Welcome to Butterfly Meadow, CA

After Easter last year, a local department store was having a sale on the Lenox pattern, Butterfly Meadow.  I had always oohed and ahhed at these dishes.  They have scalloped edges and their white porcelain finish is accented with four different garden patterns of delicate sprigs of flowers, ladybugs, bumblebees and of course, colorful butterflies.  There are  numerous accent pieces, as well: platters, cream and sugar sets, salt and pepper shakers, vases, mugs, bread and butter plates (highlighted with spring pastel-colored borders), bowls and teapots.  I could never pass the display in the store without stopping by to admire the sets.  Few tablescapers could resist the call of these lovely dishes!  My Hubby saw me stop in my tracks as I gazed at the sale prices last year.  He was very impressed with the price on the boxed sets (4 place settings which included dinner and salad plates and mugs).   Before I knew it, three boxed sets made their way to the check-out line, and my table for this year's Easter Dinner was set!! ( Sorry, ladies, this generous man is taken!!).  Over this year I added accent pieces, as well as a tablecloth and napkins and napkin rings.  I have been eagerly anticipating Easter Dinner this year because not everyone knew they'd be greeted by a new set of Lenox plates.  The pictures that follow show how my Easter table turned out.  I don't generally like a "matchy-matchy" table, but I was happy with the outcome of this one.

Here's the table: (There were 11 adults at the main table)

Here's How It Was Created:

I started with my Butterfly Meadow tablecloth.  It is a garden tableau of flowers, dragonflies, butterflies and bumblebees.  I was so happy to find it in a Banquet size because we have to use all four table leaves when the family comes to dinner now (four daughters and four sons-in-law, plus a cousin!)

For my first layer of the dish stack I decided to use my silver chargers from Michael's.  I decided I wanted a formal look this year to highlight my new dinnerware.

The next layer of the dish stack is the dinner plate.  There are 4 different patterns to the set.  I LOVE each one.

Next comes the salad plate.  Again, each plate reflects a different view of the garden. I especially adore the tiny ladybugs that find their way onto each plate!  Can you see the one crawling on the green leaf?

I used a silver napkin sheath to surround the napkins that match the tablecloth and added the butterfly napkin rings that are designed to coordinate with the tablecloth and plates.  There are turquoise, pink, yellow and green enameled napkin rings.  And they finish my dish stack.

I completed each place setting with my Mikasa Regent Bead flatware and Mikasa water glasses.

I kept my centerpiece small because everyone in the family contributed a side dish and I knew there would be a full dinner table, so I needed the room for serving pieces!  It consisted of an Easter Bunny I found at HomeGoods many years ago, nestled in some Easter grass and sitting atop an Easter plate found on a trip to Northern CA at a favorite gift shop we always stop at while traveling up north.  I had room for a special pair of candlesticks that were a wedding gift from a precious friend.

My Fitz and Floyd salt and pepper shakers join us every Easter!

This bud vase was a Christmas gift from my daughter and son-in-law who knew I had gotten new Lenox dinnerware.

These salt and pepper shakers are a part of the Butterfly Meadow collection.

These are additional accent pieces from the Butterfly Meadow collection.

These are the salad plates with their various patterns.

These are the various dinner plate patterns in the set.



Unfortunately, the photos from the "Kid's Table" came out blurry for some reason. The 7 grandkids had their own table and I wanted to share it, so what I did do this morning is take a picture of the plates that I used for them:

All in all, it was a wonderful Easter this year.  I hope all of you had a blessed Easter surrounded by family and friends!

I'll be linking up to  www.betweennapsontheporch.net for Susan's Tablescape Thursday.
Thank you, Susan, for hosting!!

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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