Sweet Designs

Elegant Lady Tablesetting, and a Pink, white and silver Christmas Tree

2011-12-26T13:26:00.001-05:00

Hi all, I hope you all had a great Christmas, I sure did with my family.
I am joining up with Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch make sure and visit her to view everyones designs.

My tablesetting color theme this year is pale green (platters, ribbon,greenery etc), snow white dishes, silver, pearls, and crystal.

Closeup shot of placesetting.

Pink tree, I didn't do as much this year, I had gone thru a bunch of medical tests and well, it just wore me out.

Living room, dining room and kitchen remodel

2011-12-14T09:22:00.000-05:00

For those of you who still check in on me and leave me comments, thank you! I know, I haven’t posted for AGES! Due to computer issues (which I still have), my laptop got a raging virus, and well, it’s dead, but libraries do work out for occasional posts. But, I do want to share what I have been doing with my time.

It has been slow finding the right person for the construction part and money, yep, it’s always about the money, with labor mostly being the highest cost…... The cost of the drywall, the 2x4s, small electrical parts/wire etc. is minimal. The cost of the flooring will be painful, basically the whole house floor needs replacing. I am hoping the type of styling that I plan on will be what will set it off to give it the updated finished look that I want.

A little history on my decision to remodel…

A year ago, on a sudden epiphany I decided to take my small parameter of control that I have over my life and live for what makes me happy now. I decided to go against ALL conventional wisdom and changed my three bedroom home to a two bedroom home. Ow! I can hear gnashing of the teeth, sighs of disbelief that I have committed one of the cardinal sins against real-estate resale.. But, the way I see it is that I have no plans on ever selling my home ( I don’t have a crystal ball, but I just don’t see me moving..unless it’s to a more permanent place if you know what I mean.) My DD will get my home when I pass, and she can do what she wants with it, I figure she will still be one house ahead of the game.

Any hoo, I set about tearing down the wall that divides my old living room from the 3rd bedroom, and hey, while I was at it, I had also decided I could no longer stand the 10ft x 7.5ft kitchen that I have suffered in for 12 years, so 3 walls came down there too. What a difference! The peace and happiness was immediate and so very satisfying.
Not. One. Ounce. Of. Regret.

My plan:
Turn the 3rd bedroom into living room. (90% done) needs flooring and crown molding.
Turn old living room into a dining room (50%) done) I still have flooring, the back wall and ponywall/column to do.
Turn the old dining room into a much larger kitchen addition. (well… the walls are down sigh…)
I am also gaining a foyer of sorts, before company just “landed” in living room, I really hated that, now the living room is behind the entry door and ponywall/column, so some division and privacy is maintained.

Disclaimer, this MESS is NOT how I normally decorate, I had all the contents of the living room, dining room and the bedroom moved, shoved, anywhere I could put it in order to do the tear down. And, no, it was not easy to live with, but I had a vision, or perhaps it’s really called blindness. It would have probably driven anyone else nuts, but since this is something that meant so much to me, I managed to overlook the chaos, but I am very glad that it is more ordered now.

These next 2 photos are of the entry and the living room from a MLS posting of another house that was built exactly like mine just so you can get an idea of where I started.

This is what the dividing wall between the original living room and the bedroom looked like when I remodeled the wall right after I moved in so that I would be able to recess my tv and not have it stick out into the walkway. There were 2 lighted niches (the secetary hutch is blocking one of the niches in this photo.)

I ripped out the walls myself, it fit my pocketbook (free), and it was very satisfying to take out all of my frustrations out on the walls, I highly recommend tearing out walls yourself, it burns calories and is cheaper than a shrink. The electrical and first part of the build was handled by someone I hired, and then fired pretty quickly, but that is another tale.
Photo looking in the direction of the entry and windows of the old living room, now to be the dining room.

Photo of the start of my tear down, I put up the plastic paper to keep down some of the dust and debri that would come out from the bedroom during the knockdown. If you are going to live in a tear down, it is really worth the prep of trying to keep down the drywall dust.

Next photo shows me working from the inside the bedroom tearing out the wall leading to the new foyer and new dining room.

Moving right along:

Looking into the old dining room and the walls that will be coming down in the kitchen. (I had to stuff the LR furniture where the dining room furniture used to be in order to start my tear down.

Photo from MLS listing of the kitchen (remember this is not my exact kitchen, it is same house as mine, but another listing, one difference is that this kitchen has a dishwasher, my kitchen does NOT, and mine has the washing machine in it-HORRIBLE!

Looking into the kitchen after the walls were torn down, you can see my "pretend" island, I placed where my future island will be. I had to tear down the horrible fake tile board that was in the kitchen before. I will probably do a faux country french type of wall treatment in there until I can do the major fixing in there. (the exercise equipment sitting in the DR is long gone) LOL A new wall is planned to be put up to divide the DR and the kitchen in the future. The new wall will enable me to have floor to ceiling cabinets in for all the storage of my smaller kitchen applicances and my extensive collection of dishes.

Looking into the new living room...I moved the living room furniture in to see how I wanted to set it up (plus, I was still living there so it had to be somewhat functional for me inbetween building spurts. There is still lots of teardown and building to do.

Pony walls and columns, dividing the entry from the livingroom and dining room. The back wall, and the old bedroom door still need to be removed and drywalled over.

