No table linen or placemat for this one. The natural wood of the dining table just felt right. What I did for this tablescape, however, was to mix colors and china patterns to mimic the pageantry of the peacock. A goldleafed glass charger is the foundation for an American Atelier “Florentine Gold Scroll” dinner plate topped with a 222 Fifth “Ornamental Scroll” salad plate. The white in the dinner plate helps to break up the heavy concentration of color in the place setting.

The deep teal poly-cotton napkins from Home Goods are cinched with a Pier 1 “Beaded Circle” napkin ring that reminded me of a male peacock’s tail feathers when I first saw them. (Would someone please explain to me how it is that the male peacock got to be the showier one??!?!?! What a rip off!!!)

This goldtone flatware really gets a workout around here in the fall and winter months!

A mix of teal blue stems from Stein Mart and Dollar Tree green stemware pulls from the colors of the male peacock’s plumage.

I found these jeweled peacock place card holders at Tuesday Morning many years ago. For this occasion, a faux gemstone, like those in the holder, is added to the place card.

The peacock feathers I have are 52″ in length and interfered with the light fixture above the dining table. I did, however, want to capture the colors of the feathers in the centerpiece, so I used a single teal glass cylinder with a floating candle centered between clusters of goldtone candlesticks. Like the dinner plate selection, white candles were my choice in order to break up the high concentration of deep hues.

The peacock feathers, arranged in large Vidrios San Miguel green vases from TJ Maxx (also seen HERE), were moved from the dining table to the buffet behind it with a repeat of the teal glass cylinders and goldtone candlesticks. It took a total of 50 quills (25 each vase) to achieve this look. A feather, cylinder, and candlestick display similar to this would look great down the center of a reception buffet table, too!

As a side note, I wanted to demonstrate how this table could be easily transformed to a dramatic Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras look with the simple addition of a mask adorned with peacock feathers at each place setting.

I hope your Mardi Gras celebration is a safe and fun one! When you finally wake up from your hurricane-soaked gumbo coma, please join me for Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch!

Another tablescape on this site using peacock feathers:
“Proud As A Peacock!“

This year, instead of the tower of fried catfish, vat of jambalaya, shrimp étouffé, hush puppies, King’s cake and hurricanes I’ve routinely enjoyed in the past, I’m pledging to lighten up. To that end, I have also created a Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras tablescape “lite”…an upscale, sophisticated, pared down version of the more decadent Mardi Gras style to which I am accustomed and hold so dear.

The traditional hues of purple, green, and gold will still be there in all their glory…just not as over-the top in their presentation. This table might work for those who want the essence of Mardi Gras without the whole “Swing from the balcony and show me your —-!!!” feel. (In-laws, bosses or clergy invited for dinner might appreciate the less bawdy tone of it!)

I’ve never used a royal purple table linen for any occasion, but this year it lands on the table as the base of the tablescape. Dual chargers in a gold square and purple cobblestone round cradle a clear glass dinner plate and green glass salad plate, thus incorporating all the traditional colors.

A royal purple cotton napkin is cinched with a flirty bangle napkin ring from Bed Bath & Beyond.

Goldtone flatware works well with the place setting.

I was so pleased to see that I had stemware of a similar shape in purple (TJ Maxx), green (Dollar Tree), and gold (World Market).

I’m going to give credit where it’s due. It was totally my husband’s -who fancies himself “The Tablescape Whisperer” - idea to include the long strands of beads. I resisted, thinking it would be way too cliché to have bundles of them down the center of the table. Plus, I whined, it will take away from the clean lines! We compromised, and I ended up arranging them in this quieter “grid” that frames each place setting as well as the centerpiece elements. Purple, green, and gold glass vases hold simply-arranged royal purple calla lilies. Finishing out the centerpiece are clusters of Mardi Gras “disco balls” that catch the light.

The buffet in back of the table is also relatively staid with a single, albeit oversized, royal purple Vidrios San Miguel recycled glass vase stuffed with an arrangement of graduated purple calla lilies. Using a single piece in a dramatic size and color negates the need for lots of little pieces all over the buffet top. Purple and gold glass votives dot the buffet’s edge and add to the overall ambiance in the room.

I don’t think they make gumbo-flavored rice cakes, so I’ll have to come up with something that will be healthy, filling and tasty without sending me into carb/fat/sodium/sugar overload. Yeah, I know…good luck with that! New plan: Stick with the old eating plan, but eat it at the pared down table! Love it!

