A Toile Tale: December 2015

Thursday, December 31, 2015

Tables of 2015

The first week of January, I was asked to do a table top display at the America's Mart gift show. One of my very favorite vendors, Seven Barks, sells these very cool items for tabletop. You can see this post here.

My first spring table had dishes with the image of my grandson's bunny.

Easter Sunday called for a little more formal table.

I was excited to use these new blue and white dishes.

I love this table I did as a tribute to the Atlanta Dogwood Festival.

Another Easter week table had bunnies and burlap.

There were red, white, and blue tables.

And blue hydrangea tables.

Here's our Father's Day table.

This table celebrated the Blue Moon.

This nautical table was one of my favorites.

Here's the post with the new look pool-side.

This is one of my favorite late summer looks.

Here, we're feeling a little antsy!

I did this post to show how easy it was to do a quick table with flowers from the grocery store.

When fall came, I changed it up with a pale, neutral look.

It was a grey, overcast day when I had this luncheon, but the table was bright and unique.

Thanksgiving week brought us a visit from some of our oldest friends and I set this table.

These fun placemats with old woodie station wagons were the inspiration for this table.

But, my very favorite table of all, was this one with Spode's Glen Lodge dishes.

Who knows who will put their feet under our table this next year, or what the table will look like, but I'm looking forward to lots of laughs and making memories. The meal is about the friendship, and extending a pretty table is my gift to our guests. Wanna come????

Joining:

Tablescape Thursday

Between Naps on the Porch

Share Your Style (Wed.)

Show and Tell Friday

The Scoop (Mon.)

Inspire Me Tuesday

Be Inspired (Tues.)

Elizabeth And Company

Table It (Sun.)

Rustic and Refined

Home Sweet Home (Fri.)

The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday

French Country Home

Wow Us Wednesday

Savvy Southern Style

Monday Funday

All Things Heart and Home

Make It Pretty Monday

The Dedicated House

Fridays Unfold

www.nancherrow.com

Moonlight and Mason Jars (Wed.)

Celebrate It Sunday

at Celebrate and Decorate

Share It One More Time (Sat.)

designthusiasm.com

The Inspiration Gallery (Thurs.)

Craftberry Bush

Share Your Cup (Thurs.)

Jan Olson

Share Your Style (Thurs.)

21 Rosemary Lane

The Creative Exchange (Thurs.)

The Happy Scraps

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

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!

Joining:

Tablescape Thursday

Between Naps on the Porch

Share Your Style (Wed.)

Show and Tell Friday

The Scoop (Mon.)

Inspire Me Tuesday

Be Inspired (Tues.)

Elizabeth And Company

Table It (Sun.)

Rustic and Refined

Home Sweet Home (Fri.)

The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday

French Country Home

Wow Us Wednesday

Savvy Southern Style

Monday Funday

All Things Heart and Home

Make It Pretty Monday

The Dedicated House

Fridays Unfold

www.nancherrow.com

Moonlight and Mason Jars (Wed.)

Celebrate It Sunday

at Celebrate and Decorate

Share It One More Time (Sat.)

designthusiasm.com

The Inspiration Gallery (Thurs.)

Craftberry Bush

Share Your Cup (Thurs.)

Jan Olson

Share Your Style (Thurs.)

21 Rosemary Lane

The Creative Exchange (Thurs.)

The Happy Scraps

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Spode's Glen Lodge Pheasant

When I spotted this fabulous china pattern at B. D. Jeffries, one of Atlanta's nicest gift stores, I fell in LOVE! I kept thinking and thinking about it and decided that I'd spring for it. Before I went back to buy it, what did I find at Homegoods???? Four salad plates! And then, at another Homegoods, I couldn't believe that they had four dinner plates. I had those at the cash wrap faster than you could believe.

This guy was destined to be the centerpiece at this table. I put him on a styrofoam base that I filled with mixed greens.

Once I added some glass ornaments, silk hydrangeas, pine cone and feathers, I was pleased with the centerpiece.

Here's the way the place setting stacked up. I started with a light colored straw placemat, than added a bird's eye maple charger. Then the dinner plate and the salad plate.

Here's the dinner plate by itself. It is "Glen Lodge Pheasant" by Spode. I admit that B.D. Jeffries had the same line with a stag as well, and I was torn. But then when the miracle occurred at Homegoods, the decision was easily made.

Doesn't it go together well?

I used this flatware that gets a lot of use, and on top of the hunter green napkin, instead of a napkin ring, I placed a little pheasant that I took right off of the Christmas tree!

These stems are Imperial Glass, and they have been around forever. The wicker covered glasses are used as stemless wine glasses. The inserts slip right out to go into the dishwasher.