Provence.

These little velvet birds were placed at each place just because I love them so much and I thought they "went with" the eggs and nests.

As you can see, the dogwood was almost past it's prime.  We had a rain the other night and that seemed to give them a case of the spots!

But, when you back off a bit and look at them en masse, they look pretty good.

This birch bark vase seemed to pull the natural elements together.  I couldn't help adding this tiny metal nest with turquoise robin eggs.

It echos this nest on each plate.

The salt and pepper shakers sort of sit in a nest, too.

This seems like a serene table where one might enjoy a refined meal with grown-up conversation with your sophisticated friends, right?  Well, that probably won't be the case here.  Not that I don't have any sophisticated friends, but they aren't coming over tonight, and the conversation will probably be about finding a new yardman and having the driveway resurfaced!

That's ok.  We need to get on top of spring clean-up and repairs sooner rather than later.  May I have your list of dependable repairmen?

Let's eat!

Wish you could be joining us!

The birdies on the window bench are coming!

I'm a little late, but I'm posting here:

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Tablescape Thursday