Our Thanksgiving Table

This year we're having Thanksgiving dinner.  It's an "off" year for our family so most of them are travelling and the gathering will be small.  My dad's driving out from Chicago but hasn't left yet so we'll see if he makes it to Virginia in time. 

{Our table set up in the lower level in the family room-combination-office}

My parents divorced when I was two years old, so I'm used to split up holidays and celebrating whenever it's possible even if it's not on the true "day of."  Deciding where we'll spend holidays does tend to get me a little tense because of so many years of back-and-forth between my parents and always feeling like everyone was fighting over me.  Now that I'm married and have in-laws it's even harder because there are more people who love us (haha what a rough life! ;) and want to be with us.  We'll definitely be doing a bit of the celebrating of the holidays on other days this year so we can see everyone and still get to spend some time at home. 

hahah okay, enough of my saga and back to the table...   I started with curtains from Ikea for the oatmeal-colored linen tablecloth.  (I didn't have one long enough so I went with curtains...  By using two panels (unsewed and overlapping) I could spread them wider and longer.)  I layered a beautiful vintage orange quilt over the curtains. 

I still have pumpkins left over from Halloween and added them to the table...

It was hard for me to get a picture of the magnolia wreath I hung at the window because the light was streaming in so strongly, but here's an attempt:

{It's a leftover Christmas wreath from last year that's browned just the right amount for Fall}

I used my Grandma Maestranzi's 'wild clover' china because I knew my dad would love seeing it {in case he makes it here in time ;}

{After so many years of daily use at the lake cottage, there were only 2 pieces left of her china...  I loved it so much and had so many fond memories of using it as a little girl that I went to replacements.com and found a whole set for myself.}

And another pumkin... wondering if there will be any room for food on this table???

{I'll remove some of the larger items once we sit down but I love a pretty table for guests to see.}

We might even have a fire in the wood burning stove...

...So have a very happy Thanksgiving!!  We all have so much to be thankful for.  In the least cheesiest way possible, I want to thank you for reading.  This blog has become such a big part of my life & I really appreciate your time & support. 

Oh?  And the food??  ummm... yeah, we'll see what happens with that.  We're attempting our first turkey tomorrow!! 

ps- I also have my 10-year high school  reunion Saturday night--- so excited to see everyone!!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Thanksgiving Table

Here is the Thanksgiving table. We will actually eat here!

Ironstone is His Majesty by Johnson Brothers.

Everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  May all the hungry be fed and all the weary be loved.

I will also join these links, go and visit them.

Centerpiece Wednesdays  at The Style Sisters

Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Vignette Fridays  at Color Outside the Lines

Feathered Nest Friday  at French Country Cottage

My Favorite Things  at Bargain Hunting and Chatting with Laurie

Seasonal Sundays  at The Tablescaper

I will join Joni at Red Couch Recipes for the Thanksgiving Challenge.  I am thankful for chocolate!  You knew I was getting to it, didn't you.

Glittered Pears

I saw these glittered pears in a magazine and I thought they would be really pretty on a table.  You will need an inexpensive faux pear.

Then cover your pear with Mod Podge.  I applied mine with a sponge brush.

Then all you need to do is cover it completely with glitter.

The glitter I used was called Glamor Dust, it was very fine. (Hobby Lobby carries it.)

Last, I trimmed a silk leaf and hot glued it to the base of the stem of the pear.  I found the leaves in the bridal department at Hobby Lobby too. 

Now all you need to do is decorate your holiday table.  

I will join these web sites, go and visit them.

Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts

Show and Tell Wednesday at Blue Cricket Design

Get Your Craft On  at Today's Creative Blog

I will join Joni at Red Couch Recipes for the Thanksgiving Challenge.  I am thankful for coffee.

I made curtains!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I do a lot myself but that I'm not really that into doing it.  I'm after results and don't savor the process.  I'm not a perfectionist and I get sloppy when I do projects.  Watching Dave stencil our living room wall when I was pregnant was torture.   However, I do like an-hour-or-less-long projects and I got one in this weekend:  cafe curtains for our laundry room.