Stay tuned....more coming

Living Room, early morning light and taking care of what is Important

2010-01-06T08:18:00.014-05:00

I love early mornings especially on weekends, the light at that time of the day is truely inspiring, which is when I love to take alot of photos. Now, considering I work a full time job you would think I would sleep in...BUT thanks to my little buddy, Toby, it isn't about to happen. So I make the best of it to take the time just to enjoy the peacefullness of it all (that's after he gets his morning treat of course, even before I get MY cup of coffee). In fact I haven't even had time to put all the Christmas things up as you can see in the reflection in the mirror. The things we do for the animals we love....

Toby, in his chair (needing a bath,which he HATES) by the way, any chair is HIS chair. For that fact any surface that doesn't move is his if he so decides. Did I mention he rules the roost? You just gotta love em! He was a major comfort to me during chemo and continues to be so, how can I say no? So this is just a little tribute to the animals in our life, mine in particular, that in their own small way end up giving far more than what we often give back.
P.S. He will be getting extra (healthy) dog treats today!

Late Night Foodie Pleasures, thanks Trader Joe's

2009-12-28T21:06:00.012-05:00

Is there anything better than chocolate? I think not. In this particular case; chocolate truffles, accompanied by a yummy dessert wine. The wine is "IPSUS" Pantelleria Passito Dessert Wine. The chocolate truffles is a Trader Joe's brand, very inexpensive, but quite smooth and chocolaty. The wine and truffles are a wonderful combination. A very little goes along way, which is good news for my hips.

Aren't they just cute, there were three at the beginning of this shoot, but I had to keep my strength up so I thought I would test one out just to keep me honest. And honestly, it was gooood!

As I had mentioned above, the truffles and wine came from Trader Joe's. It's a good thing the store is in the neighboring town otherwise I would be there alot more often! I love visiting on a Saturday, I look forward to leisurely sampling the food they offer, the coffee, and the occasional wine tasting. While I was off last week at such a tasting at "Joe's" I discovered a new dessert wine as you see pictured, so I plopped that baby in my cart along with the chocolate truffles and called it a day.

Do any of you have foodie favorites that you can share with me from Trader Joe's? Getting personal recommendations is almost as good as tasting it in real life, at least I will know what to put on my list for the next visit! You can even suggest something healthy..my hips will thank you!

Giving importance to your featured item in your Vignettes

2009-12-27T13:02:00.009-05:00

I hope everyone's holiday was wonderful, mine was! I had a lovely dinner with my daughter and her boyfriend. And yes, I will be posting photos LOL

I played around a little with my coffee table vignette, I love changing up the look, especially since the holidays go away so quickly!

I thought I would pass along a little tip for you all that I use in many of my tablesettings/vignettes.
Most of the time I like to make sure my featured item in a tablesetting is set apart/highlighted, and given importance. In this case the coral is the main subject. To give it more visual importanance I placed it on a large upside-down glass candle holder. The photos make the items look smaller than they actually are, the items really are quite big. By placing the coral on top of the raised candle holdler, I think it gives the item the attention that I wanted to convey. Just to make sure the coral was going to sit correctly I placed one of my glass beaded edged dishes directly under the coral on top of the bottom of the glass candle holder.

Don't you think the candle holder looks like a fishermans net that has turned into sparkling glass?

The idea is to think outside of the box, always ask yourself what other use can a particular item do.

A closeup of the coral sitting on the glass beaded plate.

A little closeup....my interpertation of "jewels of the sea".

I hope this little tips helps you in your creation of your own tablescape/vignettes!

Christmas "Lady"

2009-12-21T09:34:00.012-05:00

Oh my, this Christmas Lady post took me forever, I have lots more photos but I kept getting "booted off".
Here she is all jeweled up, along side with my tiny collection of magnifying glasses and my decorated cake plates. Pretty much everything shown here came from Walmart or Marshalls over the years.

Below, she was wearing her "naughty" necklace, but she still will get gifts, naughty or not ....

It is quite easy to decorate stacking plates, I have used these plates for years with the different color schemes I use. Just use a coordinating color scheme, add in a few sparkles and related items and you are good to go.

Inside the top sundae cup, supporting the tree topper is simply a string of pearl garlands cut up bead by bead to fill in the void and support the topper. I have also used the pretty flattened glass marbles you can purchase from Michaels or Walmart to support the tree toppers.

My crystal and cream Christmas tree will be posted on Tuesday. See you then!

Dinner and Dessert Tablesetting in front of the Fireplace

2009-12-15T19:16:00.010-05:00

I just wanted to put up a quick shot my my dinner tablesetting tonight in front of the fireplace. It was pretty simple, a salad, chicken and rice with a sweet muffin and hot chocolate for dessert.

I've had the plaid plates for quite a few years, they came from Target. These were very inexpensive but the enjoyment from them has been priceless. I have been able to mix and match many christmas holiday dishes with them. For tablesettings I like to use the same color theme as my surroundings if I can. In this case I used dishes and accessories with whites, reds and some black, basically the same color theme found in my fireplace mantel decorations. I find alot of times the "road map" for your color scheme is right in front of you. Of course I have been known to use colors that don't match the room at all, in that case the tablesetting is the star. Not very helpful am I ??? ;)

Santa Christmas Mantel

2009-12-07T21:34:00.029-05:00

I finally finished my Christmas mantel and tabletop tree in my den/library/tv room. It came together fairly easy, considering I have the worst cold I have gotten in years. I would have had a tablesetting but since I am sick, I really did not feel like eating anything (quite unusual for me), I will be showing some of my tables later though. Most everything (greens) on the mantel came from Michaels Arts and Crafts store. They are having a 50% off sale right now on very realistic looking greens.

