Furniture Rearranging

Several months ago we thought it was time for Baby Love to start piano lessons, so of course it was a package deal—the piano had to go along with the lessons, so our piano now lives at her house. It’s the piano her Papá and uncle used to learn practice ummmmm spend our money—that’s what it was!—so it seemed only right that she have it now. It didn’t get played much at our house, and when we had it tuned recently we were pleasantly surprised to learn that it’s in very good condition!

Once the piano was gone, it gave me the opportunity to re-think our furniture arrangement. It had been a focal point in our home, and I had loved using it for vignettes (if not for playing, LOL). Here’s where it was~

We played musical furniture (thank heavens for those slider-disk things!), and our vintage buffet came to the former piano spot…that was it! Loved it! That’s where it needed to live! ~~

And guess what’s gracing the sterling punch bowl my MIL gifted us many years ago?! Hydrangeas, of course! Today was a perfectly beautiful day, so I took advantage of the beautiful weather to harvest more of them for future use—I’m thinking Christmas, but my ideas are still a secret (to me too!—I’m thinking…I’m thinking…).

I thought you might be curious about the three pictures to the left of the buffet. The top picture is of my parents happily walking down the aisle after their wedding. The second is a portrait of my mother and me, taken in our home in Havana, and the last is of me with my father at the beach—in perfectly clear water (also in Cuba).

~~~~~~~

The move of the buffet created a void, of course, and after more musical furniture we settled on my MIL’s writing desk. It had been living in our bedroom (it’s the surface you see in The Nook and Old Ladder post {HERE}). Now it provides me with the opportunity to gather some blue and white~~

The vase on the desk is another perfect vessel for drying more hydrangeas. The black-and-white pictures are a collection my husband and I put together at our other house and repeated it in this home. It’s a collection of pictures of us and the generations before us. (Some adjustments need to be made to the collage, since I had to take some of them down with the new furniture piece.) Sometimes we talk about taking them down and doing something different there…we’ll see, but it’s interesting to me that after so many years of having them up I still enjoy looking at them. For example, there’s a picture of my beloved grandmother holding my baby brother and I’m sitting real close, right next to her. There’s one of my husband eating an ice cream cone that’s almost as big as he is, and an 8x10 of him deep-sea fishing with his parents in Mexico. Lots of good memories.

The sunlight was playing its lovely games when I walked in the room, and I quickly grabbed my camera.

Aren’t they drying beautifully? I know many of you dry your hydrangeas—how have you used them? Have you used them for any Christmas decorations?

I’ve been on the hunt for blue-and-white bowls, and recently I found this beauty at the antique shop where my SIL has a booth. Guess how much?? I HAVE to share the price because it’s so pretty and it was such a buy--$6.00!! It has no flaws, and the gold rim and base are perfect. See the reflection on the desk?

The rest of the vignette—blue and white plates on brass plate racks/candleholders. I got these candleholders years and years ago, I think from the Pier 1 catalog, because I wanted to display not only our boys’ Bunnykins plates, but also their mugs, and I was able to hang the mugs from the arms. It was a precious vignette in our other dining room. (Hmmmm…I wonder if I have a picture of them? They wouldn’t be digital, that’s for sure.)

I’m looking forward to your ideas on how to use dried hydrangeas, so please share them with me, and if you have pictures, please share those too! I can’t wait!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you’ll leave me a comment to let me know you were here—I read every single one of them! And if you like what you see a lot, maybe you’d like to Google+ this post or pin it on Pinterest too! Thank you!

I invite you to follow me. If you’ll let me know that you’re following, I’ll be sure to follow you back.

