Romantic Vintage Valentine 'Scape

           {SOFT}
                                                                                        {ROMANTIC}

                                          {VINTAGE}

                                                                     {PINK}
These are the words that were swirling around in my head as I planned ONE of my Valentine tables. 

My inspiration was an old set of dishes--Duchess, by Paden City Pottery--that I'd had stored at my mom's for several years.  These are beautiful dishes that we actually used as our everyday dishes for quite a while, when our boys were small, then I decided {gasp} that I would sell them at a garage sale.  Alas, they didn't sell, so they stayed at my mom's until my heart called out to them to celebrate Valentine's Day.

Isn't she lovely?  Duchess.  The perfect name for her.

VINTAGE...we use the term so often, but do you ever wonder about the history of
our beloved dishes and crystal and serving pieces?
What family owned them?
(I bought her from a friend's neighbor years and years ago.  She had
no use for them and didn't like them.)
What family meals were celebrated with these dishes?
Were they reserved for special occasions only?

I used our Lenox Eternal as a charger...creamy bone china that went perfectly with The Duchess.
And our gold flatware~a gift from my precious grandmother (who also fed my early tableware addiction).
The treats for the sweet in Depression glass Cherry Blossom, by Jeannette Glass Company--
a gift from my MIL years ago. 
I also used them for a tea party HERE.
Waterford napkins, and pink linen tablecloth I've had for years.

Ahh...crystal.  Is that my favorite?  No, The Duchess is too.  It all is.
Since this is my fantasy table, I used a mix of glass/crystal/stems where I liked it all best.
The on-the-rocks glasses with the gold rim were a wedding gift a "few" years ago ;).
The iced tea stems are Godinger/Shannon, Sutton Place pattern,
and the champagne/tall sherbet stem is a recent gift from my mother,
for our last anniversary. 
The full set, from her china cabinet to ours~the perfect gift.
(I don't know the pattern and haven't been able to find it--
do you know what it is?)

The roses are "vintage" too--
I went to my favorite...ahem..."florist"--Aldi--where they usually have beautiful roses.
These were the perfect shade--a creamy, pale yellow with pink--perfect for The Duchess,
but they were, well...a bit "vintaged."
Then it occurred to me that they would be perfect--a bit worn, but still lovely,
just like The Duchess!
~
I like to mix things up a bit on my tables, rather than have everything matched, so the two "vases"
for the "vintage" roses are vintage too,
and they came to live with us from a box lot at an auction.
They came to the perfect home for them,
where they'll be loved.

Many, many years ago I fell in love with these bone dishes and had to have them.
And I keep them in my kitchen cabinets--you NEVER KNOW when you're going to need bone dishes, right? ;)
They were used in the olden days to keep the fish bones that were removed
away from the rest of the food on one's plate.
We don't see much bone-in fish any more, do we?
I remember as a child having the fish bones removed from my fish.
Love them even if they're just there to be pretty.

And speaking of being pretty...
What shall we call her until we know her real pattern name?
"Pretty" would work for me...

Double the pleasure.



Waterford Lismore pitcher



Roses and crystal and candles and linens and china, oh my!



Shopped the house and look what I found--a heart-shaped dish!
Candy-covered pretzels from Krema--you can order the best
candies and nuts from them HERE.

And guess who came over to spend the night just as I finished my table?
Our BABY LOVE,
One of  the LOVES of our lives--
She quickly changed into her full princess regalia--
with my pearls and heels too, of course.

Tell me about your vintage dishes...do you think about their past?  Does that bring more meaning to them/to you?  Or am I romanticizing because the DAY OF LOVE is near?  What dishes and other pretties do you love and why?

Thanks for stopping by.  Please leave me a comment to let me know you were here—I read every single one of them!  Your comments encourage me and inspire me.  And if you like what you see a lot J, maybe you’d like to +1  or "pin" this post too!  Thank you!

