Fall in the Kitchen

I haven’t done much on the kitchen table for a while, so today I decided to do a simple fall setting for us. My kitchen table is small, perfect for the 2 of us; it just doesn’t have much room for a centerpiece.

I started with these great fall placemats.  I think I picked them up at Family Dollar last year, but I have also seen them at Dollar General.

I started with my white Nikko dinner plates. I’m planning to add color on top, so I wanted white on the bottom.

I still love these Better Homes & Gardens fall plates that I picked up at Wal Mart a few years back. They come out with a new fall pattern every year, but so far I’ve not found one that I like as well as these.

I love, love these little pots, a Dollar General find from several years ago. We love taco soup in the fall and winter, so that is when I usually pull these pots out. Yes, we did have a little cool snap last week and I made a huge crock pot of the soup. However, it has now warmed back up to the typical high eighties for this time of year. Oh, well, I try not to complain since it will only be a few months until I’m ready for cool weather to end and warm weather to begin!

I chose gold out of my napkins in fall colors and used the maple leaf napkin rings.

Glasses are Dollar Tree green…big suprise, right? What would we tablescapers do without Dollar Tree?

I chose my everyday Chateau flatware, and I was done. I am very pleased with my simple fall place setting.

Pumpkin votives are perfect for this setting since there is hardly any room between the 2 placemats. I tried to show how cute the flame makes the pumpkin look, but my photo in broad daylight just doesn’t do it justice.

I even turned off the lights, but there was still too much natural light for you to tell much. You just have to trust me that these look really cute.

I grabbed 3 of my ceramic pumpkins off the mantle and I was done.

Cute, simple fall table! How could this not cheer someone up on a drab fall day?

To continue with my autumn reflections from the last post, I will try to catch you up on some other happenings with us. To break up the printed material, I will insert some extra pics I had of both today’s table and the recent one in the dining room.

David and I are very blessed to be in our late fifties and have 4 living parents. Not many people our age can say that! That being said, it is a fact that the elderly do tend to have health problems, and our parents are no different. In particular, his father and my mother have had some health issues lately.

David and I both feel very fortunate that we live close enough and have flexible enough schedules that we can help them out when needed. We have spent some time the last few months doing some things for them, or sometimes doing nothing at all…just visiting. They often express that they feel like they are infringing on our time, but nothing could be further from the truth. They never act like they believe us when we tell them that we enjoy helping out and would not do it if we didn’t want to. We have, in fact, not helped out at certain times when we have done other things that we needed or wanted to do.

In particular, my mother spent the better part of August and September in and out of the hospital and dealing with various health issues. A few days after her second hospital stay, she lost her twin brother, so she has had a rough time lately. She is 85, and her health is now returning, although slowly, as one would expect in someone her age.

This past weekend, David and his brothers planned a small anniversary celebration for his parents. My husband is in the middle, older brother Steve on the right and younger brother Kevin on the left. They also have a sister Cathy who is in between David and Kevin. She lives out of state and has multiple health issues. Of course, we know she can’t make it, but still miss her. Our close friends Larry and Sandi also joined us.

We had a great day, starting with church. We ate Little Dooey’s bbq with all the fixins for lunch, then just enjoyed the time together. Above are all of us…me with David and Steve’s wife Cindy with him. Kevin is single.

We had a wonderful dessert of cake I purchased at a local bakery. I actually have quite the story about the cake, but I will save it for another time.

Believe it or not, I am not out of major updates. I still have one more biggie that I will save for another post. Have a great day!

I am joining: A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday, Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life , Tablescape Tuesday at Every Day Living,   From the Farm at The Homesteading Hippy, Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday,   Cozy Little House for Tweak it Tuesday,   The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home, Cuisine Kathleen for Let’s Dish, Treasure Hunt Thursday at From My Front Porch to Yours,  Homemaking Party at Hope in Every Season,   The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday, What’s It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants;  Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound, You’re Gonna Love It Tuesdays at Kathe with an E, Mop it Up Monday at I Should Be Mopping the Floor , Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style , Make it Pretty Monday, Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House,  Create It Thursday at Lamberts Lately,   Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring,  Tuesday’s Treasures at Uncommon Suburbia,  Return to Loveliness at A Delightsome Life, Centerpiece Wednesday at The Style Sisters, The Scoop at The Stone Gable, Thursday Favorite Things at Katherine’s Corner , Sizzle into Summer at DIY by Design, Tips and Tricks at Stringtown Home

 

Autumn Reflections

Over 3 months since a post…where have I been? I actually do have a lot of news, but I am not sure that I will get to all of it today. However, I will try to hit a few highlights. I also have a fall table and a few deep thoughts.

On the first day of fall, Sept. 22, I went to Dollar General to look through the fall décor. Yes, I have lots of fall décor, but Dollar General is a nice, inexpensive place to go when you just feel like something different that you don’t really need. I headed to the aisle where the fall things are, and the first thing I saw was a clerk stocking the Christmas items. I wasn’t so much angry as sad. Yes, I understand why merchants feel the need to do it, but that doesn’t make me any happier about it.

I did up finding a fall table runner that I like a lot, although I did not use it in today’s tablescape. Perhaps I will show you another time. I purchased the runner as well as candy corn and mallow pumpkins, two of my essentials for this time of year.

While standing in line at the checkout, my mother called. She had just gotten a call that her brother had fallen and suffered a brain injury. His chances of survival were slim.

I got home with my purchases as quickly as possible and headed over to my parents’ house. As soon as they were ready, we left heading to the town a little over an hour away where he was in the hospital. When we got there, we found out that he had fallen during the night and hit his head. Although he was lucid long enough for my aunt to help him back to bed and bandage his wounds, he became unresponsive and she called the ambulance.

Tests run at the hospital showed what the doctor, a family of friend of theirs, called a “brain bleed.” He was very matter of fact with my aunt. He told her that he could have my uncle airlifted to the closest city with a good trauma center. However, with his age (84) and level of health problems (heart, among many others), he did not recommend it. IF he survived  the transport and IF he survived brain surgery, he could end up a vegetable. Of course, my aunt said no. She made the right decision, but that did not make walking through those last few days any easier.

He passed away a few days after the accident, never regaining consciousness and never feeling any pain. During that time, many, many people showed up both at the hospital and at my aunt’s house. Her support group was tremendous. My uncle was an educator for over 40 years, and it was so heart warming to hear how much his former teachers, students, and their parents thought of him. Former students even spoke warmly of him during the rare times he had to administer discipline. Sisters and sisters-in-law made us all laugh telling of his escapades during his lifetime.

A few years ago, my aunt and uncle celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. They met and married within 6 weeks and truly lived happily ever after.

I am sure that it was a deep disappointment to them that they were unable to have children. They never spoke of it. However, when I was an adult, my aunt told me once that when they realized that they could not have children, they made up their minds that they would be happy with what they did have. They are both from large families, and she said that all of the nieces and nephews were always very special to them. And we really were! They had a way of making each one of us feel special…and they passed it on to the next generation. My son is crazy about them, and they always made him feel very special.

