Chickadee Home Nest: December 2014

Friday, December 26, 2014

A Rustic Christmas Deer Tablescape

Two posts in one day! And here I’ve been absent for weeks! This is the companion post to my earlier one, A Pinecone Cheese Ball (http://chickadeehomenest.blogspot.com/2014/12/a-pinecone-cheese-ball.html). I thought the two would work well for a New Year’s Eve party.
For years I’ve thought I “needed” a pair of deer (the tabletop kind, not the barn/field kind), but I hadn’t really seen the ones I wanted. My mother has the Fitz and Floyd ones that are gorgeous, and those are some I’ve considered, but I just haven’t been sure about which ones, so I haven’t pushed real hard to get some…until this year, when I did our Christmas china cabinet in Friendly Village ~

Christmas china cabinet at Chickadee Home Nest

Then I got kind of serious about finding just the ones. It wasn’t an exhaustive search, but I kept an eye out for some I liked (and that I liked the price!), but nothing was jumping out at me…until…Mr. Chickadee and I walked into Harick’s, a favorite shop near our home in Shawnee Hills. You know how the music plays and the light shines upon the Christmas tree that Clark spots (Christmas Vacation)? That’s exactly what happened when I spotted the deer.
But they were pricey—more than I wanted to spend, and I get pretty stubborn about what I’m willing to pay. So we kept looking around and I told Mr. C that there were 3 or 4 things I’d want to take home, one of them being the deer, if only the price were right. Yep…you’re ahead of me, aren’t you? Guess what was under our tree when Santa came?!

Deer, Stag centerpiece at Chickadee Home Nest

When I “gently” questioned Santa about losing his mind he told me the owner agreed to hold them for him while we were there, and agreed to a fabulous price “adjustment.” I’m going with that, so I can enjoy them to the fullest! I know you’ll see these guys a lot over the coming years, now that I finally have my deer!

But you know we bloggers can’t leave things plain and simple. They needed to be nestled and fussed over, of course, to create the after-Christmas-yet-Christmassy centerpiece tablescape I wanted.

Now that’s more like it, isn’t it? Candles and “snow” and pinecones and berries and greenery.

I took a ton of pictures, because I want to show you the detail on them—the fur, or hair (my research says it’s one and the same) is quite visible, though they’re made of some sort of resin, I guess.

And did you notice the bark candle in front of the deer lying down? My brother has been making tons of these for me—they are really, really cool, and perfect for my love of woodland settings.

I think I’ll be leaving this “centerpiece” up for quite a while—certainly into January—though admittedly it has to be moved for any meal involving more than the two of us. Mr. Chickadee sits at the end of the table, so that works. I sit right in front of them, but I’ve been able to set my place just fine, which means I’ve been enjoying them up close.

I’m always curious about centerpieces—what do you do? Do you leave a large one like this up and work around it? If we do anything here at home for New Year’s Eve I’ll probably just move it back and continue with the woodland theme to not get too fancy this year, and I’ll do a simple buffet around it. For our New Year’s Day pork and sauerkraut it’ll surely need to be moved.

I’m wishing you and yours a happy New Year and the best in 2015!!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you’ll leave me a comment to let me know you were here—I’m thrilled to know you stopped by, and I’ll always visit back and comment too. If you like what you see, I invite you to follow me (I promise to follow back), and please—Pin away and follow me on Pinterest too! Thank you!!
NOTE: Some of the items I use in my posts are in my Etsy shop, but many are not, simply because I haven’t updated my shop. If you see something you like and wonder if it’s available for sale, email me at coral5252@gmail.com and let’s talk!
Saturdays at http://piecedpastimes.blogspot.com/
Spotlight Saturdays at http://www.classyclutter.net/
Saturdays at Be Different, Act Normal at http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com/
Sunday Showcase at http://www.bystephanielynn.com/
Sunday at It’s Overflowing at http://www.itsoverflowing.com/
Sunday Creative Home and Garden Hop at http://creativehomeexpressions.blogspot.com/
Sundays at The Tablescaper: http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/
Mop it Up Monday at http://www.ishouldbemoppingthefloor.com
Metamorphosis Monday at http://betweennapsontheporch.net/
Inspire Me Monday at http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/
Masterpiece Monday at http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/
Tuesdays at Our Home at http://mariaelenasdecor.blogspot.com/
Tuesdays at The Scoop at http://www.stonegableblog.com
Inspire Me Tuesday at http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/
Cuisine Kathleen at http://www.cuisinekathleen.com/
Wow Us Wednesdays at http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/
Wednesday DIY by Design Party at http://diybydesign.blogspot.com/
Wednesday Share Your Cup with Mrs. Olson at http://jannolson.blogspot.com/
Home and Garden Thursday at http://blissfulrhythm.blogspot.com/
Tablescape Thursday at http://betweennapsontheporch.net/
Thursdays at http://www.impartinggrace.com/
Friday at Redoux Interiors at http://www.redouxinteriors.com/
Fridays at Imparting Grace at http://www.impartinggrace.com/
Vintage Inspiration Friday at http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com/
Throwback Thursdays at http://www.glitterglueandpaint.com/throwback-thursday-2/
Transformation Thursdays at http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/
Be Inspired Friday at http://www.Commonground-do.com/
Fridays at Feathered Nest: http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/
Fridays at http://rootedinthyme.blogspot.com/
Fridays at Home Sweet Home: http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
Fresh-Cut Fridays at http://rosevignettes.blogspot.com
Fridays at The Thrifty Groove at http://thethriftygroove.blogspot.com/
Show and Tell Friday at http://romantichome.blogspot.com/
From my nest to yours~
Zuni