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

House in Roses Show Off Your Cottage Monday at http://houseinroses.blogspot.com

Amaze Me Monday at http://dittledattle.blogspot.com/

Metamorphosis Monday at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

Motivate Me Monday @ Keeping It Simple   

Newbie Party on Monday at http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/

Tabletop Tuesday at http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/ 

Wow Us Wednesdays at http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/ 

Tablescape Thursday at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

Open House Party Thursday http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Creek Cottage

Feathered Nest Friday at http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

Potpourri Friday at http://twenty-eight-0-five.blogspot.com/

Inspiration Friday at http://www.atthepicketfence.com

Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Show and Tell Friday at http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

Home Sweet Home Friday at The Charm of Home

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors

Weekend Wrap-up Party at Tatertots and Jello

Seasonal Sunday at http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/

Homemaker on a Dime, Sunday at http://www.homemakeronadime.com/2012/01/creative-bloggers-party-hop-011512.html

Wishing you love on Valentine's Day and always,

from my Chickadee Nest to yours~

    Zuni

Thanksgiving Dress Rehearsal

I haven't done a tablescape for a few weeks; afterall, we did have a wedding to prepare for--and happily.  But amazingly, I've missed my tablescape blogging friends, and since I'm new to blogging I have now realized that there are different friends for different types of posts.  I'll get this all figured out soon, I hope.  :)

I've done quite a bit with fall now, so I wanted to do something a little different.  I decided I wanted to do a fall table, but using my blue and white floral Spode...something that I could maybe use for our Thanksgiving table.  Hmmmm.  I usually think of blue and white as a cool, summer setting, or perhaps a winter one, but fall?  I really had to think on that one. 

Then it came to me--add brown.  Not orange (I'm kind of OD'd on orange right now).  I envisioned small twig pumpkins for each placesetting, but how many stores would I have to hit before I found them (I did hit 2--nothing of the sort).  So "shopping" at home was the next best thing, and here's the end result.

My first challenge was the table cover/linens, because I wanted the warmth of textile.
My pashmina/silk shawl, in blues and browns and golds fit the bill.
For the real Thanksgiving dinner I think I'll use a neutral tablecloth, and use the shawl as
an additional layer.

Because the shawl has gold in it too, I wanted to work with golds instead of silver...
and it just so happens that my dear grandmother gave me a set of gold flatware
years ago.  It was starting to come together.
I used our Lenox Eternal dinner plates as chargers, only to bring the touch of gold and
additional dimension.
Blue & white dishes:  Spode Delamere
Brown turkey plates:  Royal Stafford
Water goblets:  Pottery Barn, many years ago
Wine stems:  Pristine by Reizart/Gorham

Amazingly, my shawl has blue accents...perfect for the dishes.
Isn't it awesome how things sometimes just come together?
We might not know where we're headed with a tablescape, and it slowly begins
to evolve as we shop the house.  FUN.

More accessories falling into place...
The acanthus leaf centerpiece from my mother years ago, snippets of brown leaves
from the fall decorating bins, and candles and crystals from
our son's recent wedding.
Repurposing!

Remember Bombay Company? Much of my blue and white is from there...still miss that store.
The beautiful paperweight was a gift from our DIL's uncle--handmade by him!  What a beautiful piece!

Rumpled linen napkins (Crate & Barrel) to match the rumpled shawl.

See who's watching all the goings on??  Jack-o-lanterns!  They're making sure
I don't forget THEIR holiday and go directly to Thanksgiving!

Daytime...Chance to see what the REAL table will look like.

So tell me...will you be serving Thanksgiving at your house?

Do you know how you're going to set your table?  I'm glad to have my table setting

"issues" resolved!  But I'm wondering about the candles.  Do you light candles

during daylight meals?  And if no, do you still have them on the table?

I love to hear from you. Every comment goes to my email, so I won't miss it.  And if you're

kind enough to follow me I promise to follow you back.

I'm joining these fabulous parties this week, and I hope you will too.

 The Tablescaper's Seasonal Sunday at http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/

 Homemaker on a Dime, Sunday at http://www.homemakeronadime.com/p/link-parties.html

 Motivated Monday at http://becolorful.typepad.com/  

 Debbie’s Newbie Party on Monday at http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/

 Marty's Table Top Tuesday at http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/ 

 Kim's Wow Us Wednesdays at http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/ 

 Susan's Tablescape Thursday at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

 Open House Party Thursday http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com

 Courtney’s, Feathered Nest Friday at http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

 Honey's Potpourri Friday at http://twenty-eight-0-five.blogspot.com/

 Inspiration Friday at http://www.atthepicketfence.com

 Creative Princess at http://acreativeprincess.blogspot.com/