As a career educator who spent the greatest part of his career as a principal and headmaster, my uncle was in charge of lots of kids on a daily basis. At the funeral, the minister said that when folks would ask him if he had kids, he would always say, “Yes, hundreds and hundreds!” Their lives were truly a testimony to contentment.

My aunt and uncle love animals, and they always had pets. They loved their pets and they truly became family members. Often he would even make crosses to put on the graves of those pets who passed away. When a school child once asked my uncle if he had kids and he replied no, the child said, “Then what are those graves in the back yard?”

OK, I’ve gone on much too long and haven’t even updated you on everything else yet. I will say one more thing before moving on to the fall table. This detail is quite important. My mother (above) and my uncle were twins. In addition to the pain of losing a sibling and her last living brother, she has lost, as she told me, “half of myself.” They really did have that special twin bond and were very close. Four days after his funeral, my mother was 85. That birthday…her first alone…was bitter sweet. He was always the first one to call her. Her sadness is unfathomable and her pain deep.

Both my mother’s brothers are now communing with Jesus and have no more pain and suffering. I guess the photo from the fiftieth wedding anniversary is the last posed one he was able to take with all 4 of his sisters.

Knowing that he is free from pain and spending eternity in his heavenly home is comforting. But that does not stop us from grieving and missing him.

OK, back to the topic…fall table! My sister was cleaning out some closets and gave me some things for my next yard sale. I found a brand new, still in the package fall table runner in her stuff and claimed it! I layered it on the white tablecloth with brown open weave topper that I use every fall. Aren’t the colors great!

I started with my square Wal Mart plates. Love these! On top are my vintage Fire King laurel leaf plates in peach lustre. These little plates are perfect for fall tables.

My favorite vintage plates for this time of year have got to be my Salem china fruit plates. These were some of the first tablescaping purchases I made and I still love them.

These plates were made with other fruits on them as will, but I only have apple and pear. I have occasionally seen some of the others on eBay, but so far I have not wanted to pay the high price. I keep hoping I’ll run up on them much more cheaply at a yard sale or something.

Glasses? Dollar Tree, of course! I did look at this year’s fall leaf pattern in Dollar Tree recently, but they just didn’t jump out at me.

Green Dollar Tree flutes with autumnal wine glass charms are perfect for the fall table.

I decided on my multi color napkins in autumn hues with the acorn napkin rings.

Flatware? Dollar General again! Even though this green flatware was sold with the summer merchandise, I think this color is great in the fall also.

My centerpiece and table accessories are simple fall decorations. My black candle stand and fall pillar candle are from last year. The fall candle ring is new to me. My mother-in-law gave it to me when she closed their antique mall booth. I love it and think it’s perfect with fall candle.

Another gift that she gave me at the same time was this wonderful wrought iron plate holder. Truthfully, it is a little large for this table. Previously, I had it on the buffet…the perfect size for it. I just wanted you to see it. I really like it and even though I don’t think I will use it that much, I will enjoy it when I do. Today, I used Pioneer Woman amber plates topped with Wal Mart Better Homes and gardens fall plates.

The last accessory also came from my mother-in-law. I guess you can tell that I like the rustic look! Both the metal pumpkin holder and the taper are made to have the vintage look, old and rusty.

I love my fall table and hope you do also! Have a happy fall, ya’ll!

I am joining: A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday, Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life , Tablescape Tuesday at Every Day Living,   From the Farm at The Homesteading Hippy, Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday,   Cozy Little House for Tweak it Tuesday,   The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home, Cuisine Kathleen for Let’s Dish, Treasure Hunt Thursday at From My Front Porch to Yours,  Homemaking Party at Hope in Every Season,   The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday, What’s It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants;  Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound, You’re Gonna Love It Tuesdays at Kathe with an E, Mop it Up Monday at I Should Be Mopping the Floor , Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style , Make it Pretty Monday, Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House,  Create It Thursday at Lamberts Lately,   Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring,  Tuesday’s Treasures at Uncommon Suburbia,  Return to Loveliness at A Delightsome Life, Centerpiece Wednesday at The Style Sisters, The Scoop at The Stone Gable, Thursday Favorite Things at Katherine’s Corner , Sizzle into Summer at DIY by Design, Tips and Tricks at Stringtown Home

I’m Baaaack…with The Pioneer Woman

A few months ago, I wrote that I was not sure how I felt about continuing my blog and decided to take a break for a while.

Actually, the “break” ended up being a good bit longer than I had planned, but I justify that by saying that I must have needed it. I’ll fill you in at the end of this post on some of what has been going on with me the last couple of months, but first….The Pioneer Woman! I know, big surprise, right?!

Her lovely tablecloth is the base for my tablescape and I used the cream-colored cowgirl lace dinner plate.

For the plate stack, I chose the aqua cowgirl lace small plate. I decided to fold her mix and match flea market napkins and place them between the two plates for some drama.

Since I last posted, I purchased the flea market ramekins, and I really love them. Ramekins serve a lot of different purposes; I use them to hold small quantities of things that I have chopped for a recipe, such as herbs, or to hold a snack that I would like to eat in a small amount, such as nuts. Why am I using them on my table this week?

Appropriate for The Pioneer Woman, I have decided to go Tex-Mex! My Dollar General chili pepper dishes will hold salsa and the ramekins will hold queso dip…or vice versa, your choice.

Of course, a Tex-Mex meal should serve margaritas, so I pulled out my old margarita glasses. The Pioneer Woman goblets can be used for water or a soft drink…or how about sangria? You can take your choice!

I used my everyday Chateau flatware, and then started thinking about the centerpiece.

After going through several possibilities in my head, I decided to keep it simple with silvertoned candlesticks since silver is popular with Mexico.

My Pioneer Woman pitcher finishes off the table. I decided to use it not only for its colorful pattern, but also it will be perfect for holding sangria.

Love my Pioneer Woman table! I was so happy to read on her blog a while back that she will have new products out for both fall and the holiday season. Score! I’ll surely be requesting some items for my Christmas gifts.

As for catching up on my life so far, I haven’t time or space to tell everything. However, I’ll start with perhaps the biggest news to my readers: we have closed our flea market booth. I won’t go into the myriad of reasons that we did so, but I will say that the main one was because of our time and money. Did we make a profit? Yes, we always made a profit and we made more each year than the year before. However, when we looked at our net profit and compared it with our time and effort, we realized that we were really just barely breaking even. David still repairs and refinishes furniture for his private customers, and he doesn’t need to put them on hold in order to get something ready for our booth.

We closed up the last day in April. Have I missed it? Let me be perfectly honest here. I really thought that I would, but I have yet to miss it. Instead, I feel more like a child freed from school. My not missing it has really brought it home to me how much time I was putting into it these past 4 years. However, I am realistic, and I know that I may miss it at some point. I just haven’t yet.