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

Sunday Creative Home Expressions at http://creativehomeexpressions.blogspot.com

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

Metamorphosis Monday at  http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

Tuesdays at http://www.astrollthrulife.net/

Tuesdays at http://hickorytrailblog.blogspot.com

Wednesdays at http://diybydesign.blogspot.com/

Wednesdays at Wow Us: http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/

Wednesdays at Ivy and Elephants: http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com

Thursdays at No Minimalist Here: http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com/

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

Thrifty Things Friday at http://thethriftygroove.blogspot.com/

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

From my nest to yours~

Zuni

A New Chickadee Christmas Table

Last year I had a chickadee Christmas table—so fun!  Well, this year, I have a NEW chickadee table, and I couldn’t be more excited.  Last year’s dishes had to be returned :(, so I was chickadee-less for several months :( again.  So IMAGINE, if you can, my joy when I learned about Boehm’s Chickadees and Holly pattern.  I quickly went to my trusted resource, replacements.com and yes! they are lovely dishes!  And now they are MINE! living exactly where they should be living—at Chickadee Home Nest!
Have you heard of Boehm china?  I had not…where have I been?!  Here’s a little bit about it:  American company Boehm Porcelain has been producing the finest porcelain flora and fauna sculptures available since 1950. Inspired by the delicateness, complexity and vibrancy of nature's own artistry, Boehm's renderings of flora and fauna are cast from only the purest white clay, and created by singularly talented artisans with painstaking attention to detail to produce breathtaking original works of art available in both open and limited-edition collections. (Source: wildlife.com)
And so it is that they came to live at our house…happy me!  There’s always room for more chickadees at this nest!

Are they just precious?  See the bottom right, where the china is “signed” `Boehm’?  I find that so interesting.  I wish you could see the detail of the art…it looks as though you can see brushstrokes.  Let’s take a closer look:

And here is the table I set for their homecoming dinner ~

You might remember the red Pottery Barn champagne/footed goblets from other posts.  In fact, I used them last year too, for that Chickadee Table:  http://chickadeehomenest.blogspot.com/2011/12/chickadee-christmas-table.html.    And I also used them for a Fourth of July table: http://chickadeehomenest.blogspot.com/2012/06/4th-of-july-table-and-more.html.  I like red accent pieces because you can use it for so many holidays, and I’ve certainly gotten my {sweet husband’s} money’s worth out of these!  How did he know I needed these?!

The centerpiece was super easy to make.  I used one of my favorite pieces—a red serving plate (gift from my youngest son…he knows I like red), as the under-plate, and placed a silver casserole that I really wanted to use this season, because it belonged to my dear SIL’s father, who passed away earlier this year.  I’m so happy to have it in our home.  To that I added a very vintage pressed glass compote, then filled the casserole with large “picks” (as in already put together) and a few fillers.  In the compote I used an arrangement I’d made for last year’s table and filled the gaps with pinecones and other fillers.

Texture is so important for adding interest to a table, and one of the pieces that made a huge difference this year was the jingle bell garland.  The instant I saw it at Pine Tree Barn (http://pinetreebarn.com/) I knew it was going home with me.  I haven’t seen them anywhere else, but I imagine the good folks at Pine Tree Barn would be more than happy to ship them to you.

Some close-ups for those of us who savor every detail~ I wouldn’t want to leave you wanting for more.

For soooo long I wanted vintage, etched goblets, and now I have several sets of various patterns.  I.cannot.get.enough.of.them.  This pattern (I don’t know the name) in particular, because of the vertical lines, catches the light beautifully, and if you look closely, there are “berries” in the design, following the berries throughout the table.  The wine stem is Waterford Alana, also a vintage pattern.

The darling S&P set is also a gift from our youngest and his darling…perfect for this table.

I love having the sweet grandbabies’ highchair right by our family table, and here it’s pressed into service for after-dinner coffee.

Napkins and Williams-Sonoma crystal “candy cane” stirrers in a Waterford vase.

Are you a red-and-green Christmas person, or have you gone to other combinations that are now faves?  I always seem to gravitate back to the red and green, and then I’m ready for muteds or soft whites by the end of the season.

If you like what you see a lot, maybe you’d like to +1 this post or pin it on Pinterest too! And, I invite you to follow me. If you’ll let me know that you’re following, I’ll be sure to follow you back.

Happy holidays to all!  May your season be warm, calm, filled with music and beautiful things to reflect on the true reason we join together to celebrate.

Here’s where I’ll be seen this week; I hope you’ll stop by too.  They will be fun, fun parties with lots of great ideas sure to please.

