Saturday, March 31, 2012

Tartan School Days, Home For Lunch


To celebrate National Tartan Week, I created a "home for lunch" tablescape using a vintage tartan plaid lunchbox from the 50's that a reader sent me last year.

I envisioned a school day where "my student" would have a special lunch at home.

Plaid linens and a plate from the American Living collection coordinate with the lunchbox.

The placemat and napkin pattern is called Clemons Tartan.
It was originally sold by JC Penney, but is no longer available.
It can still be found on Ebay though.

The plaid plate is a little harder to find.
It is larger than a salad plate, but smaller than a dinner plate.

The apple juice glass is vintage.

Lunch time!

Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, chips and an apple....

Apple juice from the thermos....

...Old school style!

The napkin and placemat actually reminds me of a school uniform!

Thank you Randi for sending me your childhood lunchbox.
It was the perfect inspiration for my old school lunchtime tablescape!

Show Me Your Tartan!

Now it's your turn to show us your tartan.
Anything tartan!
Just add your post to the link below to join the tartan parade this week from April 1 to April 4.





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42 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi! Another tartan Lunch box. I had one of those & I actually used it. Love your post. Happy Tartan Day and Happy Tartan Parade.
Pat

Sarah said...

Delores, this is an adorable lunch. I'm not big on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but my husband would be thrilled. ;-)
Thanks for sharing the tartan love! ~ Sarah

Johanna Gehrlein said...

Hi Delores,
what a cute idea to make a small tablescape with this lunchbox. It looks so beautiful, fresh and easy. Tartan pattern looks always clean and organised. May be its the reason, why it is often used for school uniforms.
Best greetings, Johanna

Lynn said...

Your lunchbox is adorable and I sooooo want some of those plates! Great plaid:@)

Linda (More Fun Less Laundry) said...

Delores, Anyone bringing peanut butter to school around here is instantly sent home, as it is a banned product! So it would be nice to have this setting waiting. The dish is wonderful. I had a lunch box similar to that one. Linda

Mary said...

I love your school lunch~ it takes me back but I never had a tartan lunch box! I need to remedy that :) Thanks for the fun and leading the parade!

Diane said...

That plaid lunchbox brought a lot of memories back, I had one identical, right down to the thermos. I remember my sandwiches being wrapped in the wax paper...something I totally forgot about until I saw your post! Love it all. Diane

Patti said...

Oh my....soooo many wonderful memories of my plaid lunch box and thermos....I LOVED that thing!!!! I wish I still had it to show my kids!!!

Have a great day!!!

Patti

Marlis said...

Love the lunchbox.. i actually remember those fondly. How cute to use it with your tablescape.. Love peanut butter and jelly.. and it looks amazing on the marble!! xo marlis

Babs said...

Oh, I love your 'home for lunch' place setting. All the tartans work so well together and the vintage apple juice glass is perfect. It looks like you even used waxed paper to wrap the sandwich! Great memories!

kim @ whitebarnbasics said...

Wow, I remember my identical looking lunch box, I used it from the first day of school to sixth grade! My mom has a pic of me with my lunch box, matching tartan dress and sporting a pixie! Always seemed to have pb&j's with white bread back then. Still a favorite! (esp. with TJ's jams!) I need to dig out that picture!
Thanks! kim
http://whitebarnbasics.blogspot.com/

Pura Vida said...

I can still smell an apple mixed with lunchbox metal. Makes me ready for fall, love your plaid vignette

Victoria said...

I love the tartan vignette, although I do not have any in my home. Like a number of your followers, I did own a tartan lunch box when I was a child. Thanks for the memories. Any child would feel special coming home to a lunch like that.
XO Victoria

Vickie H. said...

Beyond ADORABLE! Love those plaids!!!

Alison @ The Polohouse said...

Love your sweet little plaid post, Delores! I love these old tin boxes that have held so many childhood memories, and lunches!
I did send you two more Inlonz codes late last night that your can insert to link up.... let me know if you want me to add them for you!

Alison

Gail Storti said...

"Thanks for the memories"!!! I had that exact lunchbox
and it was my VERY favorite! I hadn't thought about it in forever, so thanks for bringing back memories of my grade school days!!

Decor To Adore said...

Oh I just adore plaid. Your darling post has made me blissfully happy.

Thank you for hosting!

Salmagundi said...

I let a plaid lunch box get away awhile ago, and am now looking for another. Loved your lunch table! Thanks for hosting this fun get together. Sally

Susan Freeman said...

