Showing posts with label Tiara. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tiara. Show all posts

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Valentine China Cabinet

Valentine’s Day is around the corner, and at our house we’re sure to celebrate—the chickadees are a perfect excuse to decorate for any holiday!  So the red and white and hearts are out!

The china cabinet is always one of the first things to get a refresher.  I had whites and silver there since after Christmas, when our eyes and home needed a “rest,” so I simply added some reds and we were ready for Valentine’s Day.  Little Miss Chickadee likes to go through and see what I’ve added.

DSCN6809 The red roses are from the Valentine table (aren’t you always sad to take a tablescape down?  I am!)  You can see that table here.

DSCN6810 Isn’t it fun to play with Picasa? I used the Waterford Kinsale vase in the Valentine table centerpiece, but it was hard to see it with the ivy around it.

DSCN6811 Would you like to join me for a bit of Bailey’s?  Always a favorite treat.

DSCN6813 Before my blogging days (and before Little Miss Chickadee was around or old enough to notice), I didn’t have many Valentine decorations.  This vase is now a favorite.  It, too, was part of the Valentine tablescape—did you notice it?  As were the hydrangeas, which are from last summer.  I find that I keep using them over and over again in different places, because I think they’re so pretty and fragile.

DSCN6814 Someday I’ll have to do a post on why I have these cups, which for now I’ll call double-espresso cups, but they are for something much more yummy!  The darling teapot is a gift from my sweet friend Cookie.  I wonder if she remembers that she gave it to me?

DSCN6815 The silver sugar scuttle is versatile.  Of course~candy for Valentine’s Day!

DSCN6818 While I didn’t have many Valentine-specific decorations, I do have quite a bit of red around the house, because I LOVE red.  To me it’s such a versatile color—I can use it for Valentine’s Day, Christmas, the fourth of July, and just about any other time, which I do!  It’s a great accent color for me.  Do you like red that much?  Or is it too….RED?

DSCN6819  This darling tureen is a gift from my mother which I use quite often as a gravy boat, or for sauces, or even salad dressing when we have a larger group.

DSCN6821 Can you believe that a college student makes these gorgeous glass serving pieces as a way to earn money for school?  We visited her booth at an art show while we were vacationing on Anna Maria Island a few years ago.  It’s very, very fragile, but boy, does it have WOW factor when it’s on the table!

DSCN6825 The red Tiara glass was originally on the stack of plates, until…

DSCN6916  …the roses earned the coveted spot once they were past their prime and no longer suitable for the vase.  As I’ve mentioned before, I love “old” roses.  You can see lots of them here.

DSCN6932 Did you notice that the top was bare in the first picture?  Are you that observant?  After the pictures were taken touches of red and silver were added.

DSCN6925 There’s a bit of a love story behind this cruet set.  When I was a teenager, a friend of my mother’s was getting married, and her MIL-to-be gave her a vintage/antique cruet set.  I thought it was LOVELY, and since that time I’ve wanted one, but just never ended up buying one.  So about six months ago this lovely set appeared at an auction…and now IT’S AT HOME WITH US!  So it just took me a few {decades} to have one.  The wait was long enough to make its homecoming all the more special!  Believe me, it wasn’t in this pretty, shiny condition when it arrived, but it was truly a labor of love to bring it to its full splendor. 

Are there pieces like that, that you want but for one reason or another haven’t gotten?  What is it for you?  What is on your WISH LIST?  This is testament to the fact that if we wait, the things we cherish long term will eventually come to us, and the fleeting wishes will disappear.

So here’s wishing you a happy Valentine’s Day around your home.  May your hearts be filled with love for all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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From my nest to yours, ~Zuni

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Celebrating The Epiphany--the Three Kings' Long Trip

"Celebración de los Reyes Magos" - Having come to the U.S. from Cuba in 1961, our family still celebrates "El Día de los Reyes Magos" (The Day of the Three Kings), and the Kings still bring presents to our children.  Our 4-year-old granddaugher explained to her pre-school teacher that they come to our homes "because our family is Cuban."  :) 

The "Reyes Magos" are such an integral part of Latin culture that my mother told me recently of a wonderful toy store in Havana (Cuba) called "Los Reyes Magos."  Isn't that a great name for a toy store?!  Surely it didn't survive much after 1961.

This year my husband and I hosted our family's Three Kings celebration, now that our granddaughter is old enough to understand the story.  The Three Kings brought some gifts and left them under the tree for them (yes, we keep our tree up until The "Reyes Magos" come), but to make certain that the spirit of the day wasn't lost, the central figure in my tablescape was my childhood Baby Jeasus, which my grandmother managed to bring back to me in 1983 when she was able to visit Cuba.  She gave it to me originally, and gave it to me again...isn't that {AMAZING}?!


A celebration of the Three Kings is really about Baby Jesus.
The Three Kings:  Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthazar
We know they brought frankincense, myrrh, and gold,
but we don't know which gift each brought.
The red candle urn (left) is Tiara.
Crystal Three Kings and Baby Jesus
After I took this picture I added the the full text of Matthew 2: 1-12,
telling the story of The Wise Men.
A battery-operated candle behind the vintage trees
gave the scene in the cloche a soft glow.