Please join me for Tablescape Thursday again this week to see how other tablescapers from around the globe are decorating for and celebrating Mardi Gras!
Laissez bon temps rouler, y‘all!!!

To see other Mardi Gras tablescapes on this site:
Laissez Bon Temps Rouler
Mardi Gras Mojo

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, but perfect for ANY AND ALL occasions, allow me to introduce you to two gals with the most awesome baking and design talent around! Click HERE or on the “Resource Profiles” tab above, and scroll down to “The Cake Studio“ to see some really awesome cakes!
(Sorry…no scratch and sniff/taste available!)

Spurred on by last week’s pinning episode with all the little rosettes, I decided to wake this plain chocolate brown linen up with a strip of pink & brown edging. Again, not willing to try my hand at whip stitching, I simply used exposed pearl head pins to affix the edging to the hem. It all tied in nicely.

A silverplate charger and my sister’s Noritake “Whitebrook” china are topped with a simply folded pastel pink napkin from Bed Bath & Beyond. A small silver bell rests next to the hostess’s place setting. While it would normally be used to summon staff during dinner (as if I actually have staff! ), this bell is to signal that it’s time for all the couples assembled at the table to steal a kiss!♥
(Click on any photo to enlarge.)

I have a lot of stemware, but one of my favorites is Godinger’s “Chelsea” collection.

Another favorite collection is the International Silver “Danish Princess” flatware my Mom gave me. Here the dinner knife rests on a silverplate knife rest.

Silver hearts hold a place card by Artifacts.

No Valentine’s Day party is complete without a little chocolate something-something!

I bought these silver epergnes quite a few years ago. They are the companion piece to the 4-lite epergne shown as a buffet piece HERE. I really like the detailing. The white silk shades simply slip over the custom-made metal case candle (outfitted with a peg votive holder) and rest on the affixed bobeche. I can also swap out the custom candle/shade option for real tapers or remove the center bowl and use the piece as a 3-lite candelabra! Quite versatile!

I think I bought this silver covered casserole at Tuesday Morning about a billion years ago. I have used it both for food presentation and florals.

What’s a Valentine party without a ton of sweets on a dessert buffet? The aroma of all the chocolate is intoxicating! (I’m one of those odd women who does not care for the taste of chocolate, but I LOVE the smell!!!)

Coffee service is set up using the Elegance Silver coffee urn I purchased years ago. A pretty silver Victorian sugar scuttle with its tiny scoop is perfect for sweetening coffee (when a dip of your sweetheart’s finger won’t do the trick. )

On the opposite end of the buffet are Godinger silver petit four stands filled with all kinds of goodies. The silver pastry tongs have beautiful Baroque detailing.

I am so excited about this new acquisition!!! My goofy/loving cousin, Dee ;- ), got this silver Lazy Susan from our sweet friend, Doris, whose exceptionally good taste shows like a Derby prize winner. You should see this chick’s house! Anyhooooooo….Dee used it to display sweets at her recent 30th wedding anniversary party and then sent it home with me! I feel like passing out cigars to celebrate my new baby!!! Thank you, Dee Bug! Thank you, Doris!

Über feminine lacy paper dessert napkins are weighted down with my Lladró ”Angel Lying Down” figurine, a gift from a client a few years back.

The corner tea cart, bought by my Mom in the 1950s from the swanky House of Modern and given to me a few years ago, is a handy-dandy extension of the buffet. A fun pink moscato is iced down in a silver champagne bucket, also given to me by my Mom. The salad course will be served with forks iced to perfection in this silver mini champagne bucket that is also perfect for a split of champagne if you’re dining alone! (Icing the fork tines is a great way to keep your salad greens crisp just a little bit longer, especially in summer! Just watch the look on your guests’ faces when the fork is presented like this! If you’re not lucky enough to have “staff”, the hostess should personally present the bucket for each guest to take a fork.) See another cool way to ice forks down by clicking HERE and scrolling down to Tip #3! This is also a fabulously fun & fancy way to present dessert forks or spoons!!!

I am joining Susan’s Tablescape Thursday again this week, and I also hope you will stop by the Valentine Blog Party hosted by Bargain Hunting & Chatting With Laurie on Friday, February 10. Pop in to get tons of decorating ideas for your Valentine’s Day party from tablescaping bloggers with romance on their minds all around the world!