I want to paint this room red, the grey/white walls are just not the comforting color I am looking for, but I am having a hard time finding the right red, I want something more blue-red-rich rather than an orangey red, if anyone has any paint suggestions please let me know.

I love using plaids in my faux english/scottish decor, I think upholstered walls would be great in this room, but way too much work for me to do alone so I shall have to settle for paint instead.

Just a little detail about the mantel. I do like an abundance of greens. The key to acheiving a full and realistic look is to try to vary the kinds of greens you use. The base pine greens in this case were very realistic. All it took was 2 strings/ropes of this pine greenery (1 "string" for the left side of the mantel and 1 "string" for the right side, 8 large picks of hanging/drapey greens, and 1 piece of a drapey lacy cypress type of green. A mixed rope of white hydrangeas and roses (from Walmart a few seasons ago), pine cones (free), faux feathers from Michaels. I held them together with some pipe cleaners, everything was just placed on top of the mantel and simply stuck in the greenry picks, no need for Styrofoam, some glass icicles (from various stores, but I know that Target and Kmart has them) and that was it!

Oh, yes, I am a mad collector of Santas, so I added in this particular one, keeping in with my more woodsy relaxed feel. Closer to Christmas I will go out into my garden and place some Nadina berries into the arrangement for a bit more realism.

Fall tablescape

2009-11-28T12:06:00.008-05:00

I am finally able to post my Fall tablesetting, I have been having major computer problems getting online. Well, better late than never? :)

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, I am still full! Now I have to figure out my Christmas menu, since I am hosting this year.

Fall Fireplace Mantel decorating

2009-11-22T11:57:00.004-05:00

Hi all,

This is a sneak peek of my Fall decorated fireplace.

I know I have not been around for AGES! I am finally feeling up to par, and ready to join the world again.

Hopefully tonight I will take a full shot with small voltive candles lit.

I love decorating "overkill", I just can't help myself, I start out simple, and just like I can't take one bite of chocolate, I have to just keep going. Luckly, this was very inexpensive to do. One strand of fall leaves, faux feathers, strands of other draping type of greens. Orangey pods, xmas greens and tureen (not shown) from Walmart, nest, and dogs from Marshalls. Real apples from the grocery store. Pinecones FREE = Pricesless LOL

I'll be doing a Fall tablescape in a couple of days.

Late Christmas additions

2009-01-03T14:12:00.012-05:00

Yikes, for those of you that just seen these pics without words...well, I hit a wrong button, it came up with no words, so here I am editing... (blush).

Anyhoo, Yep, these photos are way past Christmas, but since I don't believe in working on a deadline for a "hobby" I hope you will forgive me. I have way to many deadlines at work, and I promised myself that my hobby blog would be stress free (most of the time any way :)

This little snow/angel person, is something I picked up a few weeks ago, the little face just spoke to me of sweetness, it is by the artist Bethany Lowe, she has some really cute items.

I have a collection of Swarovski snowflakes, some my DD has given me, and I bought a few for my self, I am always tempted to leave them out all year, the sparkle is just unreal when the light hits them. The little camera effect I did here is now popularly called bokeh, but it is really just a photo set up utilizing something called "depth of field". I am embarrassed to admit, that I did not use a tripod here, I got a new camera from Santa/aka: Me ( I decided I was a really good girl this year, that's my story and I am sticking to it). Anyway, I wanted to see just how far the camera could go without a tripod, hmmm, still need one LOL.

Cream and Crystal tree.....Finally!

2008-12-27T18:36:00.035-05:00

Oh my, I thought I would never get these loaded, it took me hours! The pain of a sporatic internet signal, it has been this way for longer than what I care to admit. But, here they are, hopefully better late than never?

I hope every ones Christmas was wonderful. Mine was great, I was able to share it for a few hours of gift opening and Christmas dinner with my DD and her SO...table setting photos to follow....permitting the pleasure of the internet gods...

The Swarovski crystal snowflake on the right was one of my gifts from my DD and her SO for this Christmas, I have quite a few of the large and smaller ones from her over the years and I treasure them.

I decided to dress up the "lady" this Christmas with pearls and jewels, she looks quite content don't you think?

Here are a few closeups of the tree, there are many Lenox ornaments that I have collected and that my DD has given me as one of my Christmas gifts, it is a tradition that I love between us.

The sphere like ornament in the middle is one of my favorite Lenox ornaments, luckily there is a Lenox outlet near me, so I can get them fairly affordable if I am patient enough to wait to purchase them after the holidays.

All over my tree I have hundreds of glass icicles that I have purchased over the last few years, always at the after Christmas sales. I have quite a few chandelier crystals too, the crystals and icicles add such a nice sparkle to the tree, plus they go with what ever color theme I chose to use for the year.

I also like to use silk flower in my trees, they fill up the spaces quite nicely and add in another element of style to the tree. In this tree I used poinsettias and roses.

I hope you enjoyed my late addition to the holiday, I am already looking forward to next year!

EVERYWHERE...Ornaments!

2008-12-07T12:50:00.020-05:00

Pretty much everywhere in my living room and dining room are hundreds of ornaments for my cream, crystal and gold tree for this year. The great thing about all these ornaments pictured is that they can easily mix in with a tree of ANY color theme. This is where there is such a big cost saving for me when I do different color themed trees every other year, I only have to have half as much ornaments for a new look because these cream, gold, and crystal ornis fit in with any color scheme. The glass snowflake balls you see in the front are from the Dollar store. You might also notice the plain and simple gold glass balls in the photo too, they and the simple cream balls go into the inside part of the tree to add sparkle and depth, and most important they are very inexpensive fillers, allowing you to use your fancier ones on the outside tips of your tree where you can see them easily.

