Remember Seafoam Green and Peach?

The 60's had its burnt orange, avocado green and harvest gold for color choices. Flashforward to the 80's and early 90's when seafoam green and peach took over the color wheel!  When my husband and I were married in 1988, we hadn't registered for gifts and did not choose a wedding china pattern.  It was in the early 90's when we went on a road trip through Arizona (seeking out the Winslow Meteor Crater) that we happened upon a Mikasa Outlet store and I finally picked out the china that would become my "Wedding China" and be used for holidays and special occasions.  I'd like to share it with you today.

Here's The Table:

Here's How The Tablescape was Created:


I have used my china with many different tablecloths over the years. It coordinates with cream colored cloths, floral design tablecloths and peach or pink tablecloths.  But I decided to use the first tablecloth I purchased to go with my new china at the time.  It photographs as turquoise, but it really is a seafoam green that was so popular at the time it was purchased.

I decided to add a cream colored lace tablecloth today since I am celebrating my Wedding China, and felt the lace added a romantic layer to the setting.

I didn't have chargers back in 1991, but today I used my silver chargers from Michael's to accent the silver trim on the plates.

The first layer of my dish stack highlights the dinner plate from my set.  These dishes are Mikasa's Ceremony.   Unfortunately, the pattern was discontinued the very year I bought it, but I have found extra pieces on Replacements.Com over the years.  I love the cream color of the plates and find the pattern that encircles the plate's edge to be delicate and reminiscent of a celebratory floral swag.  The flowers are seafoam green and peach, and reflect the era in which they were designed.  Note that they are edged in silver.

My next layer is the salad plate from the set.  I also have soup bowls, but opted not to feature them today.

I remember purchasing these napkin rings from The Broadway (an old department store, long gone now).  I was so excited when I found them because they matched the colors on my china so perfectly!  Originally I used peachy pink napkins, but in later years, switched over to these floral napkins.

The place setting is completed with Mikasa Regent Bead flatware.  I love that the bottom of the flatware mirrors the fan detail underneath the floral swag on the plate edge.  The lead crystal stemware, also a wedding gift, is etched with a pattern that also mirrors this same fan detail. That was just a happy coincidence!  The stemware was made by Bohemia and the pattern is Cascade.

The centerpiece consists of a miniature rose plant I received from my stepdaughter this Mother's Day (very timely, since the flowers go so well with my china and the container actually matches my reticulated chargers for this tablescape!). I placed the plant on one of my salad plates, added crystal candlesticks (another wedding gift!) and then added the sugar bowl and creamer in the Ceremony pattern).

Some additional views of the table:

Setting this table brought back so many memories of those early years of being married.  Thinking back now, I realize purchasing this china was my first venture into the idea of dressing up a table into a coordinated presentation of china, linen, crystal and flatware.  I had no idea then that I was a budding tablescaper!

I'll be linking up with Christine for her Table It! Link Party at www.rustic-refined.com,
 Kathleen at www.cuisinekathleen.com for her Wedding China challenge and
 Susan at www.betweennapsontheporch.net for Tablescape Thursday.                                                   Many thanks, ladies, for hosting these fun parties.


If you have time, your comments are always appreciated!! To become a follower, just go to the top of my blog, fill in your email address and hit "Submit"!  Many Thanks!!

A Time to Celebrate!

I'm a little late posting my Cinco de Mayo table, but with good reason.  Not long after my last post, my daughter gave birth to her first child, a beautiful little girl named Gianna Rose.  All is well, and the transition running as smoothly as it can when a new precious human being upends the lives of first-time parents.  She is our eighth grandchild (now 6 granddaughters and 2 grandsons) and the thrill of welcoming a new member to our family has not dimmed; it is still as exciting and miraculous as the first time, and our hearts cannot be more full of joy and gratitude.  So, this table is dedicated to the happiness we feel, and I hope it reflects the sense of celebration our family is experiencing.

Here's The Whole Table:

Here's How It Was Created:

When my husband and I were married 25 years ago, we ventured to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for our honeymoon.  So, for this Cinco de Mayo table, I shopped the house for components for my tablescape. I started with this colorful sarape to use as a tablecloth.

I have used this placemat before, and thought that the colors and painted beads were very celebratory and reminded me a little of a sombrero, perfect for a Mexican holiday!

Next came my go-to staple dinner plates:  my yellow Portuguese Metaceramica plates from HomeGoods.  Because my next layer of plates are smaller, I am actually using these plates as chargers.

This colorful Melamine plate is simply labeled "Summer" and I found it at Target.  Its colors just sing summer to me, and with CA temperatures edging towards 90 all this past week, spring seems to have
slipped by.

For the top layer of my dish stack I am using my Le Crueset mini-cocottes.   They are tiny stoneware casserole dishes and perfect for individual soup servings.  I figured my menu for Cinco de Mayo would be chicken tortilla soup, followed by tacos, refried beans and rice;  with the meal ending with a flan.

The place setting is completed with napkins from Target (they were sold with the plates, and mirror the colors in the plates), napkin rings from Pier One, blue Mexican glass martini glasses from Pier One (I don't have margarita glasses, but I figured they would taste the same , despite the shape of the glass!), red water goblets from HomeGoods and flatware from Target.