In our invitation we promised cookies and hot chocolate and other "kingly" treats...
The table was set in jewel tones--befitting the gifts that the Three Kings brought.
Here's what we served~
Christmas tree carrot Bundt cake (in s/p cake stand with wonderful high dome,
from Bombay Company, a gift from my mother years ago)
Cream cheese with hot pepper jelly (red) and green pepper jelly
with buttery crackers (lower right)
Gem shortbread cookies
Candy cane-striped meringue kisses 


Jewel-toned vintage Tiara platter and Cambridge Caprice bowl
(the latter a gift from my SIL years ago)
Sterling compote holds whole cashews and dried cranberries,
a simple, yummy combination.


Since we were serving buffet style, the "star" stacker seemed quite apropos, don't you think?
Ribbon candy is a must during the holidays...in another Cambridge Caprice bowl,
surrounded by a mix of sterling and crystal candle holders.
Dishes are Lenox Eternal and the clear ones in the first two tiers are vintage Federal, Heritage pattern.
The bottom ones are vintage, of unknown lineage, but pretty.

We served Golden Pineapple Punch in our sterling punch bowl--a gift from my MIL,
complete with ladle, platter, and lid. 
Have you seen many punch bowls with lids?  I haven't,
but it's quite old now, and perhaps it was something more common in the past.

We served the punch in our "vintage" ARBY's goblets (can you say "vintage" and "goblets"
in the same sentence as Arby's? :) ) 
I have many of the glasses, and our son found these at Goodwill recently
and wrapped them up as what he thought would be a funny gift--

ARE YOU KIDDING?!  They're PERFECT! 
Funny, when I set them out I actually admired how they glistened!  :)

~~~~~~We also served the BEST CAPPUCCINO HOT CHOCOLATE EVER,of course
topped with whipped cream from my iSi Cream Whipper
(to find out more about it see HERE)
Everyone raved and asked for the recipe.
Sadly, I forgot to take a picture.
I served them in old footed punch cups--very pretty. 

I wish you a happy, healthy 2012 with much to be thankful for.

Does your family celebrate the Epiphany?
Do the Three Kings visit your home and leave gifts?
If you do a celebration, I'd love to know about it,
and if you have posted pictures, please be sure to share them with me!
Thanks for stopping by.  Please leave me a comment to let me know you were here—I read every single one of them!  They encourage me and inspire me.  And if you like what you see a lot J, maybe you’d like to +1 this post too!  Thank you!

I will be joining these fun parties; please stop by to see all the great things there!
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 Motivate Me Monday @ Keeping It Simple   
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 Tabletop Tuesday at http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/ 
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 Open House Party Thursday http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com
 Inspiration Friday at http://www.atthepicketfence.com
 Show and Tell Friday at http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

From my Chickadee Nest to yours~
    Zuni

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Real Thanksgiving Table

The tables we set for "play"--or to post--are sometimes not real tables.  The centerpiece might be too tall, or too big to allow for the other necessities that must go on the table for a real dinner--bread baskets, pitchers, wine bottle coasters, butter dishes, etc., so this is a post about our "real" table.

Our big family dinner was at my brother's this year (at their log cabin--another post for another day).  The Friday after Thanksgiving has always been our day at home--with turkey and all the trimmings again--initially for our children and my parents, and now DILs and babies too.  It's a more relaxed day, and a more relaxed table--our "real" table. 
I used the pomanders I made a few weeks earlier (tutorial HERE) as the basis for the centerpiece.
The amber platter is a recent find at my first auction.  It's an old Tiara piece.  I'd never heard
of Tiara until then, and now I'm in love with this dish.  Perfect for fall.

I L.O.V.E. this flower pot.  My cousin gave it to me years ago; I wonder if she remembers?
I use it every year for fall decorating.
Earlier in the season I had it in the china cabinet (HERE)
I imagined these twig pumpkins long before I found them, so...
THE SEARCH WAS ON!
I found them at a $$ store, where I paid $2 for them...(how does that work?!)

The PGBs (Precious GrandBabies) had their own placesettings with their Royal Doulton Bunnykins
dishes and feather headband for full Thanksgiving effect.


I used white dinner plates as chargers, and though they're not large enough
to be chargers, they added a bit more ummmppphhh to the setting.

Dinner plates are Friendly Village, and the salad plates--I don't remember.

Somewhere along the line I decided that the pumpkins I had so much wanted
were covering up the turkey plates I so love, so I moved them to the top of the plate,
'where I could enjoy both.



The view from our front door--our glorious American flag x 2.
Then...Christmas arrived at our home.

Every year my husband comes home with 2, 3, 4, 5 poinsettias, and every
year I am surprised and thrilled to see him walk in carrying the first one, then
another, then another.  This year was more of a surprise, though, because he came home
with them earlier than usual--because he also brought one for my mother
and one for our DIL to take home with them.

So fall met Christmas...
and we're ready to transition to
the joys of the season.




Tell me, do you have "real" tables that are different from you posted tables?

From our nest to yours, I wish you a sweet and smooth transition into the Christmas season.~
    ~Zuni

Miscellaneous:
Napkins: Crate and Barrel
Table runner:  My pashmina
Goblets:  Pottery Barn many years ago

Thanks for stopping by.  Please leave me a comment to let me know you were here—I read every single one of them!  They encourage me and inspire me.  And if you like what you see a lot J, maybe you’d like to +1 this post too!  I'd love it if you would follow me; I promise to work hard to make your visits worthwhile.  Thank you!

I will be joining these fun parties; please stop by to see all the great things there!
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