♥♥♥Happy Valentine’s Day from me to you!!!♥♥♥

Other Valentine’s Day posts on this site you might enjoy:
“Love’s Arrow“
“Peonies & Pearls“
“Days of Wine & Roses“

Other posts in chocolate brown & pink:
“Au Revoir“
“Just Us Girls“

Valentines Day is the perfect time to break out the wine, the roses, the chocolates…and the pink!!! Yes, it’s another pink Valentine’s Day table, but this time it is mixed with a deep, delicious burgundy.

This simple but sweet mix of modern and traditional could be easily transformed from a Valentine’s Day tablescape to one for a wedding, bridal shower, birthday, or to honor a breast cancer survivor.

Each place setting has a pretty floral placemat adorned with vintage roses. The placemat from Pier 1 is reversible. (Click HERE and scroll down to “Pretty In Pink” to see how they were used with the reverse side.) The white charger is from Old Time Pottery, topped with a modern B. Smith square dinner plate. Mercury-colored heart-shaped salad plates purchased years ago from Big Lots complete the stack. A soft pink napkin works to separate the white-on-white of the dishes.

For each guest, a favor they are sure to enjoy…a box of chocolates simply wrapped in shiny white paper and tied with a gossamer pink ribbon.

Another bit of modernity is interjected with the J.A. Henckels “Bellasera” flatware.

I was thrilled to find this Pier 1 stemware finally hit the clearance shelf at 70% off! It’s traditional shape is kissed at the bottom with mercury-colored glass that lends a sultry modern look.

Fluffy heart-shaped biscuits are served up on a little paper lace. The Crate & Barrel appetizer plates are the perfect size for it.

The table decor is an extension of the silver, burgundy and pink elements at each place setting. Tri-level silver candlesticks hold pink tapers, and a trio of white ceramic bud vases from Michael’s merge – courtesy of a length of Ombre ribbon – to form a pedestal for a pink & burgundy rose ball.

I used these white swan gravy boats from Pier 1 as candy dishes at each end of the table. Swans are a symbol of love & fidelity which makes them a perfect choice! (Plus, I had no time or money to go out searching for actual candy dishes!) They are flanked by a nosegay of roses & hydrangea in the same vases used for the centerpiece.

I love the look of a stark white full-length linen, but this time I wanted it to better reflect what was going on up top. I remembered a bunch of tiny silk rosettes purchased years ago from Hobby Lobby. (They are now harder to find and much more expensive than the 9¢ apiece they were ten years ago!) Because I’m not a wizard seamstress like my next-door-neighbor, Barbara, who would have whip stitched these on in seconds flat, I took the time to pin each rosette. (Whatever, Barbara! Move on! Get over it! :-)) I made sure to gracefully position the 4 corners of the tablecloth to showcase the rosettes there. Kind of reminds me of the train of a wedding gown…which is why this would make a great table for a bridal shower or wedding, too!

The buffet repeats the colors and theme used on the table. Multiple bottles of wine are gathered on a silver platter with a pink pillar candle to illuminate the glass. A variety of white ceramic dishes holds candies, homemade sugar cookies decorated with silver dragees, cupcakes in rose-patterned paper holders, and a white layer cake with raspberry filling. (There is no close-up of that cake because that bad boy started to slide in the warmth of the room!) Miniature versions of the burgundy & pink rose ball used for the centerpiece bring a little more color and texture to the buffet.

For a person who isn’t all that into Valentine’s Day, I think I’ve gone the extra mile this year! More tablescapes suitable for a Valentine’s Day celebration include:
“Peonies & Pearls“
“Love’s Arrow“
“Roses In October“
“Chocolate Traditional“

I want to give a big shout out and thank Courtney over at “Courtney Out Loud” for featuring a little piece about my favorite spot in the house to relax with a cup of “tea.” (Uh huh, yeah…seriously…Jack Daniels makes tea now! Ooohh…my nose is growing! )

I will be joining Susan and the other lovestruck tablescapers from around the world for Tablescape Thursday this week. Be sure to tune in to see what they’re up to!

So…it is to you my toasty February friends that I dedicate this ode to Valentine’s Day in the warmth of the sun. I had this little number in my cache of posts and thought it perfectly indicative of the kind of Valentine’s Day table one could create should they be so lucky as to live in milder climes. (It could be easily set up indoors, too!)