My centerpiece was anchored in a chili pepper wreath I got several years ago at a church craft fair.  Sitting on top of a glass cake stand that I found at Tuesday Morning is a vignette composed of a colorful rooster I found at the Shinoda Design Center when I first started tablescaping last year; a salt and pepper set of roosters I purchased on our honeymoon; and, the final component of the centerpiece vignette is a tile whose saying, "Mi Casa Es Su Casa" (My Home is Your Home) is also a souvenir from our honeymoon.  The saying has been a founding premise for our home and reflects the atmosphere in our home that began 25 years ago with our marriage, and has welcomed everyone as our blended family has grown.

One of the accents on the table is a stone molecahete or pestle and mortar that belonged to my husband's late mother.  It will be used on our table to mix together the ingredients for guacamole (essential for a Cinco de Mayo celebration when tacos and chips are around!)

Another accent piece is the padded tortilla holder I bought at a county fair (it is WONDERFUL for keeping tortillas warm) and a pottery taco holder which is very handy for holding tacos once they are put together and is very convenient as a serving piece.

The final accent piece on the table will surely be used on this upcoming holiday and celebration (we have to toast sweet Gianna Rose, after all!).  This shot glass holder also found its way home from Cabo San Lucas, as well as the Mexican pottery tray on which it sits.  The mini tequila bottles were retrieved from a friend's birthday party and will be shared as part of our typical Cinco de Mayo meal.

So, the table is ready, the food is almost prepared and we await our guests who will help us celebrate Cinco de Mayo as well as the birth of our sweet granddaughter.  It is sure to be a wonderful time. !Salud!

I'll be joining Susan at www.betweennapsontheporch.net for Tablescape Thursday and 
Alma at www.thetablescaper.com for Seasonal Sundays.  I'll also be joining www.rustic-refined.com for a Flash Link Party. Please stop by these wonderful parties to see what others have to offer!  And, thank you, ladies, for hosting!

If you'd like to leave a comment, it would be gratefully appreciated!!    Rosie

 

Spring Has Sprung!

This post is being completed out of necessity.  My daughter is in early labor and I am holding back my instinct to go sit with her, because I know this is the time she and her husband need to be sharing this experience together.  So, I thought, "Distract yourself! If you get this table completed you can participate in Cuisine Kathleen's Spring Tablescape Party afterall."  You see, I had done a post about our Easter Dinner and intended on linking it to Kathleen's party, when I read that the entry had to be "non-Easter".  If you want to see that posting just click here.  So---now that I have the time, I got out my camera, took some pictures and would like to share a table that I hope reflects the colors of spring, particularly the vibrant colors of spring flowers.

Here's The Table:

Here's How It Was Created:

I started with my straw placemats that I got from Kohl's.  Somehow they remind me of the materials that birds like to use to construct their nests.  Our yard has been filled with the melodious chirping of birds who are industriously building nests:  surely a sign that Spring has Sprung!

I decided the table would be the site of a springtime lunch of soup, salad and muffins.  So, I'm using my Metaceramica yellow plates made in Portugal from HomeGoods as chargers:

Next on the dish stack will be these Royal Stafford plates also from HomeGoods.  I love the colorful flowers that seem to be dancing across the plate!  They will hold the salad for lunch:

The next layer are small daisy plates that I found at the supermarket! They are labeled Fresh Decor and come in four colors:  lime green, yellow, turquoise and orange.  I'll serve muffins on this plate:

To top off the stack is a bowl I have been waiting to share with you.  I found 8 of these bowls at a swap meet.  I have no pattern name or maker.  They are just labeled, "Italy".  The man who sold them to me told me he was selling them for a neighbor lady who was "downsizing" her home.  I love their shape and the floral detail at the bottom of the bowl.  It just seems so unique to me.  I'll serve soup in these bowls:

To complete the table setting, I chose my multi-floral napkins from Pier One and the flower napkin rings I also got at Pier One.  The orange flatware came from Target, as did the floral decorated tumblers:

My centerpiece started with a yellow lattice-patterned runner from HomeGoods. I used my Portuguese-made Farval pitcher from Marshall's, filled with faux flowers from Michael's. (I have some white and yellow roses that are blooming in my garden, but I'm so distracted I didn't trust myself with pruning clippers right now.......gee, I wonder how my daughter is doing?!)  I added some other faux flowers wrapped in butcher paper that I found at Michael's, as well.  The pitcher is sitting upon a sunflower plate that I found at a swap meet.  Like my bowls, this plate's only marking is "Italy".  It was in pretty poor shape when I found it, but a good scrubbing helped its personality come through:

So, this is my tablescape for spring!! Let's see, it's taken me about 2 hours to complete this and my daughter hasn't called yet to let me know if the hospital is keeping her, or sending her home until her labor progresses more.  Well--I guess I could start cleaning out my pantry!  With four daughters and soon-to-be eighth grandchild, you'd think I would get used to all of this........but the thrill doesn't diminish.  And, after all, this is my youngest, too. (My baby girl giving birth to her own baby girl!) Thank you for letting me distract myself!  I'll let you know how it all turns out!!

I'll be joining Kathleen at  www.cuisinekathleen.com  for her Spring Tablescape Party and Susan at www.betweennapsontheporch.net for next week's Tablescape Thursday.  Thank you, ladies, for hosting these parties!

I love to read your comments!  They are always appreciated!