What did I do with our merchandise? Well, I ran several good sales and reduced the stock a good bit. Even after doing that, we still took home a good bit. Our town did a citywide yard sale in June, and we decided that would be a good start for selling our leftovers. In addition to our leftover merchandise, we also cleaned out different spaces in our home the way most people do when they prepare for a sale. Another boon to our yard sale was that we had helped my husband’s parents close their business (booths in a different mall in a different town) and had their leftovers to sell also.

It was a lot of hard work for a couple of days, but well worth it. We sold a lot of stuff. As a matter of fact, we had so much stuff that we did not even get it all out! I cannot even begin to tell you the large number of items that we had and how we just ran out of time and space to get it all displayed. After taking some time to rest and regroup, we have now decided to have another sale in a month or two. After that sale, we will see what is left and decide them what to do.

By the way, our sale was part of the citywide sale, and we had people come back to us several times. Everyone was saying that we had the best sale of all of them! In addition, I had put the word out at the flea market that I had antiques and collectibles that, while not priced at typical yard sale prices, I would price them low enough so that vendors could make a profit.

All of the main vendors at our flea market showed up, and several of them came more than once. All of them bought things. It was very rewarding and I love how we all support each other.

 

I’ve had some nice comments on my blog and privately since I took my break, and some good suggestions about continuing. I’ll go ahead and put it out there and say that I have not yet made my decision about how to continue. I am taking it one day at a time at this point, and I’m just glad to be back today present this colorful Tex-Mex table. Ole’!

I am joining: A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday, Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life , Tablescape Tuesday at Every Day Living,   From the Farm at The Homesteading Hippy, Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday,   Cozy Little House for Tweak it Tuesday,   The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home, Cuisine Kathleen for Let’s Dish, Treasure Hunt Thursday at From My Front Porch to Yours,  Homemaking Party at Hope in Every Season,   The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday, What’s It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants;  Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound, You’re Gonna Love It Tuesdays at Kathe with an E, Mop it Up Monday at I Should Be Mopping the Floor , Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style , Make it Pretty Monday, Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House,  Create It Thursday at Lamberts Lately,   Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring,  Tuesday’s Treasures at Uncommon Suburbia,  Return to Loveliness at A Delightsome Life, Centerpiece Wednesday at The Style Sisters, The Scoop at The Stone Gable, Thursday Favorite Things at Katherine’s Corner , Sizzle into Summer at DIY by Design, Tips and Tricks at Stringtown Home

Happy Easter and Deep Thoughts

Where have I been for 17 days…perhaps the longest that my blog has been silent? Well, life happens…traveling, working, volunteering…but none of those have ever stopped me from blogging for this long. I wish I had a pat answer for you (and myself), but I don’t. Busy-ness, ennui, melancholy…all have a part in my very long silence.

One of the reasons for my blogging procrastination is being stuck, not an uncommon thing to happen with creativity. However, my Pioneer Woman linens came in this week, so I finally felt a little inspiration coming on. Have you figured out that I love Pioneer Woman yet? This tablecloth is so bright and cheery that I can’t help but be cheered up when I look at it.

I picked up these bright placemats at Family Dollar with this tablescape in mind. I love the color on top of the tablecloth!

Of course, my Pioneer Woman dinner plates in the Country Garden pattern came next.

I also got some of the napkins…I love the way they mix and match. I plan to get some in the other color family as well, but these will do for now. I thought that my vintage floral napkin rings would be perfect on these napkins.

I really like how they look!

I turned over several choices of flatware in my mind.

Silver? Black? Aqua? None of those choices seemed right.

Then I remembered my clear blue Dollar General flatware from a few summers back. Perfect, right?

The best choice of stemware for Pioneer Woman plates and tablecloth? Pioneer Woman goblets, of course! I love these and we use them a lot.

Thinking about the centerpiece, I had a hard time deciding what to do. Even though St. Patrick’s Day is almost here, I really did not feel like doing that theme. Easter, however,  is not far away, so why not do that? I gathered some of my china rabbits and placed them on the table.

I thought that their cheerful colors would be great on this happy tablecloth. By the way, do you fellow Mississippians remember when you could get Gail Pittman rabbits fairly inexpensively on eBay? I bought this one with the blue flowers and the pink one in the previous photo back then. Believe me, that doesn’t happen any more!

Oh well, maybe some day I will luck up on another one. The two on the right front are from another Mississippi artist, Vicki Carroll. The front one on the left is unmarked; the milk glass bunny on a nest is a Martha Stewart reproduction, and the one in the rear is a vintage one that I inherited from my great aunt.

I’m crazy about my Pioneer Woman Easter table, and I think Ree would like it also! I purchased a couple of other PW items and will showcase them in future tablescapes.

Speaking of Easter, one of the reasons that I have been so busy is that our church is getting ready for our annual Passion Play. My husband and I have pivotal roles in preparing for this huge event.

Eli and Matthew Cade dig holes for the crosses.

We began our set up Sunday afternoon. I was given the assignment of photo taking for the work day. Everyone loves this pic of little Eli helping his dad dig the holes!

Youth and adults unload crosses to place on the Cavalry set.

A number of youth showed up to help, and we really appreciated their young, strong muscles.

William Fielder and Will Cook place set pieces in the Upper Room.

Some of the youth were given the assignment of putting the table and benches in the Upper Room. As you can see, this job isn’t fun; putting benches and a table up that high is a perfect job for teenagers.

William Fiedler, Will Cook, and Ben Brunt prepare the Upper Room set.

Then they had to cover the windows. They did a really good job.

Roy Oliver, Vic Gresset, Eli Cade, and Tom Wasson construct the tomb.

Little Eli appeared to be studying intently how to build the tomb from the “old guys.” It looks like he will be ready when it’s his turn to build the ramp!

Ben Cayson and Wes Nelson secure the lift for the ascension scene.

I know I’m letting you in on one of our secrets, but it took several of the young men a few tries to secure the lift for the ascension and get it level and exactly like they wanted it.

Max Cook, Wade Fiedler, Gary Cheek, and Lane Outlaw construct the praetorium wall.

With all of the help that we had, the Praetorium went up quickly.

Denise Wright hangs pulleys for the backdrop.

Our pastor’s wife even went up the ladder to hang the pulleys which anchor the backdrop for the crucifixion.

Ben Brunt hangs a pulley for a backdrop.

Later, she turned the rest of that job over to the youth!

Art Cook, Thomas Brunt, and Ed Brunt steady the sign as David Casteel dismantled it.

If you’re anywhere near central Mississippi at Easter time, I hope you will visit us. The FREE performances are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights before Easter at 8:00 p.m. We would love to see you there. Our church website has a map at the bottom of the info page.

Lofton Price and Thomas Brunt construct the well set piece.

A few more of my photos are also on our church Facebook page.

 

Since my post has already been lengthy, I will save our visit with our son and his wife for another post…should I decide to do another one, that is. I have a lot on my mind and heart these days and continuing the blog (or not) is one of them.

Happy  Easter to everyone! He is risen indeed!