I think I may have have been cotton candy or Dubble Bubble in a former life. Not because I’m sweet (ha! Lord knows that’s not it!), but because I just love pink. When I photographed this table last summer, I remember feeling all girly and giggly and size 6. Yes, ladies, pink can actually DO that for you!

I started with a sticky sweet pink full-length cotton tablecloth. Gold-leafed glass chargers from my sister are topped with gold-rimmed white dishes from Pier 1.

Pretty pink poly-cotton napkins from Bed Bath & Beyond are gathered with faux pearl napkin rings from Old Time Pottery. The trick here was to give the napkin ring a more substantial look by doubling them.

Simple goldtone flatware and, of course, a little something-something from Godiva packaged in gold and neatly tied up with ribbons and seed pearls.

Cristal d’Arques “Longchamps” stemware is reasonably priced as far as crystal goes, and it’s multifaceted body catches the rays of the sun just right.

I used faux peonies here, but you can certainly imagine a fresh armful of the fluffy pink mop heads as your centerpiece! The design on the mammoth crystal barrel harmonizes perfectly with the stemware. Lofty gold candlesticks with pink candles surround the crystal.

Swans are a long-standing symbol of love and fidelity due to their perennial and monogamous relationships. These lovely Limoges salt cellars both literally and figuratively bring spice to the table.

Remove a couple of place settings, and this becomes a romantic table for two. This Pepto pink tablescape would also work very well for a special birthday, an upscale baby shower, a wedding celebration, or in observance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

I’ll be joining Susan again for Tablescape Thursday. I hope you’ll stop in to see the romantic tables other tablescapers from all around the world have to offer!

Other tablescapes on this site suitable for Valentine’s Day:
“Love’s Arrow“
“Showered in Pink“
“Roses In October“
“Days of Wine & Roses”
“Chocolate Traditional“

Another tablescape using peonies:
“Peaceful Peonies“

The color that always gets hearts beating is red♥♥♥! I started this table off with a full-length red linen topped by a quilted damask square.

Setting up by the fireplace seems to be both romantic and practical. On the romantic side, it symbolizes the love you have burning in your hearts for one another. Plus, everybody looks better in the glow of amber light! On the practical side, February is still chilly in many areas, so your tootsies will stay nice and warm. Furthermore, if your sweetheart gifts you with a toaster, or a lamp, or something equally disturbing that may as well have “Just Kick Me In the Crotch and Leave Me Down By the River to Die” written on it, you don’t have to get up to get rid of it…just toss it right into the fire! If he gives you something really crazy like a coupon to a weight loss center or Botox clinic, feel free to toss him in, too! Swish! Three points!

This place setting starts with a shiny silver charger topped with an Easterling “Majestic” dinner plate. A silver heart salad plate finishes off the stack, accompanied by Mikasa’s “Jamestown Platinum” stemware and International Silver “Royal Danish” flatware.

A white napkin is folded accordian-style and slipped into a silver napkin ring. I tucked old-fashioned pearl- and rhinestone-studded stick pins on either side of the napkin ring for a little added bling. The fully-blown red rose also has a little bling to make it stand out more. (Remember our discussion about the stupid gifts? Stick pins….I’m just sayin’! )

More full-blown red roses are tucked into a bath of sparkly acrylic “ice” and water for the simple centerpiece that takes less than 10 minutes to assemble. The “ice” can be purchased at just about any arts & crafts store like Hobby Lobby or Michaels. (Click HERE to see another floral arrangement using acrylic “ice.”) A more budget-friendly flower choice (especially during February when the price of roses is sky-high!) that provides comparable impact would be fluffy red carnations.

A smattering of mercury glass votive holders add ambient light and give the “ice” in the centerpiece a little extra shimmer. If the fireplace is hot enough for you without the votives, consider using submersible lights in the “ice” instead. Submersible lights can be also purchased at an arts & crafts store or through your florist.