Tuesdays at http://www.astrollthrulife.net/
Wednesdays at Let’s Dish: http://www.cuisinekathleen.com/
Wednesdays at Wow Us: http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/
Thursdays at Tabletop Thursday: http://betweennapsontheporch.net/
Thursdays at Home Sweet Home: http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
Fridays at Feathered Nest: http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/
Sundays at The Tablescaper: http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/

Sooo Versatile, Blue and White

Hi!  Boy, I’ve been a way for most of July, all of August, and part of September…not too sure where the time went, but I do have great memories of summer—family vacation at the beach, time with babies, evening rides in our convertible.  So as you can well imagine, I’m not…quite…ready for fall.  Getting there, as I always do, but not there quite yet.

Earlier in the summer I did a blue and white table, then made minor changes to it with different color accents to explore the versatility of lovely, bright, serene, blue and white.

Today’s post is about, well, BLUE AND WHITE.

  Isn’t it serene?  The table was set for a romantic dinner for two.

Let’s take a closer look:

Blue, white, crystal, and silver.

Salad plates:  Spode, The Blue Room Collection

Dinner plates:  Spode Delamere

Chargers:  Silverplate, a purchase years ago.

Sterling:  Lunt Eloquence

Individual salt and pepper shakers:  Sterling, purchased years ago.

Linen napkin:  Pottery Barn

Napkin rings:  Sterling, baptismal gift to our firstborn, from his godmother.  One has his name engraved on it, and the other was left blank for his future bride.  Isn’t that a sweet gift?  We must get hers engraved now; it’s time to turn them over.  But it’ll be hard…I’ve loved being their keeper for 30+ years.

Waterford Kinsale vase, silverplate pitcher, and Bombay Company blue and white cut votive cup.

Waterford Lismore Tall goblet, vintage Alana wine stem (now archived by Waterford).  Vintage pressed glass dish for lemon slices to brighten the water in the pitcher.

Do you love the sweet, intricate detail of vintage linens?  I can hardly resist them when I see them in antique shops.

Dessert will also be served.

Pressed glass dishes:  I haven’t researched them yet, but they’re a recent, and now favorite find.

The sweet cordials are very vintage, and very special—they were a gift from my husband’s dear, dear aunt.

The two bowls are sterling, from my collection, and the serving tray?  A garage sale find years ago (a set of 3!)!

The beautiful vintage linen napkins are in perfect condition; a purchase this spring at the Springfield (Ohio) Antique Show.

If you really are looking closely, the dessert spoons are not from the Lunt set.  They are 1847 Rogers Brothers vintage silverplate; a hostess gift from my SIL.

Champagne flutes were a wedding gift from another SIL.  I don’t know the pattern, but they have been used for many, many Mimosas over the years, because I love them.  The stem is frosted.

The lavender is from our garden.

Evening arrives…

Did you think that the daylight table was perhaps a little empty?  There was a plan…for candleholders.

And yes, we DID have a candlelight dinner.

 

Do you love blue and white as much as I do?  I’d love to hear what colors you have woven into your table settings that started out as blue and white.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you’ll leave me a comment to let me know you were here—I read every single one of them! And if you like what you see a lot, maybe you’d like to +1 this post or pin it on Pinterest too! Thank you!

I invite you to follow me. If you’ll let me know that you’re following, I’ll be sure to follow you back.

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

Home Sweet Home Fridays at http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/

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

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

Thrifty Things Friday at http://thethriftygroove.blogspot.com/

Vintage Inspiration Friday at http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com/

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

Fridays Unfolded at http://www.stuff-and-nonsense.net/

Saturday Nite Special at http://www.funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/

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

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

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

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

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

Cozy Home Scenes Tuesdays at http://cozyhomescenes.blogspot.com/

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

Tuesday’s Treasures http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/

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

Cuisine Kathleen at http://www.cuisinekathleen.com/

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

DIY by Design Party at http://diybydesign.blogspot.com/

What's It Wednesday at http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/

Thursdays at StoneGable http://www.stonegableblog.com/

Home and Garden Thursday at http://blissfulrhythm.blogspot.com/

Tablescape Thursday at betweennapsontheporch.net

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

Share Your Cup Thursday at http://jannolson.blogspot.com/

Transformation Thursdays at http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/

From my nest to yours~

Zuni

Respite for Our Weary Senses

Ahh....the holidays.  How we love the colors, the decorating and bringing out our favorite decorations that we haven't seen for almost a year, the family times!  In our case, we enjoy it all AMPLY--well into January, as a matter of fact, since we celebrate the Epiphany, or the visit of the Three Kings (see post HERE).