I am joining: A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday, Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life , Tablescape Tuesday at Every Day Living,   From the Farm at The Homesteading Hippy, Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday,   Cozy Little House for Tweak it Tuesday,   The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home, Cuisine Kathleen for Let’s Dish, Treasure Hunt Thursday at From My Front Porch to Yours,  Homemaking Party at Hope in Every Season,   The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday, What’s It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants;  Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound, You’re Gonna Love It Tuesdays at Kathe with an E, Mop it Up Monday at I Should Be Mopping the Floor , Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style , Make it Pretty Monday, Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House,  Create It Thursday at Lamberts Lately,   Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring,  Tuesday’s Treasures at Uncommon Suburbia,  Return to Loveliness at A Delightsome Life, Centerpiece Wednesday at The Style Sisters, The Scoop at The Stone Gable, Thursday Favorite Things at Katherine’s Corner , Sizzle into Summer at DIY by Design, Tips and Tricks at Stringtown Home

 

 

Spring Table Plus Goal Updates

We’ve been really busy lately, so I am just now getting around to setting a new table. After going over some possibilities in my mind, I thought about my vintage Homer Laughlin dishes. As much as I enjoy mixing and matching my HL patterns, I decided that I wanted to use the Danube alone today.

I started with my pink tablecloth and layered my vintage one with pink and aqua flowers over it. The Danube dinner plate is so lovely and delicate…I never get tired of it!

Since I’m going matchy-matchy today, I layered the matching small plate on top. I love the way the rim frames the small plate…so pretty!

I have napkins that match the pink tablecloth, but I decided to go with lighter pink ones today. I wanted the more delicate color, and, with the smaller cloth acting as buffer, I thought that it didn’t matter that the 2 pinks weren’t exact matches. Clear acrylic napkin rings show off the pastel pink.

Since I am going in a more delicate, feminine direction, I decided against colored flatware and pulled out the silver. I also never tire of this wonderful vintage pattern, Grosvenor.

Of course, you knew that you would see my pretty pink goblets, didn’t you?

Since I’m going for matching today, I decided to do the same on the accessories. Of course, I had to use this wonderful teapot.

The platter went on a stand so that it will show up. Obviously, I would remove the stand when it comes time to serve food. Isn’t this platter just lovely?

The only other Danube accessories I have are the cream and sugar.

Because I thought the centerpiece needed a little something else, I added my cheerful giver candle on the silver stand with the globe. I don’t always use the globe with the candle holder, but I thought that the more formal setting called for it. I love these pastel shades and have found that they go with a lot of pink tables.

I did some arranging and rearranging of the pieces and finally came up with a centerpiece that I liked.

I really didn’t have spring in mind when I started this table, but it ended up looking like spring to me. It’s still cold here in central MS, but the daffodils and jonquils are blooming, the sun is shining, and we are hoping for spring soon!

Some time around the new year, I mentioned that I was setting reading more as a goal of mine for this year. Since January 1, I have read Moby Dick, The Heart of the Sea, A Walk in the Woods, The Revenant, Unbearable Lightness, Good Wives, and 3 or 4 YA books that I had lying around the house leftover from my teaching days and are now at the flea market.

A few months ago, I was talking with a young lady who works with me at the paper, and she mentioned how much she loves Louisa May Alcott. After our conversation, I purchased the complete works of Louisa May Alcott on my kindle app. I am not as familiar with Alcott as I would like to be, so I decided to read her works that I’ve not read and to reread those that I have. Before Christmas, I reread Little Women and thoroughly enjoyed it. Now I have finished Good Wives and am in the middle of Little Men. Therefore, I can happily report that I have increased my reading and hope to continue.

As for my goals for panning makeup, I have used the 2 Colourpop shadows, Hope and Glow and a Paula’s Choice shadow, plum, the majority of the month. As you can see, all 3 shadows show considerable use and I might even could completely use up Hope soon if I wasn’t so tired of wearing it. I have put it and the plum away for a while.

Beginning March 1, I have chosen to continue using Glow because I like it as an all over base and to use Weenie, a rosy gold color that I just love. Remember that my panning challenge to myself is use these shadows the majority of the month so that I won’t get completely sick of using them day in and day out.

I am also adding to my panning challenge 2 stick eye shadows in cherry blossom and pretty in pink. These shadows are by L.A. Colors and I bought them for $1 each from shopmissa. I thought that these pink shades would blend well with the Weenie color, and it is the first time that I have put an eye pencil in a panning challenge.

I wore the Santee blush (also $1 at shopmissa) every day during February and really enjoyed the color. Although I am the only one that can tell, the dome in the center had gone down a bit, although I am a long way from hitting pan! For the month of March, I have chosen the Maybelline Dream Bouncy blush in pink plum. This is a cream to powder blush with an unusual mousse-like texture, and I am anxious to see if I will like it or not.

I forgot to mention at the beginning of last month that I will choose 2 lipsticks to wear the majority of the month as part of my panning challenge. Last month I chose Two Faced liquid lipstick in melted fig and Revlon liquid lipstick in miracle mauve. I enjoyed using both of these colors. The negative about the Revlon matte lipstick is that it is a little drying, but it never bothered me too much. The negative about the Two Faced is that it is sometimes hard to be precise in application, but I would use a cotton swab to clean up any mistakes and keep on going. Otherwise, I enjoyed the color and staying power of these lipsticks a good bit.

This month, hoping that spring is around the corner, I have chosen 2 lighter shades. The Laura Geller Lip Dew crayon is in pink mimosa, and the Almay lip butter is in nude light.

I successfully panned my New Cid baked powder. I have to say that I am just so-so about this powder. It was my first experience with a baked powder that had the swirls of different colors in it. This particular shade had a lot of pink and rosy shades to it, and I often thought that it made me look like I had been in the sun too long. I think that this would be great on someone with younger skin, but it just did not flatter my 50+ wrinkles! That being said, look at that brush that came with it. I love it! It is a good weight and size, and it applies the product well with good coverage. I am hoping that I have found a new brush that I will have forever!

I began using my Laura Geller baked powder after using up the New Cid, and so far I like it. The shade is Balance and Brighton in fair, and you’ll notice it sticks to the beiges and taupes rather than the pink shades.

My final makeup report is on my lip balm. After using up my tube of Vaseline lip therapy, I moved on to my Nivea lip balm in milk and honey, intending to use it until I finished it. However, since I just started with a case of chapped lips a couple of days ago, I switched to the my small tub of Vaseline lip therapy since I think it performs better with chapped lips.

OK, so there it is! A new table…reading goals met…makeup used and started again. Have a great day and week!