I have collected the Lenox over many many years. Alot of them are very dear to me, because as a Christmas tradition I gave my DD one of the two same ornis for her future tree, (keeping one for me) and once she was older as a Christmas Eve gift she would purchase a couple of ornis for me. It is great fun opening our new ornis together and putting then up on the tree Christmas Eve, a very important tradition for me. It has build a tree of alot of memories and love.

I still purchase ornis every year, luckliy not as many as I used to, but if they call to me, they are mine!

Lots of ornies on the side table, just waiting for placement on the tree, or design for a vignette. Hint, if you collect perfume bottles you can use them as decorations on the tree (provided they are empty of course).

More ornis on the rug waiting patiently for me to dig in, and start the long decorating process. You can see a few glimpses of some of my Lenox and other glass ornies.

On the coffee table are tons of crystal Lenox ornies, I purchased all of them on clearance after the holiday, they sparkle so wonderfully on the tree. I also have quite a few crystal swag/garland pieces that I add in the tree and use in vignettes and some of my tablesettings, so versatile!

My favorite items, I have at least 200 of these crystals, they take a long time to put on the tree, but they are the fabulous finishing touch. I had purchased these for a "different" kind of Dollar store, I bought every one I seen. I also have hundreds of glass icicles that I had purchased for only 2 dollars a box for 18, at a Dillards after Christmas sale.

(Below) This is a photo of my very large rubbermaid bin of my ball style ornis. I wrapped each of them all up one-by-one, to keep them safe, what you are looking at is some that I have unwrapped. The bag of roses is another fav of mine, it fills in the empty spaces to the tree adding in a certain kind of elegance I think. Poinsettias and hydrangeas are great for this too.

You will also note a few mirrored ornis, they are wonderful for the sparkle and reflection of light.

Hopefully the finished tree will be in the next post, providing my internet connection is still with me..

Holiday Tablesetting Sneak Peek

2008-12-01T13:43:00.007-05:00

I thought I would pop in with a little sneak peek of one of my tablesettings that I will be doing over the holidays. I typically do quite a few tablesettings since I have several sets of Christmas dishes and I also see my DD more during this holiday season for dinner.

This is actually a pretty inexpensive table setting to do, everything you see here is glass, You would be amazed how pretty an all glass table setting can be. Another perk of this style of setting is that you can add in any accent color you may want to use so if someone can't afford a patterned set of Christmas dishes you can still acheive a holiday look effortlessly by the accents you decide to add in.

More Christmas tree tips

2008-11-30T13:00:00.018-05:00

I'm sorry these tips are slow coming, my internet connection is giving me alot of grief these days.

Placing balls in the inner part of a tree is something a lot of folks don't do, many people only decorate the outside limbs of the tree. When you only decorate the outside, you loose seeing a depth or 3D-dimension type of look to your tree. You also loose the inner brightness caused from putting in these simple reflective balls.

What I do is put either inexpensive gold or silver balls(depending on my color theme) you can buy in sets most anywhere. The gold or silver balls give the needed light reflection you need in the darkest part of the tree, the christmas lights reflecting off of the balls gives an inner brightness and warmth to a tree. For a "bling" look I would suggest at least 50 to 75 balls placed in the inner part of a 6.5 ft tree (of course you can use less, this is just how I like to decorate mine.) As you can see from the photos above, try to place the balls in those bare areas and the area right next to the trunk of the tree, this also hides the ugly wrapped pole (in this photo there are only a few showing now for ease in showing you hope to place them, but you can be assured I will be adding much more.)

Go back and take look at the pic again, do you see all the tiny bright light specks being reflected in the ball? Just the few balls pictured have already reflected alot of light.

Christmas Decorating, it begins....

2008-11-29T12:25:00.014-05:00

I have been asked by a few folks for some tips on how I decorate my trees. the photo above is a single short "garland" of 12 connected poinsettas, that I purchased at Walmart a few weeks ago for only $7.00, a great buy for a hundred dollar look.

On the couch is 4 sets (and a poinsetta bunch of flowers for decorating on my wreaths)

Here is the strip of flowers placed on the tree, I will probably tuck it in a bit more, and then I will add in the other garlands tip to tip, spiraling down the tree in a loose "S" pattern. This is a great thing to do especially if you don't have alot of ornaments yet, because it makes a great "filler".

Now, if you did not want to do the spiral garland look, you can also detach the flower heads and place them evenly thoughout your tree (which I have done with great success too with last years pink tree).

I will post more later, as I progress.

Christmas in Cream, Gold and crystals

2008-10-17T07:09:00.011-04:00

This is just a little sneak peek at my Christmas theme this year. And tieing in from my previous post, another example of using the stacking plates for holidays. They really are versatile.

Why am I posting something Christmasy this early? I have found that I need to start way ahead for my planning. Since stores get out Christmas decor so early, I have found if I don't shop early for my decorations the best ornaments and such are gone way before December 1st! Right now it is very difficult to find "off white/cream colored ornaments, so if any do show up I plan on being the first there to claim them. :) I like planning my table scapes early too, that way when the big day comes, I'll set the table the day before saving me the time to concentrate on cooking, and an added benefit of that is it really puts me in the mood for the big festive dinner I share with my DD and her SO. Now that my DD has moved out, my big day is usually Christmas Eve, this was a very difficult transition for me, as Christmas Day was the traditional day for all the fun and festivities, but since she is on her own, she now wants the "day" to her and her SO, plus she needs to accomodate his family too. The change has been "hard" on me I must admit, are any of you going thru this right now?