By the time we put the riot of color and decorations away, and we vacuum up the needles and dust where we hadn't really been able to dust, I am ready for a REST for my weary eyes. 

Perhaps that is why January is...

to give us time to SLOW DOWN,

and to renew our spirits in QUIET. 

Perhaps these shorter days, when twilight still arrives earlier than we expect it, are yet another GIFT of the season...to help us enjoy the warm cocoon of our NEST.

So, with a blank slate and a desire for quiet, I transformed our china cabite from THIS to this:  A CALM VIGNETTE--no color (well, just a little, later).  Only silver and crystal.

In keeping with the design...not many words going forward, and the few there are,

are whispered.

Quiet...
Peaceful...

Even the very top is
QUIET...
as compared to the Christmas cabinet (HERE)

Then I added...a teensy, weensy bit of color...

Tell me, do you, too, feel like you can't quite decide what you like best--color? No color? Lots of decorations? Simplicity?  Are you a decorating EXTROVERT or INTROVERT?  Or...are you BOTH,
like I am?

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

From my Chickadee Nest to yours~

    Zuni

Autumn Table

Today I got home from work vvveeerrry late, after sitting at my desk for a looonngg time, so no sitting down to blog for a while!  I know!  I'll do a table!  Down to the basement several times! Up and down on the step stool! Reach and stretch!  Move!

So here it is...my Autumn Table.

You'll notice the same hurricanes I've used in other posts.  They are so versatile, that I've decided to keep transforming them until I have a full year of transformations.  So here they are, dressed for my autumn table.

The chargers are from Big Lots, many, many years ago.  The luncheon and salad plates are Johnshon Brothers "Friendly Village," which I use only in the fall.  The twig place card holders are from Pottery Barn, several years ago, and the knives on the right are very old--Meriden Cutlery Company.

A little story about these napkins...I had searched high and low for
just this shade of purple napkins (which is not accurate in this picture,
but it is in the others), and there they were, brand new, in the condo
where were stayed while on vacation in Siesta Key.  I actually
called the owner and asked her to sell them to me!  Now,
is that a serious condition? :)

I bought about 18 of the Meriden Cutlery at a community
antique/garage sale.  I had no idea whether they had any
$ value, but I fell in love with them.  I don't remember
how much I paid for them, but I know it wasn't much.

French carafe, purchased about six weeks ago at White Magnolia, a beautiful shop
in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

I don't remember when Pottery Barn was founded, but my sweet mother-in-law
bought these beautiful goblets for me when PB was very new.  I've used
them over and over.

Are these not the sweetest?  My mother bought a set for herself and one for me
several years ago, to use them as salt and pepper cellars--isn't that clever?!
Their chargers are from another favorite store of mine--The Morgan House.  
And the sterling salt spoons?  A gift from my mother (are you seeing a pattern throughout
my posts?)  She feeds my habit!  I come by my dish and table "affliction" honestly. :)

I can't wait for our DILs to arrive for dinner!

As we say in Spanish, "Buen provecho!"

which loosely translated means

"Enjoy your meal/Eat well!" 

Thanks for stopping by.  Please leave me a comment or two...

I love hearing from you.

Now I have TWO questions for YOU:

1. Do you know what is in the bottom section of the middle hurricane?  Please tell me if you do!
2. If you have any information on Meriden Cutlery, please share!

I'll be linking to:

 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/

 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

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

Please be sure to visit these wonderful blogs.