I am joining: A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday, Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life , Tablescape Tuesday at Every Day Living,   From the Farm at The Homesteading Hippy, Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday,   Cozy Little House for Tweak it Tuesday,   The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home, Cuisine Kathleen for Let’s Dish, Treasure Hunt Thursday at From My Front Porch to Yours,  Homemaking Party at Hope in Every Season,   The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday, What’s It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants;  Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound, You’re Gonna Love It Tuesdays at Kathe with an E, Mop it Up Monday at I Should Be Mopping the Floor , Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style , Make it Pretty Monday, Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House,  Create It Thursday at Lamberts Lately,   Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring,  Tuesday’s Treasures at Uncommon Suburbia,  Return to Loveliness at A Delightsome Life, Centerpiece Wednesday at The Style Sisters, The Scoop at The Stone Gable, Thursday Favorite Things at Katherine’s Corner , Sizzle into Summer at DIY by Design, Tips and Tricks at Stringtown Home

 

 

 

 

The Pioneer Woman, Some Chefs, and a Road Block

I’m sure I’m not the only tablescaper out there who sometimes gets stuck and just cannot think of a way to do a table. That happened to me yesterday. I wanted to use my colorful Pioneer Woman plates and went through all kinds of tables in my brain, but I just seemed to hit a block every time.

Finally I settled on this floral table runner and matching placemats.

I knew that this would not be “matchy-matchy,” but was hoping for some contrast.

I know it looks a little weird in the photo, but it really is not all that off the wall. Adding black San Remo flatware and a purple napkin helped to ground the place setting and I ended up liking the color on top of color.

I used purple goblets, of course. I do have couple of red choices in my collection but they are darker that the bright orange-red of the plate rim, so purple it is.

The next block occurred at the centerpiece. I got my wooden votive holder out. I love this holder that my son made for me a number of years ago and don’t remember to use it often enough.

Stuck again, I went with more Pioneer Woman. These accessory pieces that I chose, like this creamer and sugar, are also bright and colorful to add to the color on the table.

This small pitcher is supposed to be a measuring cup. However, there are no measuring marks on the inside of it, so I just use it as a small pitcher.

Although I liked the final product, I was not crazy about it. I’ve done better tables and I’ve certainly used my Pioneer Woman products in better ways.

Luckily, I recently read that she is now coming out with table linens, so maybe it will be a little easier for me to come up with tables once that happens.

I was so dissatisfied with the table that I started disassembling it almost as soon as I had photographed it. I had another idea that I wanted to get started on while I had time. I started with Dollar General placemats and red Wal Mart plates.

You may remember that I purchased a mismatched set of chef plates at my flea market quite some time ago. A few days ago I noticed some more of the smaller chef plates at a different booth, so I grabbed them.

I now have 6 of the small plates that are labeled Tabletops Lifestyles.

I love the cheerful chefs on these plates and that I now have enough to do a different chef at each place setting.

They are really cute and the red plate underneath is perfect with the chef plate.

I decided on the matching napkins, but what napkin ring to use? I was stumped until I remembered these chairs. OK, they do look more like ice cream parlor chairs than pizza parlor chairs, but use your imagination! These could totally be in a pizza parlor!

Large red goblets and San Remo flatware finish off the place setting.

For the centerpiece, I was really not satisfied with any of the runners that I have. Why not use a platter rather than a runner? Hey, it works for me!

You may remember that my whole chef table craze started with these cute chef accessories that I picked up at Family Dollar. I like the chef votive holder sitting on the platter.

However, I wanted to be a little more creative than that, so I decided to use a “bouquet” of cooking tools as the centerpiece…they seem to go with the chef theme. I literally just moved my kitchen tools from the pitcher where I normally keep them to the Pioneer Woman one and centered it on the platter.

I flanked the pitcher with my Family Dollar chef accessories. This chubby little guy actually holds a pot scrubber, although I just use him for décor.

I moved the votive holder to the other side.

I really like my finished table!

I like it so much that I’m sure I would have never even done the Pioneer Woman one had I thought of this one first. I also liked it so much that I decided to do a corresponding chef theme in the kitchen.

Remember, I still have the larger chef plates from my original purchase, and I only have 2 of them, so they are perfect for the kitchen. I was hunting for my solid red placemats when I remembered that these chef plates are accented with grapes, so I chose my grape placemats.

Going with the grape theme, I used my purple napkins. What napkin rings to use? I chose these twisted black metal ones because they are sort of reminiscent of a grapevine (OK, not really, but use your imagination!).

Everyday Chateau flatware finished off the setting.

What stemware to use? Obviously, the purple goblets. But I had mind my vintage ruby red glasses, so I put them together on the placemat and decided that they didn’t look too bad together.

I even think that they look pretty good together and, of course, I had to use grape-themed charms on the wine glasses.

I love these cute little charms!

I borrowed the chef votive from the dining table and flanked him with red and white votives. Cute, right?

I replaced him with the chef candy dish.

Love my simple kitchen table with its “cheffy” theme!

As a matter of fact, I was really pleased with both of these chef tables. That being said, the next piece of info may surprise you.

As much as I like these plates and these table, I have decided to let them go. If you clicked on my links to other tables with these chefs, you saw that I have only used the plates one other time and the accessories twice.

I really don’t see myself using them any more than that. You also know that I have a “something in, something out” rule when it comes to tablescaping items. I had actually only purged one set of 4 plates when I received the Pioneer Woman items at Christmas, so I was overdue in letting something else go. I will keep the salt and pepper shakers, obviously, but the other chef accessories and the chef plates can go bye-bye.

It will actually be a while before I put them out at the flea market since my booth is full right now, so I will pack them up and have them ready to sell when I get room. I will happily sell these outright to any reader who is interested. Because I do not have an Etsy shop at this point, I will have to sell them via email, snail mail, and money order or cashiers check. I will list the 8 plates (6 Tabletop Unlimited chef plates [2 have chips] and 2 larger chef plates, unmarked) as one lot and the 3 chef accessories (votive holder, candy dish, and scrubber holder) as one lot.  I will give a discount for purchasing all of them. You can email me for prices as well as your zip code so that I can figure shipping costs.

Sometimes it takes being blocked to gain creativity and get unblocked once more! Have a great week!

I am joining: A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday, Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life , Tablescape Tuesday at Every Day Living,   From the Farm at The Homesteading Hippy, Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday,   Cozy Little House for Tweak it Tuesday,   The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home, Cuisine Kathleen for Let’s Dish, Treasure Hunt Thursday at From My Front Porch to Yours,  Homemaking Party at Hope in Every Season,   The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday, What’s It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants;  Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound, You’re Gonna Love It Tuesdays at Kathe with an E, Mop it Up Monday at I Should Be Mopping the Floor , Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style , Make it Pretty Monday, Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House,  Create It Thursday at Lamberts Lately,   Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring,  Tuesday’s Treasures at Uncommon Suburbia,  Return to Loveliness at A Delightsome Life, Centerpiece Wednesday at The Style Sisters, The Scoop at The Stone Gable, Thursday Favorite Things at Katherine’s Corner , Sizzle into Summer at DIY by Design, Tips and Tricks at Stringtown Home

Shades of Pink and a Project

For my Valentine’s table, I decided to do red in the kitchen and pink in the dining room. For my small kitchen table, I began with red placemats and my Pioneer Woman off white dinner plates…I believe she calls them “linen.”

 

I topped them with my heart plates, an old eBay purchase. I bought these back when I first began this crazy addiction hobby called tablescaping.

I had in mind the red napkins that I wanted to use but ran across these dotted ones when I was searching for them. I decided that they would be perfect. I added the napkin ring that I made out of Dollar Tree table scatter and heart beads a year or 2 ago and Chateau flatware.

