Easter Dinner 2012

Oh!  This guy marched right into my heart!  He and his friend are made of natural dyed straw and I originally envisioned them used with burlap, but, since I have children coming for Easter Dinner, I thought I needed more color and whimsy.  

So, I added bright yellow and pale green to the mix.

The place setting turned out cheerful and springy.

I used these place mats....

and alternated them with these place mats.

I can never decide if these are supposed to be cabbages or lemons.  I used two yellow plates on the white place mats.

And used a white textured plate with the yellow salad plate on the yellow place mat.  

I'll serve a lemon pudding in these little green flower bowls from Michael's.

I bought these napkins at Target and the daffodil napkin rings are from Pottery Barn last spring. 

I alternated this bright yellow flatware with some pale green.

These etched green tumblers are from Walmart!

I chose this sweet little salt and pepper set simply because of the color.  They came from Michael's bridal department.

I took this shot before I added another seat for an additional guest.  Isn't that what holidays are all about?  Opening your table to friends and family.

The star of this table is the centerpiece.  I love the natural feel of these two rabbits.  Nothing here is fresh, because I needed to set the table several days ahead of time.  We're going to the Masters!!!!  (Imagine Linda doing her happy dance!)  This arrangement allowed me to come home at the last minute and have the table all ready.

Here's Peter.

Here's Floppsie.

Together they sit on moss squares waiting for the party.

I added these velvet birds, silk daffodils, and birch baskets filled with pastel jelly beans.

This bird had just the right colors to jump into the centerpiece in the nest.

Scattering these jelly beans around just seemed to soften things a bit.  Since I know two little boys who will love these, it will make it easier for them to snitch candy.  They may have these......they are sour!!!

I'm just hoping they will share the chocolate from their baskets.

There might be additional little presents.

I think I'll tuck a little something into these little boxes.  Who will get the carrots.......

and who will get the bunny?

Take a look at:

 The Tablescaper forSeasonal Sundays

A Stroll Through Life for Tabletop Tuesdays

for lots of spring inspiration.

The Easter Mugs Come Out

Our younger two grandsons are coming this weekend and we are so excited to see them.  They live waaaay too far away and we treasure every moment we have with them.  And, just like we love our family around here, we love our traditions.  These Easter mugs have been around since our girls were small, so I got them out for the boys to use.  They are so cute with the bunnies climbing all over them.

But the best part of them is this tiny 3-dimensional carrot at the very bottom of the cup. 

Should be good for some giggles! 

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:

and

Tablescape Thursday

National Tartan Day 2012

Of all of the designs that have stood the test of time, tartan has to be the most iconic.  Well, I guess I'd add Blue Willow to that list, now that I think of it.  But I worship at the feet of tartan, and I'm about giddy over National Tartan Day on April 6th.

Here's the table I set for this year's celebration.  It's sort of hard to not make this Christmasy, but I do love the masculine look it gives a table.  Must remember this for Mr. Pressed Pant's birthday.

I inspiration for this table is this set of four Ralph Lauren dessert plates in four different tartan patterns. (This is my first collage ever.  This old dog CAN learn a new trick!)

I layered each of them over a plain white ironstone plate. All of this pattern needs a place to rest your eyes.

 

Two different tartan runners made from cotton from the fabric store went across the table.

My Palm Restaurant white linen napkins were wrapped with three different tartan ribbons which I bought years ago in the cheap ribbon spool section of Michael's.  Wish I had more!  Then I took one thistle and tucked it into the ribbon.

Here's a close-up.

The flatware is my old standby wooden handled stuff that I use over and over.

 

I know that Waterford is Irish not Scottish, but hey, close enough!  

These very heavy cut glass tumblers are etched with thistles.  I bought these for a gift for a friend who loves thistles, and then "forgot" to give them to her.  After she moved away, I stopped feeling guilty about using them.

 

The centerpiece is an antique wooden bowl with a silver monogram plaque filled with white carnations and studded with fresh thistles.  Then I stuck loops of tartan silk ribbon in between the flowers and put little tails of it on the bottom edge.

Looks like I gathered these from out on the moors, doesn't it?  I love the way the blue/green color picks up the blue in the plaids.

I used these solid, sturdy wooden candlesticks with plain white candles.

For a little more wood to ground things, I chose these faux bois salt and pepper shakers.

A plain woven wicker wine coaster is another go-to item in my cupboards.

Makes me feel like wearing a kilt and dancing a jig.

There's a great group of bloggers who are hosting a fun blog romp.

 

Four blogs.....four days!

April 1-4

Vignette Designs

The Polohouse

Upstairs Downstairs

Hyacinths for the Soul

I'll be posting on all four!