A Pinecone Cheese Ball

Hi, All. I haven’t been around much this month. I had tons of pictures ready for a post or two or three, then Mr. Chickadee and I BOTH got sick and were out of commission for about 10 days total—3 1/2 of those days completely out of commission, in bed. Wow! That played havoc with the Christmas preparations! But it could’ve been worse—we could’ve been sick right at Christmas, like so many people are. We we were at almost 100% by our early Christmas in our home, and we had a nice, sweet time. I hope you had a nice, healthy Christmas.

Today I’m doing two quick posts, to share a couple of winter ideas that will work for New Year’s Eve too.

I made a pinecone cheese ball years ago, when I saw the idea in one of my beloved Christmas books. Getting my books out was one of the things that didn’t get done this year, so I turned to Pinterest for a refresher—they’re all over Pinterest! I’m still sharing it, though, with a bit of detail on the very simple how-to.

The beauty of this “recipe” is that it’s so pretty, yet so easy. I took it to my mother’s for our family’s traditional Cuban Christmas Eve dinner (27 of us for a sit-down dinner!), and even the guys thought it was pretty neat!

“Recipe”: You can use any cheese ball recipe, or for that matter you can buy a cheese ball—how easy is that?! (Mine was ~~a concoction~~ my own creation of cream cheese, bleu cheese dressing, white-meat canned chicken, one packet of Hidden Valley ranch dressing, chopped walnuts and Craisins.) Shape the cheese ball mixture into a pinecone shape (it can be “lying” down or “sitting”) and set it on a large lettuce leaf. Starting at the bottom, work the almonds in rows until the whole cheese ball is covered (that part is a little tedious…)then cup your hands around the cheese ball and gently push the almonds up a bit until you think it looks like a pinecone. Garnish with rosemary sprigs and fresh cranberries or Craisins.

When you’re ready to bring it out make sure you have the due drum roll (a la Clark’s in Christmas Vacation). Serve with crackers and enjoy!!

My next post will also be a quick one of a reindeer and pinecones centerpiece, so this pinecone cheese ball would be perfect for it!

Did you come up with an easy WOW!! recipe this Christmas? Quick with a WOW! factor is the best, isn’t it?

I’m wishing you all a happy Christmas season and if I don’t “see” you before the new year I wish you the very best in 2015!

NOTE: Some of the items I use in my posts are in my Etsy shop, but many are not, simply because I haven’t updated my shop. If you see something you like and wonder if it’s available for sale, email me at coral5252@gmail.com and let’s talk!

Saturdays at http://piecedpastimes.blogspot.com/

Spotlight Saturdays at http://www.classyclutter.net/

Saturdays at Be Different, Act Normal at http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com/

Sunday Showcase at http://www.bystephanielynn.com/

Sunday at It’s Overflowing at http://www.itsoverflowing.com/

Sunday Creative Home and Garden Hop at http://creativehomeexpressions.blogspot.com/

Sundays at The Tablescaper: http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/

Mop it Up Monday at http://www.ishouldbemoppingthefloor.com

Metamorphosis Monday at http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

Inspire Me Monday at http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/

Masterpiece Monday at http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/