I found the red glasses that I normally use at Christmas.

Because there is not much room on my small kitchen table, I usually do a small vignette on one end rather than a centerpiece. Because I was rushed a little that day, I did not put a lot of thought into it and just used 3 votives in holders of varying size and shape.

Dollar Tree heart table scatter provided the finishing touch. I was really happy with my final product!

It was a few days later before I got around to doing the dining room table. I had been thinking about pink, but I just could not decide how to make the table look different from most of my other pink tables. Finally, I decided on shades of pink rather than one solid pink color. I started with these placemats that have brighter pinks and red in them.

Once again, I pulled out the Pioneer Woman linen plates. I didn’t want a solid pink dinner plate since I was trying to pull in several tones of pink. My Homer Laughlin Sunrise salad plate adds the pink I was wanting without being too overwhelming.

I love these Valentine napkins, an early Napkin Lady purchase. I like all of the different shades of pink in them, one of the reasons that I had in mind different shades of pink for this table. Do you love my heart napkin ring? It’s perfect for a Valentine’s table! OK, here’s the secret: it’s a bracelet! Have you tried shop miss a yet? I promised using some ordinary things in unconventional ways, and here are my bracelets used as napkin rings. I had this in mind when I ordered them, and I just love the way it looks. A couple of other things that I was planning on when I placed my last order didn’t really work out. I purchased some Valentine earrings with the idea of making them into napkin rings, but they didn’t look the way that I planned. Oh well, they were only a $1, and if I don’t have a friend who wants them, I can sell them at my booth. Love me some shop miss a!

Again keeping with the shades of pink theme, I found my Dollar General pink flatware. I like the way the place setting turned out with all of the different pinks.

Of course, my pink tulip goblets were the obvious choice for this table!

I wanted to keep the centerpiece simple yet still evoke Valentine’s. Conversation hearts scream (no pun intended) Valentine’s to me. I even made a special trip to Dollar General to get them so that I could finish up this table. My vintage Fenton silver crest candy dish on top of my pink quilted runner is a great way to show off my conversation hearts.

Another vintage candy dish, Anniversary by Jeannette Glass Co., hold more conversation hearts.

My pink variegated cheerful giver pillar candles also play up the shades of pink theme.

I like how this centerpiece looked, but I thought it needed a little something else…something a little more Valentines. Even though I had not intended to use any red on the table, the pink heart table scatter did not look right on the runner…not enough color contrast. So I threw the red hearts around the centerpiece, and I was pleased with the final look.

I used the pink heart table scatter on the place settings and on the table. The pink shows up great on my dark wood, and I like the final look. Very bright and cheerful…very Valentine’s…very pink!

One reason that I have not posted in over a week is that my husband and I have been working on a project. He is usually the furniture person around here, but I recently took on a project as well. We got this desk when we purchased a pick up load of furniture from a guy who was needing to downsize.

It is an inferior quality of wood that will not strip out or take a stain well. We prefer the look of stained furniture, but we do use paint when staining is not an option. We are not trying to offend the tens of thousand of project bloggers out there who paint furniture all the time…that is fine for you; it is just not for us. David told me that this desk would do better painted.

This desk also needed some repair, as you can tell. He did that, sanded it down, and handed the desk project off to me.

I had in mind two things: first, I wanted a chair to go with the desk; second, I wanted to use this great fabric that I had picked up quite some time ago. I remembered a chair that David had brought home a while ago and asked him if I could use it for this project.

This side-of-the-road find needed some minimal repair. The less repair needed, the higher the profit margin, which is always nice.

David sanded it for me, and I was ready to begin my desk and chair project.

I took my fabric to Sherwin Williams, and I was just overwhelmed. How in the world to pick out what color to go with that great fabric? Solution: always use your resources. I called the girl who sells painted furniture at our flea market (her booth is actually right next to ours), and texted her a pic of the material, asking what color she recommended pulling out of the fabric.

She said the light blue or the brown, so I decided on the blue since I wanted a colorful finished project. Once again, I was just overwhelmed as I looked at what had to be at least 5000 shades of light blue. I picked out 5 different shades and decided to use my resources.

I took them to my artsy friend along with the fabric and told her my plans. She perused the samples for a few minutes, then picked one, liquid blue.

I spent a couple of nights painting and then David did the polyurethane and upholstery. Cute, right? I really like how the chair turned out.

The desk is pretty cute too, if I do say so myself. We had hoped to use the hardware that came on it, but it didn’t look right. I purchased new drawer pulls, and I like the sleek look on this simple desk.

Love my painting project! Sorry for the dark pics…I had to take these photos at the flea market since I had not had time to take them outside. I’ll keep you posted on how well it sells.

Happy Valentines to all!

I am joining: A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday, Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life , Tablescape Tuesday at Every Day Living,   From the Farm at The Homesteading Hippy, Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday,   Cozy Little House for Tweak it Tuesday,   The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home, Cuisine Kathleen for Let’s Dish, Treasure Hunt Thursday at From My Front Porch to Yours,  Homemaking Party at Hope in Every Season,   The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday, What’s It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants;  Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound, You’re Gonna Love It Tuesdays at Kathe with an E, Mop it Up Monday at I Should Be Mopping the Floor , Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style , Make it Pretty Monday, Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House,  Create It Thursday at Lamberts Lately,   Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring,  Tuesday’s Treasures at Uncommon Suburbia,  Return to Loveliness at A Delightsome Life, Centerpiece Wednesday at The Style Sisters, The Scoop at The Stone Gable, Thursday Favorite Things at Katherine’s Corner , Sizzle into Summer at DIY by Design, Tips and Tricks at Stringtown Home

Pioneer Woman and other Random Stuff

I have mentioned several times that I love the new line from Pioneer Woman at Wal Mart. I purchased a few items when they first came out, then I quit purchasing and asked for some things for Christmas. I love the items that I received.

I haven’t shown you everything in a tablescape yet, but I will mention that I got the set of 3 mixing bowls, which I am crazy about!

I also got some kitchen implements that I really needed, like a whisk and a set of rubber spatulas.

Russell and Callie bowled me over with a signed copy of her latest book!

Because I am still too in love with my Mardi Gras table in the dining room to take it down, I decided to display Pioneer Woman on the kitchen table for today’s tablescape. I put the dinner plate on top of a brown tone-on-tone placemat. I wanted the placemat to be simple and dark so that the brightly colored plate would show up better. This is the set of plates that I purchased for myself last fall.

I got a couple of other solid colors of dinner plates and salad plates for birthday and Christmas, so that only left me wanting one other set, the aqua color. However, what I discovered that the Pioneer Woman in our Wal Mart was almost completely depleted in January. At Christmas, David told me that he went to a Wal Mart in every single town that he visited (he travels in his job) before getting me the pieces that I received from him, and Russell and Callie ordered the ones that they gave me online. Obviously, this is a very popular line. Every single time that I went to Wal Mart I would check that section, but I either already had or didn’t want what our store had in stock. We finally had the chance to visit a store in another town this weekend, and I found the aqua small plates. They were exactly what I wanted! I knew they would mix and match well with the other pieces, and I needed some for layering, so I did not want the dinner plates.