All kidding aside, I hope this helps in your planning, Estella. I’ll be back next week with another Valentine’s Day tablescape that has a few more bells & whistles. Meanwhile, I hope you will join me again this Thursday at Susan’s Tablescape Thursday. I’m sure there will be lots of Valentine tables on display from talented bloggers around the world!
♥♥♥

Other tablescapes on this site that would work well for Valentine’s Day:
“Chocolate Traditional“
“White Hot“
“Showered In Pink“
“Little Black Dress“
“Peonies & Pearls“
“Days of Wine & Roses“
“Coming Up Roses” (under the “Fun Stuff” tab; scroll down)
“Au Revoir” (under the “Fun Stuff” tab: scroll down)

Help!!! I've fallen in all these dishes and decor, and I can't get up!!!

I’m just going to come out with it: I LIKE STUFF!!!!!! I like dishes and stemware and flatware and linens and all the accessories that can dress up a table, and I like to be able to shop my own home for it when I need it. I’m not ashamed of it…although perhaps I should be.

When I owned my fine rentals business there was no shortage of available space to store all my pretty things. Back then I didn’t have dishes, but there was PLENTY of other “stuff.” In addition to basement and attic storage in my shop, I had warehouse space the size of 5 single-car garages. Any overflow was kept at our home.

Well, now I am retired. I sold a lot of the rentals in a huge, frenzied sale. Of course, I kept a serious stash for myself, and that stash has to be kept somewhere! Several readers, including Paula B., Marchita S., and Jackie H., recently asked where on earth I keep it all, so I dedicate this very photo-intensive post to them!

Ready to see where I keep it all? Hold on to your hats…it’s going to be like walking through a Coney Island carnival fun house! Let’s start on the main floor of the house…

OK…not too bad. This is a logical place for dishes: the china cabinet in the dining room. The 3 little drawers on the bottom contain place card holders. But I have 83 styles/patterns of dishes…where are the rest?

Then there are the 8 drawers of the dining room buffet loaded with flatware, serving utensils, placemats and specialty napkins. Still not too bad. Let’s move into the foyer.

The drawers of this apothecary chest in the foyer hold about half of my 76 sets of napkin rings (that help jazz up 90 different styles of napkins!). Let’s step over into the library….

Our reproduction Louis XVI vitrine houses crystal, silver and about half of the 24 sets of flatware in my collection. Moving on to the family room area….

The bar in the family room displays a few stemware sets and stores several pitchers down below. I have 84 different sets/styles of glasses and stemware, although I tend to use 5 or 6 favorites over and over.

Four 2-shelf cabinets under the family room bookcases store most of my 41 sets of chargers. And we’re walking, we’re walking…….

Several cupboards in the kitchen serve as storage for dishes and stemware as well as a modest collection of salt & pepper shakers. There are only 2 shelves dedicated to our “everyday” dishes and drinking vessels. How much lip do you think I get from my husband for THAT?

What is supposed to be a broom closet right off the kitchen stores another round of china as well as teapots and serving dishes. I’m bored with this floor. Let’s move down to the lower level.

There’s just no way to photograph the entire storage area in a single photo, so Sheri did the best she could. We still didn’t get a photo of the 40+ Rubbermaid tubs stacked ceiling high on the east wall in this room.

My husband and I put in pegboards that work pretty well for a lot of things. More wreaths are stored on hooks in the sump pump room.

Smaller see-through storage containers hold little stuff that can get away from me in a hurry if I’m not careful.

Did I mention that I have a LOT of candles (LED and natural wax)…and ribbon??? Most of the ribbon hangs here, but there is additional curling ribbon in a Rubbermaid box that couldn’t fit on the wall.

I love these stackable drawers! I have several of these in the storage room filled with about half of the 45 different kinds of votive holders I have collected over the years. I usually buy votive holders in quantities of at least 12 per, but I have basic ones that come in quantities of 50-75+. I’m getting claustrophobic! Let’s get out of this room and move into the downstairs living space.

This case is filled with all my dishes and stemware with Mexican flair.

The downstairs bar area has 9 cabinets and multiple drawers, all filled with dishes (mostly melamine), stemware, casual flatware, and serving bowls & platters.

Two closets on the lower level, including the sump pump closet, store Rubbermaid boxes of decorative supplies. OK….let’s make that long trek up to the top floor!

Another apothecary chest in the hallway on the top level of the house stores more napkin rings and place card holders. I corral the napkin rings in Ziploc bags to keep them from getting all jumbled.

I can’t even begin to show all the storage nooks in my office/studio, but here are a couple…

A corner curio holds a stash of some of my larger pieces of crystal, while the adjacent closet has 5 multi-drawer cabinets filled with invitation and menu-making supplies and sewing supplies that are rarely used due to my complete lack of hand/eye coordination.