Fall Decorations for your home

2008-10-09T10:10:00.025-04:00

This is my Fall stacking plates centerpiece/vignette, I really enjoy doing these because they are easy, don't take up too much space, and it's a real eye catcher.

I love to use this as a center piece for my dining room table or my coffee table, but it could just as easily be the highlight of your buffet table too.

I showed them first to a forum group I visit a few years ago, the were so popular there so I decided to do a tutorial, so I hope that you, dear blog reader will enjoy it too.

These cake plates can be used for any holiday, Christmas, Fall, Thanksgiving, Valentines Day, Easter, Birthdays, Baby Showers, Bridal Showers, etc, they really are quite versitile. And of course you can use them for what they are ment for..food.

Part 1:

Gather up what you have choosen to do up your cake plates with. The key to a pretty over all design is to keep in the choosen theme, in this case it is a Fall theme.

I used a Christmas tree topper in my chosen colors, christmas birds, acorns, leaves, glass rocks and jewels, mini beaded pumpkins, a fairy, pine cone ornaments, faux grapes, the next 2 pictures show what I used, I did have a little left over, but I did use alot as you can see.

These are the empy stacking plates, the top piece is a 99 cent sundae cup I purschased at Walmart. The actual stacking plates came 3 in a box from Walmart(a few yrs ago). But you can order on line I think from Target for them too, Linens and Things, and Bed Bath and Beyond also has carried these plates. The average cost for the set is about $20.00.

Photo of the 3 stacking cake plates together.

Part 2: Start loading up, this is a few close-ups so you can see where I placed some things.

In the sundae cup I place in some of the glass jewels as filler before I put in the tree topper ornament. You can get the glass jewels at Walmart and craft stores.

Again, the finished product.

I hope you enjoyed this and that it was helpful. If you have any questions just leave me a note on the comments area.

Lunch with Ms. Bunny

2008-07-27T14:52:00.032-04:00

Well, today is the last day of my vacation, tommorrow back to work Sigh.....

The lunch "theme" today is soft and pink.

White and pink together is another classic (that is IF you like pink LOL) I love pink, but it is actually a very hard color to find in dishware. Some of you have asked where I find my goodies...

The large pink plates and bowl, and coffee mug are from Target (a few Easters ago)

The pink and green water glass from Mikasa Outlet

The silk flowers are from JoAnns (definately use the coupons, otherwise they can be pricey)

The white lacy dishes and white bunny tea pot are from Marshalls

The salt and pepper birds are from Target (you can still find them there)

The bunny is one of 2 I purchased from Tuesday Morning (around Easter time)

The round quilted place mats are from Marshalls (you may still be able to find them, since I bought them last month)

Frosted silverware is from Walmarts...(I find a surprising amount of cool flatware there)

The cute little bunny milk server is from World Market, it dispenses just the right amount of milk for my coffee or tea for me (they still carry them)

The pretty flowered hat box ( have loads and loads of these for me and for gift giving, I find sometimes they are cheaper to buy and put your gift in than purchasing the wrapping paper and ribbon.

I hope I have encouraged you to take life a little bit slower by dining outside and start experimenting with setting a pretty table for yourself and your families.

Brunch, with a "Nod" to Italy

2008-07-26T14:35:00.007-04:00

As I have mentioned in my posting below, I am on vacation at home, since I can't go anywhere, I thought I'd bring a touch of Italy to me.

You might notice the black wrought iron charger in the table setting, that is the same charger that I was discussing a few posts ago, it is really quite versatile. I also carried over the black in the silverware and in the footed iron piece holding the bagels and fruit. In doing a table setting it is important to carry over the theme and its colors thru the table design. I chose to bring out the blues, and the reddish colors and even the golds of the rooster along with those colors in the dishes. If you incorporate the colors and even the metals throughout the setting it will always work out.

Breakfast Outside

2008-07-25T11:56:00.013-04:00

I love dining outside whenever the weather permits. Since I have been off from work all this week I have been able to indulge quite a bit with this particular activity. There is just something special about being outside and dining, I know I take my time when I dine outside, rather than being rushed or distracted by the t.v. Perfection for me would be a screened in patio so I would be able to dine bug-free, but alas that is not in the cards for me at this time.

Most of you will have probably noticed that I love using white quite a bit in my tablesettings. White is so versitile, you can use it with anything, my suggestion to people who want to make their tablesettings more interesting is to (start with) buy a set of white dishes, either simple or with an interesting raised edge. Later when you have branched out and purchased patterned dishes, they will always flow together, the mixing and matching will work with most any patterned dishes.

You might notice in the second and third photo, the coffee/tea mug,..... it has a lid! I love these cups, I purchased mine at Pier One, they also have a few other different patterns if you are interested for yourself. The great thing about the lid is that it keeps out the bugs if you are outside, and it keeps in the warmth of the liquid because of the lid. (the first pic shows the lid placed on the white platter).

A Simple Breakfast

2008-07-05T11:57:00.004-04:00

Sometimes I just want a simple breakfast; today applesauce, orange juice and coffee. I love doing an all white look especially in the morning, whites and creams are always bright and happy for me.

Green is so versatile!

