Saint Patrick's Day Dinner

I love St. Patrick's Day, but I feel the same way about celebrating it as I do New Year's Eve.....better to be at home with friends than out with those hell-bent on mischief and debauchery.  So we plan on a small dinner party with good friends and a high-low mix of tabletop items.  My favorite kind of table to design!

 

The china I'll be using is a beautiful button fern pattern.....close enough to shamrocks, don't you think?  I found an entire service for 12 at a tag sale in Conneticut.  It has an amazing amount of dining and serving pieces.  Not as many as it did when I bought it, though!  As I opened the back of my daughter's SUV to take out Adam's stroller, out fell all 12 dinner plates and they smashed to a million pieces.  Not even worth taking to a restorer.  I do have these small luncheon plates, and luckily they go well with my plain gold band Lenox when I want to serve dinner as I do here.  It doesn't have a pattern name on the back, just that it is English and made by John Maddock and Sons. 

These white linens are from the Palm Restaurant line that Homegoods carries.  They wash so well and don't take too much ironing, considering they are linen.  I tied the napkin with fun shamrock ribbon and a green glittery derby hat from Michael's.  This flatware is from World Market.  I use a lot of green on my tables, but most of it is more of a moss green shade.  This is a clearer color but was so inexpensive that I just scooped up eight placesettings.

What other crystal would you use for St. Patrick's Day but Waterford????  This is the Lismore pattern and just for fun, I placed each stem on a foam shamrock from Michael's.

I love these little butter plates.  I'll put a pat of butter on each one topped with a fresh clover leaf.  I've been out checking the paddock for some unfertilized ones.  I'm afraid to use some from the yard, and anyhow, there shouldn't be any if the pre-emergent is doing it's job!

Here's the luncheon sized plate that I'll use for the salad course.

Dessert will be served on these green depression glass plates.  There are several shades of green depression glass, but I love this rather blue/green the best.  I had such a nice afternoon antiquing with my mom when I found them.  It's the memories that make your moderately priced "finds" priceless.

 Here's a close-up of the pattern.  As you can tell, it's pretty well crazed, but then, so am I!!

Here are the old standby Imperial glass salt and peppers that I use so often.  I also used the creamer and sugar bowl from this pattern.

These very fine green mercury glass votives came from that exclusive tabletop store - Krogers!

A friend of mine asked me to go to a fund raising luncheon with her a couple of months ago and this incredible white faux bois basket was on the silent auction table.  I was the first person to bid on it and I was so determined to get it that I never moved the rest of the way around the tables, as I was hovering to protect my bid.  I must have put off "don't touch" vibes, because during the entire cocktail hour, NOBODY else even placed a bid.  Just as the bidding was about to close, I upped my own bid just because I thought that I was getting it too cheaply!  Look at the handle.........

and check out this close-up of the design.  It could hardly be more wonderful!

I filled it with three shamrock plants from Trader Joe's and some white daisies in water tubes tucked in here and there.

Here's an overhead.  I also used some small glittered shamrocks from Michael's just scattered around for a little more cheer.  I think you can really, really go cheesy with St. Patrick's Day stuff if you aren't careful.

I reigned it in a bit, but still feel like it is a festive table.  Green beer, anyone??

I'll be linking with Between Naps on the Porch for her Tabletop Thursday blog party.