Several otherwise unused closets in the house, like this one in the guest bedroom, are great for storage. I currently have about 150 linens, many of which are tagged, bagged, and hung in this closet according to color. The shelves and floor are used to store various tabletop accessories, an actual tabletop, and boxed stemware.

Another case filled with dishes.

And, of course, the obligatory underbed storage (under every bed!) for more linens, napkins and 56 sets of placemats.

A bank of cupboards in an adjacent room holds yet more stemware and dishes. Let’s step across the hallway…

Wait! I’ve changed my mind!!! Are you sure you want to come in here??? I don’t know…it’s pretty crazy!!! Well, OK…here we go! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!!!

This is where I do floral arranging with faux flowers for some of my posts when my money’s so funny it has its own sitcom.  I couldn’t get a shot of the area where I arrange the flowers, but the faux florals are mostly stored in here along with lots of silver candelabra and floral vessels like the one Linda of A Toile Tale won back in October. Oh…did I mention I’ll be giving another one of those away soon? Stay tuned!

The clothes closet in the master suite is a great place for storing stuff including stackable drawers of cloth napkins. My husband reinforced the brackets for the overhead storage on both sides to prevent an avalanche.

The pass-through area between the bedroom and my dressing room has lots of storage opportunities with these great built-ins! (My poor husband!)

Now let’s enter another crudely built little storage closet we had built into empty attic space a few years ago. The sign says it all!

This room stores many of the things I would have a COW over if they were to get broken. I know it looks a little messy in this photo (I was in the midst of Christmas decorating, remember!), but believe me…it is incredibly well-organized!!! Most boxes are stored two deep and as high as the pitched ceiling will allow.

And just how, you are asking yourself, does this weird woman keep up with all of this? The answer is quite simple: FlipAlbum!!! (And the fact that I have an uncanny ability to remember exactly where I store things!)

 FlipAlbum is a customizable computer catalog that looks and works just like a real book! I use the Vista Pro edition (currently selling online for $159.95), but there is a free version, as well. It took me awhile to initially set it up with everything I had, but now I easily maintain it by simply making entries each time I return from shopping! I’m up to 2269 pages…and counting!!!

Everything is organized by both automatically generated Index and Contents sections (where you can just click on the line to go directly to a page!)…

…as well as a convenient thumbnail overview section! (The thumbnail section is generated automatically with each page you create, and you can flip directly to a page just by clicking on a thumbnail!)

You can create chapters! (I currently have 39 color-coded chapters ranging from dishes to floral vessels to baskets and beyond!)

You can create pages within the chapters with as many or as few photos as you like! I photograph things as I bring them home and add a brief description along with the quantity in stock as well as, when necessary, dimensions.

So….if your eyeballs haven’t popped completely out of your head by now, that’s my pitiful little story! What’s yours?

 Don’t forget to join the arguably much more sane tablescapers and me for this week’s Tablescape Thursday!

One of the great things about this particular tablescape design is that the Asian influence is somewhat understated, thus rendering it suitable for various contemporary-styled occasions such as rehearsal dinners or ladies luncheons (sans the candles, of course). The two-tone linen combo of sizzling hot pink over the more neutral black immediately draws the eye in.

To demonstrate how the same dishes can create an entirely different atmosphere depending on the accessories, compare this setting to that of “Let Them Eat Cake” from a post last year. (Click HERE and scroll down to “Let Them Eat Cake“.) A gold leafed glass charger and gold-rimmed white china from Pier 1 are topped with an F. Winkel & Co. “Jacobean” salad plate. The vivid coloring and busy pattern of the salad plate are just the right combination to accent the plainer underplates and bring in the black, gold, hot pink and white.

I had my eye on these Buddhas from the moment they hit the store shelves at Z Gallerie last year. I must have chewed half a pound of fingernails waiting for them to go on clearance, hoping there would be enough left over. Jackpot! Got all I needed at 75% off!!! Here they hold a gold mercury glass votive.

My “old reliable” goldtone flatware works well here with its subtle pattern.

I opted for crystal stemware with gold rims, but opaque black stemware like Mikasa’s “Elegance-Black” would work well, too.