2008-07-02T13:38:00.005-04:00

These are a few older photos I had taken some time ago. I love my extensive collection of green cabbage plates because they are so versatile. I have used them in many different table settings. I thought you all might want to see another example of how I have used them, (other examples are in the archives.)You can usually find these plates for a good price at TJ Max, Marshalls, and Home Goods. The green color goes with all colors, because, after all green is one of the colors of nature. In this example pink, green and white is the color theme that I worked out for a Spring dinner.
If anyone else uses these green plates please drop me a line, I would love to see how you have used them.

I love TJ Max

2008-06-29T16:05:00.017-04:00

I find some of the best buys there. This weekend (after severe cabin fever, not to mention the lack of buying dishes lately) I thought I would trek out to TJ Max to see what I could find to appease my dish-a-holic needs. Now, being a dish-a-holic on a budget, I try to keep an open mind for what could work in a table setting, using things that were not neccessarily ment for "tableware". As I was roaming thru I noticed on the clearance aisle a stack of boxes containing a dish ment to hold 3 pillar candles and flat marbles (see photo above).

I had seen these before when they were offering them at full price and did not give them a second thought, but, when I see something on clearance I really try to think of what I could come up with. This candle pillar display had been marked down to $8.00 each. Now, I thought, how could I use this in a different way? Volia! I could use the wrought iron base as a charger plate.

This set does come with the clear glass plate you see on the front of the box along with the candles and marbles (save them for something else), you could even use the glass plate to dine off of.

And for all you Shabby Chic enthusists you could just simply spray paint the wrought iron white and it would fit right in with that popular look.

Considering that I have seen wrought iron chargers for $30.00 and up, I figured that I got a pretty good deal, now these might have gone down even more, but I needed a certain amount of these to do a table, so I figured I'd go ahead and buy them for the 8 dollar price. So for me it was a good deal.

I hope this encourages some of you to look at objects with an open mind with thoughts of how you can substitute items ment for one task to do many.

Blue and White Hens and such

2008-06-23T17:10:00.003-04:00

Hi all, I am finally able to post, I am still having computer issues, but hopefully this photo and message will work.

This is just a simple display I did on my dining room table. These items will be going in my kitchen once I am finished with my small reno. I will be going with all open shelves in the upper cabinet area (all the upper cabinets are gone which were almost useless), so until I can afford a total redo this will enable me to show and use my collections of dishes. Pretty and practical I hope.

P.S. those of you who have personally emailed me, I am not ignoring you, unfortunately I am still not able to access my email. :(

Bunny Time

2008-04-21T08:25:00.006-04:00

Some of you have asked for ideas/tips designing table settings, one of the most versitile style of dishes to have is simply white (or cream). White can be mixed with any color and look good. And of course white on white is always stunning (or cream on cream, or even mixing white with cream).

In the photo below this one is the Bridal Tea Party. To change out the look, I just removed the "bridal ladies", slid the candles over in front of each diner, and added the white bunnies to the centerpiece with a few bunched silk flowers. Just a simple change, but gives a whole new feel to the tablesetting. So if any of you have white dishes, pull them out and play around with them, look for some interesting items that can be part of your centerpiece.

Something else that looks great with the white dishes is if you have some floral dishes. Use the white dish as the dinner plate and use the floral plates as the salad dish and bread dish, pull in the colors from the floral plate for your napkins and centerpiece idea. OR you can go vis-veras, and use the floral plate as the dinner plate and the white dishes as the accents.

I hope this helps, if you have more specific questins, I will try to help there too.

Engagement Tea Party

2008-04-11T09:19:00.005-04:00

Sorry, it has been so long since I have posted, my personal laptop has been crashed for about a week and a half! Just got it back from the Geek Squad, and it still is not right so I have to return it to them AGAIN....arghhhhh. I will try answering some of the lovely comments you all have left too, and thank you for participating in my Poll at the bottom of the page, that helps me alot. Once my lap top comes back I will start to implement your suggestions.

So I am posting on my work break to put up these tea party photos that I had participated on another Board. You will notice the napkins are missing, but it was late and I had just run out of steam. I hope you like them. I like doing "Engagement" type of things, good practice for me if/when my DD marries...one of these days.... LOL

Happy Easter everyone

2008-03-23T18:47:00.007-04:00

I hope everyone is having a Happy Joyful Easter. I am relaxing at home, today was a catch up day for me, I did a bit of furniture arranging, and while I was at it I changed out my coffee table setting which I do on a fairly regular basis. I have more blue and white objects than which I care to admit to, but I do love how the blue and white porcelains just seem to go with everything.

Edited : I just added a short Poll at the bottom of the page, if you have time I would love it if you could add your opinions. Thank you. :)

Tea Party Blog Fun

2008-03-20T18:46:00.004-04:00

This is my tea party set up, I changed my mind from doing the pink and white, hope that is OK.

I love this particular set of china, "Old Country Roses". I preferred to use roses instead of the tulips, but the 3 stores that I went to had very poor looking roses, and at the high price of roses, I just did not want to settle for them.

Much thanks to Risa, the Partea Planner's invite to do a Tea Party I had fun doing it! (See her banner on the right).

New Cherub/Angel purchase

2008-03-17T13:27:00.004-04:00

I bought this large cherub/angel wall piece last week at Marshalls..I just love that store, only $29.00. I have seen this type of look for $150-$200! I am still deciding where to put it, I do plan on adding more botanical prints on the wall so maybe that will help the emptiness there now, I often change out that central area with a mirror or some other large art.