They were so quick & easy and I luckily had 2 yards of fabric lying around that I'd purchased on a whim a little bit back when Seleta did a post on Lewis & Sheron.  (I'd used the fabric for the recent photo shoot at our house as a throw blanket and figured I could use it later.)  It ended up being perfect for the windows!!  ( I love it when stuff like that happens!)  I wanted a natural vintage-grandma feeling...  a teensy bit kitschy and almost as if they'd always been there.  I attempt potting in there and also keep my gardening tools in there so the fern fabric from Lewis & Sheron was perfect.   

When I finish up the rest of the laundry room I'll post "afters" but here's a quick "before" to give you an idea of the state it's been in...

{We haven't been able to really walk in there...}

{before we moved in}

Wish me luck!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

The wardrobe I want

So a month or two ago, a new (to me) catalogue arrived at my house.  Gorsuch.  I fell in love.  Like really fell in love...  I didn't want everything... Just a few things...  all of which had commas in their price tags, so none of them will be coming home to me.   BUT, this little blog is my place to dream and so dream I will...  I wish for:

{I'd wear this at least once a week.. probably more.}

I'm definitely a believer in buying quality over quantity and wearing what I love over & over -which is why I'm often wearing the same things in pics! ;)-     I still have clothes from high school and I've learned the hard way to buy only what I love.  (I still make an impluse Target purchase every now & then and regret it...  I've also made some of my favorite purchases there too but it's easy for me to get sidetracked by their low prices and buy stuff I don't love.)  I consider things I really love and feel like "me" worthwhile purchases, but unfortunately these Gorsuch items are all still out of my price range. 

And below, I want this whole outfit....  Aviators are my friends.  sweaterdress?  scarf? belt?  A-mazing.  Suede coat?  meeeeeeeow:

And I want to wear it in the wilderness and pitch a tent like her.

This blouse has the most beautiful detailing....

{Uhhhh.. love the sleeves!!!!}

{Really????? Come to me!!}

And finally....  I just loooooooooooove this coat and have been thinking about it since I first saw it.  Look at its bell sleeves.  So pretty....

I'll take the faux fur 3-digit version of this please ;)

...So...  none of these are coming home with me, but has anyone seen anything similar? 

Thanks so much to everyone for the sweet comments & emails about the BHG spread!!  It really makes my day and I feel so supported by my blog friends. Thank you :)

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Thankful Tea by the Fire

Do you ever write in a journal?  I never really did, but before I had my children I heard about a woman who wrote one to her children.   So, I started one by the time they were each 6 months old.  I write to them and tell them how much they are loved and what wonderful accomplishments their Dad and I are proud of.  So in a sense it is a gratitude journal for my children.  I tell them how grateful we are they came into our lives and how much we appreciate them.  Because some days all I seem to do is tell them is no.  LOL

My cup of tea is a piece of transferware I have always loved.  

I don't know what the pattern is but I love the ocean scene on it and the colors are wonderful.  I put it in a English Countryside Misaka saucer.  
I will link to these sites, go and visit them.

Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

Tea Time Tuesday at Lady Katherine Tea Parlor

Tea Time Tuesday at Rose Chintz Cottage

Tea Cup Tuesday at Martha's Favorites

Tuesday Tea for Two at The Plumed Pen

Tea Pot and Tea Things Tuesday  at The Silken Purse

Tea Pot and Tea Things Tuesday at Breath of Fresh Air

Tea Cup Tuesday at Artful Affirmations

I will join Joni at Red Couch Recipes for the Thanksgiving Challenge.  I am thankful for my family's health. 

Great Giveaway at Southern Hospitality!

Rhoda at Southern Hospitality has a great giveaway going on and I didn't want you to miss it!!  Rhoda has a $250 Best Buy gift certificate to giveaway.  You can also jump from her page to BlogHer's page and enter for a chance to win one of four laptops to be given away by BlogHer!  Click the Southern Hospitality link to enter now!