I felt the need to break up that searing hot pink surface a bit more. I achieved this by folding the black poly-cotton napkins from Bed Bath & Beyond into a long chevron and placing them beneath each setting, allowing them to extend downward over the pink linen.

I almost always use either white or ivory candles, but I’m getting bolder in my old age! Long black tapers are set into a trio of 20″H goldtone candlesticks to add height and color down the table’s center.

Black powder-coated ginger jars hold a mix of pink peonies, white alstroemeria, and star blossoms. (Florals used here for demonstrative purposes are faux, but I encourage the use of natural flowers for actual entertaining. If, however, all natural flowers are out of your budgetary reach, try mixing realistic fauxs with fresh. The key there is realistic fauxs that blend well!)

Lined up on each side of the centerpiece are four gold mercury glass votives to add ambient light at the lowest level.

The notably restrained buffet decor is a giant black ginger jar flanked by a pair of the same F. Winkel & Co. plates as used on the table. Florals from the table are extended by simply plopping 3 peonies into a shallow black bowl.

2012 is the Year of the Dragon, so printed menus with the Chinese symbols for dragon - 龙年 - or a dragon watermark, or menus in the shape of a dragon would be another element to make this table special. Specialty stores may carry oversized ceramic dragons which would be a great addition, too! (Or go check out Grandma’s attic for them. These dragons, as well as panthers for some odd reason, were all the rage in contemporary 1960s homes.) A nice substitute for the peonies would be deep pink carnations, orchids or, depending on availability, pink plum blossom branches which symbolize luck. If your budget allows for it, rented bamboo chiavari chairs in black would be the crowning touch!

More tablescapes using hot pink on this site:
“Daisy Crazy“
“Hello, Dahlia“
“Let Them Eat Cake“
“Hollywood Fright Night“

Another tablescape using peonies:
“Peonies & Pearls“

Thank you for stopping in! I hope you’ll join me again this week at Susan’s place for Tablescape Thursday!

I was sick (yes, again!) last week and spent a lot of time staring out the window planning my escape. I saw the most beautiful cardinal perched on a low-hanging branch for what seemed like an eternity and a fleeting moment all in one. She was a striking creature in her shockingly red coat and heavy-handed eyeliner. She brightened an otherwise dreary winter’s day with her brilliant color and gave me inspiration for a winter tablescape.

I bought these 222 Fifth “Winter Cardinal” dinner plates on clearance at TJ Maxx awhile back. The same thought that struck me while looking out the window is what attracted me to these plates. The tiny speck of red, while miniscule by comparison, is the star of the flat white plate with its silvery, sinewy, naked trees. (Click HERE to see another red, white & silver winter tablescape.) To add a little drama, I went with a double dose of contemporary square chargers in silver and red from World Market. Turning the top charger at a slight angle allows the red on bottom to just barely peek out…kind of like the cardinal in the tree. (Click HERE or HERE & scroll down to “Year of the Rabbit” to see other tablescapes using doubled square chargers.)

The contemporary lines of J.A. Henckels “Bellaserra” stainless works well with the setting.

The slender tube-like fold of a red cotton napkin is secured with a silver napkin ring.

Each place setting is punctuated with a square glass votive filled with waterlogged cranberries and topped with a fragrant white carnation. (For more tablescape ideas using cranberries, click HERE or HERE.)

Another shot of red revs up the stark white linen via the TJ Maxx table runner. I double-folded the center part back to lend more of a 3-D look with just the decorated ends exposed. The barren silver trees on the runner are a nice companion to those on the plates, and it could just as easily find its way into a Christmas tablescape.

I love the look of pavéd carnations! This simple arrangement of easy-on-the-budget white carnations is anchored by acrylic “ice” chips for a wintry look and topped with cranberries for color. My husband said the square shape makes it look like a layer cake with whipped cream, which would make it perfect for a birthday party, shower, or anniversary! He’s right, but I think he just wanted cake! (Click HERE to see another post using acrylic “ice.”)

The buffet behind the dining table gets an austere, yet somewhat theatrical treatment. A square glass floral container filled with more acrylic “ice” chips holds dramatically arched branches coated in silver paint. Peering from within is a lone cardinal. Another glass container is filled with fresh cranberries for the requisite shot of color. Votive candles dance the length of the buffet.

Champagne anyone?

I am thrilled to join my fellow tablescapers as we start this new year together at Susan’s Tablescape Thursday. Come along this Thursday, won’t you?