A little Spring and Easter

2008-03-17T13:09:00.002-04:00

Just thought I would show a bit of my Spring/Easter look, and I have just started playing around with Picasa on my computer, I guess you don't learn unless you hit a few buttons. I love nests, I have all sorts stored and displayed in my home, under cloches, in large glass jars, perched on the edge's of covered boxes, they just seem to fit in everywhere. Are there any more bird nest enthusiasts out there? I would love to see your photos.

Maybe I will do this for the "Tea Party"

2008-03-16T21:17:00.002-04:00

I am terribly indecisive, I have so many goodies that I could go with, so right now I am having fun just experimenting for Risa's Partea Planner's Tea Party coming up (see banner at right for more information). The "charger" is a mirrored "vanity" tray, I bought a couple to use for a 2 person tablesetting, I love using items in a different way in which they were intended. I especially love using mirrors in all forms, they reflect beauty and light, and lend a romantic atmosphere especially when candlelight is involved.

Sneak Peak of Tea Party Photo

2008-03-12T01:03:00.015-04:00

Sneak Peak of something I am working on for http://theparteaplanner.blogspot.com/2008/03/first-day-of-spring-tea-party.html Risa's Tea Party on her blog. Although I have been known to change my mind and go with a totally different look! How do you all like it so far...?

Please click on the side bar to join "The Partea Planner" in this very fun event.

Bell Jars

2008-02-17T18:07:00.007-05:00

Something that I like to do alot of is vignettes and I love how versatile bell jars are in a vignette. There is just something about being able to change the feeling in my home with a little touch of the season. So I thought I would share with you a couple of photos from last Fall. The theme is one of my favs....a bunny, surrounded by the brilliant colors of Fall. The great thing about bell jars is that you can put almost anything under them, you are only limited by your imagination and it fitting under the jar! I came across talented blogger, Mary at Little Red House http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/, she had a lovely scene under a glass bell jar, her blog is worth a leisurely visit.

Time for Tea and a snack

2008-02-17T13:57:00.003-05:00

I love weekends because I indulge in my fondness for tea, the tea today is Honey Vanilla Chamomile. Of course I always have some kind of little snack with it, today just a simple slice of banana bread and a few slices of a Granny Smith apple. Just taking a moment to prepare this for myself makes me take a few minutes to relax between chores and other busy work. An added bonus is that I usually will open one of my decorating and design books just for a little "eye candy".

Dinner for one...please

2008-02-10T20:46:00.000-05:00

Tonight, it is just me, but I still like setting a pretty table, it's just a little thing I do to feel special. Everyday is a celebration.

These green cabbage plates are plates that I use over and over again, they are so interchangeable with so many other dishes that I have. The green and white pattern in them evoke a feeling of Spring time and Summer, especially since it is still cold here now it lets me escape into a fantasy of blooming trees, flowers and chirping birds.

***Edit, I was told by Penny @ Lavender Hill Studio (thank you for letting me know:) that my comments were not working on this photo. I just figured out how to fix it (with many not-so-nice-words to the innocent laptop) I hit every button I could think of and got lucky, the comment button on this photo should work now) Whew... Oh yes, one more thing....I promise to be adding on your lovely blogs to a Fav's area.....once I figure that one out.... the shame, the shame, of being a non-computer-geek. Hang in there with me folks!

My blue and white tablesetting

2008-02-09T21:26:00.001-05:00

My blue and white tablesetting, originally uploaded by jcann.

One of my favorite sets of dishes, blue and white, is just so classic. I have 2 different sets of the blue and white style, they even look pretty mixed together because of the common unifiying theme of blue and white.

Valentines table from last year

2008-02-09T21:24:00.001-05:00

my vday table from last year, originally uploaded by jcann.

Well I guess I will add more pictures, to try to "bump" down the overly large photo of my living room, that I can't figure out how to resize or delete for that matter...the little "pen" under the photo for editing has just "disappeared". Sigh

Anyway, this was my table from last year. This year I will be doing a combo theme of red and black I think. I always like to use candlelight for special dinners, it sets the stage for a relaxing mood for everyone.

The pain of being "blogger dumb"

2008-02-09T20:25:00.000-05:00

Hopefully below this message is a picture of my living room. I loaded it from Photobucket (which I had not yet tried before) and it is way to large, and Photobucket did not allow me to comment on the pic??? Arghhh And this is the first time I have tried the comment area of this blogger, for the other pics I had just used Flickrs link for this. I just hope this works. Sigh, it almost makes me want to just give up on this Blogger stuff....

Country French Inspired Living Room

2008-02-09T20:15:00.004-05:00

Welcome to my little French country home "wanna-be". This is my main living area with a dining room that is attached to it. Even though the house is small, it serves my needs quite well. (Well, I have already lied...my kitchen is almost non-existant, I hate it, but I will have to just deal with it for a while). This house was built in the 1960's, so it has a few issues, (O.K, I lied again..LOTS of issues) such has horrible flooring, no interesting moldings, (let's not forget the kitchen...the washing machine is in the 10'x 7'9' kitchen, WHAT WAS THE BUILDER THINKING???).

But I plan on changing all that, a little at a time. I will be doing the crown and picture frame molding, I took a beginners wood shop class 2 years ago, and since I graduated with all of my limbs, fingers and both my eyes still intact, I figure that I stand a chance at being fairly successfull. I would love to attempt the floor tile, but I am pretty nervous about that...all that leveling, gridlines, grouting, my poor knees! Hey, I am over 50!

Oh, in case you were wondering why I don't choose hardwood floors, well, I have this adorable but stubborn Yorkie, who decides when he wants to be good about his bathroom habits, so tile seems to be my only hope, unless some of you brilliant bloggers out there can inspire me (or him) otherwise.