I have a lunch box just like yours and it is one of my dearest treasures. This Tartan Parade has been so much fun and I thank you for being one of our lovely hostesses!!

Big Hugs,
Susan and Bentley

Kathysue said...

What a fun party, I love all of your tartan, I think I had that lunch box when I was little. It sure looks familiar. I always wore plaid when I was little, pleated skirts and jumpers always in a plaid, mostly reds. Have fun with your party,
Kathysue

The French Hutch said...

Love the tartan red plaid lunch box. My son took his peanut and butter sandwich to lunch in one just like this. Probably up in the attic, and I think I need to find it! Love all your tartans Thanks for hosting.

~Emily
The French Hutch

Marigene said...

I remember those lunch boxes from when I was in grade school...didn't have one as I lived close enough to go home for lunch! Thanks for hosting.

Stitchfork said...

Love the old-school style lunch - who could resist?! Gotta love Tartans! And the generosity of the reader who shared her lunchbox.
xo Cathy

Alycia Nichols said...

You know how you can sometimes get a funny deja vu feeling when you see or smell something? I just got it when I saw your post!!! It totally reminds me of school days a billion years ago when I was in grade school!!! I had a plaid lunch box for 2 years running (before I got my fabulous Keith Partridge lunch box!!!). It had the thermos and everything! Then I broke the thermos and was devastated. I had to have a thermos that didn't match the box, and I just couldn't stand it. I was a weird kid! :-) This really brings back a great memory. Fun!!!

Yvonne @ StoneGable said...

Oh my goodness I love the classic school lunch box... with waxed paper sandwich and apple! Perfectly authentic! Thanks for hosting!!!! What fun!
Yvonne

Karen said...

Delores,
What a great memory...I always wanted that lunch pail but they were always out of that one when my mom would take me shopping for lunch pails, so I'd end up with Cinderella or Barbie or some other girly pail. :-)
I thought the plaid suited me even when I was 8 years old! Some things never get old.
Thanks for co-hosting the Tartan Parade.
Karen

Kathleen said...

I did have that lunch box! So cute, loved your plaid lunch!
You needed some Lorna Doones. I wonder if they still make those?
Thanks for hosting, and visiting !

The Tablescaper said...

Such an adorable lunch!

- The Tablescaper

Debbie said...

I love yours! My sister had that very lunch box in the 60s. Mom still has the thermos, but the box is long gone. I wish she still had it.

I love the whole thing.

tinab158 said...

That was a popular lunch box! I, too, had one exactly like it and used it in elementary school.

(My goodness, I just realized...that was over 40 years ago!)

tinab158 at hotmail dot com

for the love of a house said...

too precious!! I had that very lunch box (first grade), but it was in the 60's;)

xojoan

xinex said...

Beautiful post, Delores. It makes me miss my school days.....Christine

Shirley@Housepitality Designs said...

I love your school days lunch...oh my goodness this takes me back...I was just lusting after Alison's tartan plaid lunch boxes then hopped over to see your post and there it is again...Now I know it is in my future to get some of those lunch boxes as I so love them!

You really got that lunch box down to the wax paper! Oh the memories!

kim @ whitebarnbasics said...

My first grade, first day of school picture shows me with this lunch box and matching dress (made by my mom) and sporting a pixy! Thanks for bringing back such wonderful memories! Of course there was a PB&J as well!
http://whitebarnbasics.blogspot.com/

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson said...

Oh this is so wonderfully plaid! I would love to get my hands on a lunch box. Your whole idea of the school days theme was so fun. Loved everything about it!
Hugs,
Jann
now a new follower.

Phyllis @Around the House said...

Your lunch box and lunch make the cutest presentation...so sweet

Debbie@Mountain Breaths said...

Hi! Another tartan Lunch box just like the one I had and used as a child. Wish I still had it! Love how you included the wax paper.

The Charm of Home said...

Great lunch box. Love the tartan on anything!
Sherry

Connie (aka LOU) said...

Delores -

Oh, seeing all these beautiful, plaid lunch boxes makes me want to search for them on my next outing. And really I don't remember seeing plaid dishes but you have made your entire lunch look rather appetizing. LOVE your silverware. Thanks for hosting, and letting me play along.....and thanks for the follow. I'm following you too.

Connie LOU

Fifi Flowers said...

LOVE that lunchbox!

Bargain Decorating with Laurie said...

Wow! I can't believe the thermos is in there! What a cute lunch setting. I agree that placemat and the napkin remind me of a school uniform. Such a cute post. Fun party! laurie

Sue said...

You are the Queen of Tartan....love those old lunch boxes....

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