Monday, December 31, 2012

My Favorite NYE Toasts

The champagne is on ice, midnight is rapidly approaching...
If only you could come up with a perfect toast!
Here are a few of my favorites:

indigodreams:

Happy New Year!
"Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring happy bells across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true."
~Lord Alfred Tennyson

"Here's a toast to the future, a toast to the past
And a toast to our friends, far and near.
May the future be pleasant;
The past a bright dream;
May our friends remain faithful and dear."
~Anonymous

"In the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out in friendship,
but never in want."  
~Traditional Irish toast

"Cheers to you, Cheers to me,
Have a Happy New Year's Eve."

And last, but not least, my all time favorite:
"Here's to us all, God bless us everyone!" 
~Charles Dickens

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

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Saturday, December 29, 2012

2012 Tablescapes In Review

A Woodland Style Tablescape for January

I'm looking back at all the tablescapes I did in 2012.
Come take a walk with me down memory lane!
(Just click on the title to see the post)






















Christmas 2012 Tablescape



Thanks for taking a walk with me down memory lane!
Wishing you all a happy, healthy New Year!


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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Christmas 2012 Tablescape

The inspiration behind the Christmas 2012 tablescape were two fringed cotton paisley tablecloths that I found on sale at Pottery Barn, last minute.

I laid them end to end and layered a long piece of linen yardage underneath.

The muted colors of the tablecloths dictated which dishes to use, even though I have used them before, just not in this combination.  

In fact, I had the table set with other dishes, but when I found the Pottery Barn tablecloths, it changed everything!

The Santa Claus napkins give no doubt that this is a Christmas table.

With both leaves pulled out, the table will sit 12 to 14, and it almost takes up the entire length of the room.  
Which makes finding tablecloths difficult, as well as a centerpiece that doesn't get lost in the middle.

To extend the centerpiece, I used white roses in a larger arrangement for the center, with two smaller arrangements on either side.  
Then I laid greens and pine cones down the table. 

The table just before we sat down for dinner last night...

...on the menu?
The traditional lamb shish-ka-bob, rice pilaf, great-grandma's cranberry mold, buttered carrots and a delectable salad of persimmons and fennel.

We cheated and bought store bought pies from Heidi's Pies.
Chocolate cream, pecan and lemon meringue.
Yum!

 Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and don't have to go to work today!
I vote for the week off between Christmas and New Year's!

Tablecloths - Pottery Barn
Napkins - World Market
Tartan plates - Target
Silverware - vintage
Staghorn knives - vintage
Crystal - vintage
Majolica chargers and salad plates - Bordallo Pinheiro
collected through the years from many sources!
I'm joining Susan for Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch.
I'm joining Kim for the 98th Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style.

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Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas From Our House To Yours

Have yourself a merry little Christmas, and may your day be merry and bright!
Love,
The Arabians
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Friday, December 21, 2012

Our Christmas Mantel, Plus a Few Others

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
The mantels are decorated, the table is almost set, and the gifts are wrapped...

For our mantel this year, I didn't go crazy.  Just a garland, paperwhites and candles.
Instead of hanging stockings, I hung a "Merry Christmas" banner.

I found these birch covered candle holders at the wholesale nursery.

Garlands, plants and candles are kind of my formula, as you can see from last year's mantel.

I've accumulated lots of birch accessories over the years and love to use them to create a rustic look.

I was probably inspired by a Pottery Barn mantel like this one, which is where I found all those birch candles!  

Same mantel, but with the addition of white hydrangeas everywhere, leftover from the wedding!

Two years ago, I got "creative" with a mantelscape of burlap, greens and mercury glass.

I think I was inspired by...

...this image from Country Living, probably my favorite mantel ever!



I'm always looking for inspiration and ways to get creative outside of my formula.
On a recent visit to my friend's home, I was wowed by her mantel.
My same formula, however she took it further with the lamps and star on the mirror.
Just beautiful!

Another friend inspired me with her vintage oil painting, books and Santa collection for a mantelscape perfect in a family room. 

Every year, she has a Christmas dinner and I look forward to seeing her home decorated for the holidays.  In fact, tonight is the night!
Isn't her mantel gorgeous?
I can't wait to see what she does this year!

 Recently, I came across this image on Pinterest.  
Thank goodness for Pinterest, there is no shortage of inspiration there!
I really like how the antlers were used to hang the stockings...

...Of course it was my inspiration to incorporate antlers on our family room mantel.

I wanted a natural, Provencal look.

Basically, I'm just too lazy to start over here, so I kept the demijohn and confit pot on the mantel and added ivy topiaries and branches gathered from the Christmas tree lot.

 "Joyeux Noel!"

We can breath a sigh of relief that the world didn't end today!
Now we can enjoy the wind-down to Christmas.  
Wishing you all a lovely weekend!
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Tuesday, December 18, 2012

The Holiday Hutch

The best thing about having a Welsh dresser or hutch is the endless styling opportunities.
I like to change ours seasonally, Christmas being my favorite time to create a holiday vignette.
Think of it as "vertical tablescaping" or "hutchscaping!"
For instance, three years ago, I used red transferware and paperwhites for my Christmas hutch vignette.

Last year, I relied on mercury glass, white flowers and pinecones for a subtle holiday look.

This year, I brought in some tartan, red majolica and a transfereware platter depicting a a snow scene.  Paperwhites again say Christmas to me.

I never have a plan, I just start playing with dishes.  This is what hutchscaping is all about.  
The red majolica plates that I found while thrifting this year are the background for little roe deer antlers on one shelf.

 
The tartan plates frame it all.

I found the tartan metal flower pots at Orchard Supply Hardware!
The platter is Johnson Brothers, from the Historic America series, "Home for Thanksgiving."


Along the sides of the hutch, behind the doors, I used Johnson Brother's Friendly Village plates with red majolica chargers behind them.
These are classic Christmas plates, and I have yet to set a Christmas dinner table with them.

The Holiday Hutch
2012

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Monday, December 17, 2012

Armchair Traveling To Edinburgh, Scotland

If I could just be a mouse in our daughter's pocket!
She and her husband are celebrating their one year anniversary in Edinburgh, Scotland today.
She sent a few photos my way to torture me!

Lovely street signs...

...Castle on a hill

...tartan, tartan, tartan!

She knew I would love a photo of a tartan factory.
Talk about torture!  Oh, I wish I was there!

I can't think of a more romantic anniversary, can you?

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