So, a good portion of this blog is to inspire me to get off my butt and just do the improvements, you know what they say about being held accountable. And hopefully there will be some entertaining photos of me accomplishing just that very thing, it can't be all fun and games with tablesettings, and cupcakes (but you will still see plenty of those).

Spring/Easter vignette

2008-02-09T14:00:00.001-05:00

Spring/Easter vignette, originally uploaded by jcann.

With Spring approaching (well not soon enough), I thought I would show you a little vignette of some of my favorite things...I am a bunny collector, I try to be picky about which bunnies I buy, this is one of my favorites.

The green cabbage plates are a fav with me too, I think I must have every piece that has come into the stores. Green is a "neutral" when it comes to decorating, everything always looks wonderful and refreshing with green.

I am asked about doing vignettes quite alot, here are some of my thoughts on this techinique in setting up a vignette:

...try to have color in certain places so that your eye "travels" around the vignette. In this case my color theme is green and white, simple but effective.
...also strive for a high-low arrangement, being the lamp is the tallest of a "triangle" leading your eye down to the lower area of the vignette and following back thru with the other different height and colored items.

.....have some sort of greenery in there, either real or a very good fake.

....I also like having one of my plates from my vast collections on a stand, this way my collections are not only functional but decoratively useful.
Hope that helps.

Finished Sweet 16 B-Day favor boxes

2008-02-09T13:43:00.001-05:00

Finished Sweet 16 B-Day favor boxes, originally uploaded by jcann.

Ah, presentation. I love presents and food presented in the most lovely way possible. I have had many people say they hate to open my gifts, because then the lovely wrapping would be no more. In my presentation I try to go with a theme, keeping in mind the colors, and the personality of the person receiving the gift. Don't be afraid to look in the less obvious places for the adornments for your gifts. I will often go to the childrens area in the dollar stores for prettty hair ties and ribbons, which I will use to close up goodie bags. Really, anything is possible!

Sweet Sixteen party rose cupcakes

2008-02-09T13:36:00.001-05:00

Sweet Sixteen party, originally uploaded by jcann.

This is one of my most requested designs; a simple rose and poured icing. I think roses are universally loved, they are such a delicate symbol expressing beauty and love.

Spring Pink and White tablesetting

2008-02-08T22:47:00.001-05:00

Spring Pink and White tablesetting, originally uploaded by jcann.

Even though Valentines Day is just around the corner, I am so looking forward to Spring, it's such a refreshing season. I have alot of table designs that revolve around that time of year, and of course as you see again the color pink plays a large part of the fun for me.

Christmas red and black theme

2008-02-08T20:50:00.001-05:00

Christmas table set tartan close up, originally uploaded by jcann.

Here is my tablesetting from 2006 when I had up my red themed Christmas tree. I love to mix dish styles together, the fancy with the inexpensive, mixing the plaid with the crystal and silver, makes the presentation not so "girly", even the men liked this table.
The dishes I had purchased at Target a few years ago, and the silver chargers I have had for quite a few years. The place mats are from one of my fav stores for accessories, Marshalls. Plaid napkin from Kmart, and one of my favorite accessories; the glass candle lamp was from Walmart...there are real treasures there, you just have to look.

I was very pleased when I was contacted by HGTV to use this photo on their site.

Christmas pink table setting

2008-02-08T20:41:00.001-05:00

Christmas 2006 pink table setting, originally uploaded by jcann.

Another strong passion of mine is tablesettings. I have more dishes and accessories than the "normal" person. I enjoy the creativity that I am able to express doing tablesettings and vignettes. It is especially fun to have my friends enjoy what I do, the meal (hopefully) is delicious, and the fun atmosphere from the "theater" of the table makes it a fun night for everyone.
I especially love to come across other bloggers who enjoy this too. I have run across a few talented ladies, but I unfortunately do not know how to insert their blog address properly..at least from here where I am uploading from on Flickr. If anyone would like to help me out with instructions I would appreciate it.

My red, gold and crystal Christmas tree 2006

2008-02-08T20:23:00.001-05:00

xmas pic 2006, originally uploaded by jcann.

This is my red Christmas tree that I mentioned in an earlier post. The crystals again come in handy with any color scheme, I think they are a really good decorating investment.

Pink and crystal Christmas tree close-up.

2008-02-08T20:20:00.001-05:00

xmas 2007, originally uploaded by jcann.

Just to give you a better idea of the items on the tree, I use, silk flowers, crystals, and lots and lots of glass balls.

Pink and Crystal, a perfect combination

2008-02-08T20:17:00.001-05:00

xmas 2007, originally uploaded by jcann.

I love pink and I love crystal. Putting them together adds a girly glamour to a room. The wonderful thing about crystal is that it will go with any color scheme, I have used it with my red and gold tree, and my all cream tree.

Are there any pink and crystal lovers out there?

Still struggling with how to edit my postings

2008-02-08T20:09:00.001-05:00

Anyone dropping by by accident, please forgive my major computer dumbness in setting up this blog..eventually I will figure this out!

Sweet Pink Christmas Tree

2008-02-08T20:03:00.001-05:00

xmas 2007, originally uploaded by jcann.

This year I decided to go with a pink, crystal themed tree. I usually do different designed trees each year.

Photos, the whole point of the blog....

2007-06-11T19:58:00.000-04:00

Well, as soon as I learn how to post some pictures, then this will not be so boring, such is the problems of a person who is not computer intelligent. Any one have any ideas?