I had also been wanting the aqua goblets, and our store never had them in. Not only did I finally find them in the other Wal Mart, but I also got the last four on the shelf. Score!

These goblets are not only pretty, but a good weight and sturdy despite their delicate look. I am now almost finished with my Pioneer Woman collection. I still want the scalloped ramekins and the butter dish, and I am trying to decide if I want the pitcher to match the goblets. I also originally wanted a set of the red flatware to go with my holiday dishes, but her flatware gets terrible reviews, so I guess I will pass. I was really surprised at that. I really thought that Ree would only put her name on high-quality products.

Anyway, I added an aqua print napkin (from the Napkin Lady) with a bright floral napkin ring and my Chateau flatware with the plates. I love the finished look. Simple, but bright, colorful, and cheery…all of the qualities that I love about her line.

I kept my centerpiece simple…the salt and pepper shakers, a gift from my son and his wife at Christmas.

The gorgeous pitcher…a gift from my husband at Christmas…is simple and understated standing alone as a vignette, but it is elegant as well.

I love my Pioneer Woman kitchen table! The rest of the post deals with beauty products, so if you’re just here for the table, stop now.

When I last reported on monthly panning(using up) of makeup items, I had decided that I would choose 1 or more small eyeshadow items to use for the majority of the month. Doing the panning challenge this way gives me some leeway so that I won’t get tired of using the same colors every day. I chose my Elf Happy Hour quad, and I am happy to report that I used enough of it to consider it panned and tossed what was left. I got my $2 worth out of this palette, and I was glad to be done with it. I won’t repeat my review of this product, just know that it is not one that I would repurchase.

Another item that I used up since my last beauty product report is the Vaseline Lip Therapy balm. This is great stuff and I highly recommend it!

I also used up a Hard Candy eyeshadow primer. It worked well and I would repurchase it.

My last beauty product report mentioned that I had used up my Mally powder, and I have been using this baked powder from New Cid cosmetics ever since. I have hit a good bit of pan on it and am hoping to have it used up be the end of February.

I had been using a blush until it was completely used up, but I have now decided to do blush panning much like I do an eyeshadow challenge. I will use one blush for a month and then switch to another color each month. This will keep me from being bored with one color plus keep the blushes in my collection circulating and not sitting there unused. On Monday, I began using this Santee blush, one of my great shopmissa purchases. Have you tried this site yet? It is amazing!

Unfortunately, this photo does not do the color justice. It is a pretty rosy pink shade (it is called simply #5), perfect for my fair skin. So far I am very pleased with the performance of this blush, and it cost me a grand total of $1!

I have chosen 3 single eyeshadows to use for the majority of the month of February. When I went a little crazy overbuying makeup a few months ago, one of the great lines that I discovered was Colourpop. Colourpop is a reasonably priced line of lipsticks, blushes, and eyeshadows. I am IN LOVE with these wonderful shadows. They are a cream-to-powder product with an unusual, cushiony texture.

I have chosen to use 2 of my favorite colors this month,  glow (left) and hope (right). You can see that I have already hit some pan on both of these. However, because these are a generous 2.1 gram size coupled with the fact that you just sort of push them around (a lot of pan will show one day and hardly any the next) when you get some on your finger, I am not really quite sure how long they will last.

These shadows are great alone, but I prefer to use them with traditional powder shadows. Therefore, I have chosen one more single, my Paula’s Select in smoky plum, to focus on this month. Since I am committing to using these 3 shadows the majority of the month (at least 4 days a week), I’m not really sure if I will use any of them up. However, panning is my goal here, not using up completely.

So that’s it for today…I’d like to hear what you like from Pioneer Woman, Colourpop, and/or Shopmissa. If you’ve not tried any of these products, I encourage you to do so. Happy tablescaping and makeup shopping to all!

I am joining: A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday, Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life , Tablescape Tuesday at Every Day Living,   From the Farm at The Homesteading Hippy, Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday,   Cozy Little House for Tweak it Tuesday,   The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home, Cuisine Kathleen for Let’s Dish, Treasure Hunt Thursday at From My Front Porch to Yours,  Homemaking Party at Hope in Every Season,   The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday, What’s It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants;  Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound, You’re Gonna Love It Tuesdays at Kathe with an E, Mop it Up Monday at I Should Be Mopping the Floor , Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style , Make it Pretty Monday, Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House,  Create It Thursday at Lamberts Lately,   Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring,  Tuesday’s Treasures at Uncommon Suburbia,  Return to Loveliness at A Delightsome Life, Centerpiece Wednesday at The Style Sisters, The Scoop at The Stone Gable, Thursday Favorite Things at Katherine’s Corner , Sizzle into Summer at DIY by Design, Tips and Tricks at Stringtown Home

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!

I’m a little later than usual with a Mardi Gras table, but I was waiting for some things that I had ordered to come in. More on that in a bit. Quick Quiz: When does the season of Mardi Gras begin? Epiphany, January 6

I used the only china I have that will go with Mardi Gras colors: Thomas Kinkade Spode. I love the soft green, lavender, and smoky plum colors in this china. Quick Quiz: What are the colors of Mardi Gras and what does each represent? Purple: Justice, Green: Faith, Gold: Power.

Gold chargers are also a must with Mardi Gras colors, and I layered with the small plates in this pattern. I found these dishes on eBay a long time ago, and I never get tired of them. Quick Quiz: What is the English translation of the words Mardi Gras? Fat Tuesday.

Of course, I had to use my purple napkins, and I found my Dollar Tree beads from last year. Wound casually around the napkin, they make a great napkin ring. Quick Quiz: What is another name for Fat Tuesday? Shrove Tuesday, the word shrove derived from the word confess. The Lenten season is meant to be a time when Christians confess sins and ask forgiveness.

I have mentioned in the last couple of posts that I found a great website called shopmissa. Everything on this site is $1, and when I saw the Mardi Gras masks, I knew that I had to have them for this table. My order came in yesterday, and I am thrilled with how great these masks look for only $1. Have you tried this site yet? It is really great. Quick Quiz: When is Fat Tuesday? It is always on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.

For stemware, I chose the only ones that I have in Mardi Gras colors. I like the way the purple and green goblets work together on this table. Quick Quiz: For Christians, what should they do during the season of Lent? Christians should spend extra time in prayer and fasting during Lent to remember the gift of Jesus Christ and his time in the wilderness. They often give up some sort of vice and/or take on something that they may not normally do.

My Christmas wine glass charms have the 3 Mardi Gras colors in them, so they were perfect for this table. I had to use one blue one, but that is fine since some of the mask feathers are blue. Quick Quiz: What is Ash Wednesday? It is the beginning of the season of Lent.

San Remo flatware finished off the setting. I love this festive look! Quick Quiz: Why is the day called Ash Wednesday? During Ash Wednesday services, the minister will lightly rub the sign of the cross on a person’s forehead with ashes.

For the centerpiece, I started with a feather boa, also from Dollar Tree. I actually think that I found it in the St. Patrick’s Day aisle. I purchased this candle at an after Christmas clearance sale several years ago, and it has a place of honor at all of my Mardi Gras tables. I think it fits Mardi Gras so much better than Christmas! Quick Quiz: What are the ashes made from? The burned palm leaves from the previous year’s Palm Sunday celebration.

You see my marker board in the top pic, so I won’t repeat that one. My other Mardi Gras mask is nestled into the boa. Quick Quiz: How long is the Lenten season? It is 46 days long, the forty days of Lent plus the six Sundays.

I like the bold, festive look of the centerpiece. Quick Quiz: When does Lent end? The sparse and fasting time of Lent ends with feasts on Easter Sunday.

I threw the extra beads around for some color, and I was done! Quick Quiz: Why is Lent forty days long? It symbolized the forty days that Jesus spent in the wilderness in prayer and fasting before beginning his ministry.

WordPress is driving me crazy with the new posting format. I can’t figure out how to spell check yet. I finally did figure out why my pics are posting so large. Quick Quiz: In Brazil, Mardi Gras is called Carnival. What does the word Carnival mean? Farewell to meat. Many Christians choose to abstain from eating meat on the Fridays of the Lenten season.

However, now that I have done it, I think I kind of like the large photos. It seems that the detail shows up a little better. What do you like? Chime in and let me know. Quick Quiz: Why is the sweet roll eaten during Mardi Gras called the King’s Cake? The time of gluttony and feasting preceding Lent begins on Epiphany, also called Three King’s Day. It is the day the Christians historically celebrate the gifts brought to the baby Jesus by the Wise Men.

I haven’t figured how to add or delete tags and categories yet either. Quick Quiz: Why is the King’s Cake round? It symbolized the circular route taken by the three kings as they went in search of Jesus. They were trying to confuse Herod and foil his plot to kill the new baby.

What’s most frustrating, however, is that I can’t get to the media library except by way of a blog post. Does anyone know how to do that? I am so tired of trying to find it that I could either scream or cry, not sure which. Quick Quiz: Why is a token such as a baby, bean, or coin baked in the King’s Cake? The baby symbolizes the Baby Jesus. The kings journeyed a great distance to worship him. Some say that the person who finds the baby, bean, or coin is the king or queen of Mardi Gras. Some say that finding the token is a sign of good luck throughout the year.

If anyone can give me any insight, please do. Until then, Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!

I am joining: A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday, Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life , Tablescape Tuesday at Every Day Living,   From the Farm at The Homesteading Hippy, Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday,   Cozy Little House for Tweak it Tuesday,   The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home, Cuisine Kathleen for Let’s Dish, Treasure Hunt Thursday at From My Front Porch to Yours,  Homemaking Party at Hope in Every Season,   The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday, What’s It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants;  Spotlight Saturday at Classy Clutter, Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound, You’re Gonna Love It Tuesdays at Kathe with an E, Mop it Up Monday at I Should Be Mopping the Floor , Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style , Fridays Unfolded at Nancherrow, Make it Pretty Monday, Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House,  Create It Thursday at Lamberts Lately,   Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring,  Tuesday’s Treasures at Uncommon Suburbia,  Return to Loveliness at A Delightsome Life, Centerpiece Wednesday at The Style Sisters, The Scoop at The Stone Gable, Thursday Favorite Things at Katherine’s Corner , Sizzle into Summer at DIY by Design, Tips and Tricks at Stringtown Home

Cool Blue

Those who have read my blog for a while know that I love blue and white, but I tend to do those tables more in the winter. I’m not sure why, but blue, white, and touches of silver just scream “Cool!” to me.

Last week I mentioned a great website I found called shopmissa. Have you tried it yet? When I thought about my blue and white table, I remembered a great blue and white scarf that I bought at shopmissa a few weeks ago. Winter, scarf, blue and white, ….hmmm. Why not make that scarf my table runner? I like using everyday objects in new and different ways.

Of course, silver chargers and Salem English Village plates are a must for my cool winter table. Blue Dollar General flatware is another must.

I love these blue and white napkins, and I do have the placemats to match. I decided not to use them today since I had the chargers. Of course, I needed sparkly silver napkin rings.

For stemware, I chose Dollar Tree glasses, those wonderful goblets that tablescapers rely on. Why doesn’t Dollar Tree make these in more colors? (Sigh!) Silver goblets, an old eBay purchase, are perfect for this table.

Of course, my wonderful Vietri dish makes a great centerpiece with my Dollar Tree blue beads thrown in for color. I love this dish and use it a lot, mainly to hold fruit. The pillar candle holder is an old Dollar General purchase, and I love my blue pillar candle.

Did you notice the sparkly blue and silver garland? I was in Dollar General earlier today specifically hunting for something to add to my blue and white table, and I saw this garland on the Christmas clearance shelf. I spent ten whole cents…not bad. My vintage Fenton silver crest dish is also perfect for this centerpiece.

I liked the table, but I wanted to add a little something else. Finally I decided on salt and pepper shakers…they just finish off the place setting perfectly. I’ve had these cobalt blue hobnail ones since I was in high school.

I don’t remember exactly when I got these. Silver shakers are lined with cobalt blue inserts.

Also from high school, these cobalt blue shakers are actually Avon bottles. Love them!

This pair is probably the most recent addition to those displayed. I did a book review for my mother’s book club a long time ago (I reviewed Let’s Roll, so that tells you how long it’s been), and they gave me these as a sweet gift.

Do you love my cool blue table? I always love it when I use the blue and white, and I always wonder why I don’t use it more often.

I also like using my $1 scarf. Using common things in different ways is fun and challenging.

I encourage you to try it. It’s always fun and challenging.

Plus…not trying to give spoilers…I just may have some upcoming tables with elements that are meant for a certain purpose, but used in different ways. Stay tuned to find out!Have a great week of tablescaping and decorating!

I am joining: A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday, Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life , Tablescape Tuesday at Every Day Living,   From the Farm at The Homesteading Hippy, Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday,   Cozy Little House for Tweak it Tuesday,   The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home, Cuisine Kathleen for Let’s Dish, Treasure Hunt Thursday at From My Front Porch to Yours,  Homemaking Party at Hope in Every Season,   The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday, What’s It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants;  Spotlight Saturday at Classy Clutter, Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound, You’re Gonna Love It Tuesdays at Kathe with an E, Mop it Up Monday at I Should Be Mopping the Floor , Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style , Fridays Unfolded at Nancherrow, Make it Pretty Monday, Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House,  Create It Thursday at Lamberts Lately,   Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring,  Tuesday’s Treasures at Uncommon Suburbia,  Return to Loveliness at A Delightsome Life, Centerpiece Wednesday at The Style Sisters, The Scoop at The Stone Gable, Thursday Favorite Things at Katherine’s Corner , Sizzle into Summer at DIY by Design, Tips and Tricks at Stringtown Home