TWO TIMELY TABLES

Welcome to my contribution to Susan from Between Naps on the Porch and her Tablescape Thursday. Please visit her to see all the beautiful and creative settings. I am sharing the tablescapes I used on my dining room table and smaller casual table for our house tour this past Sunday.

For the back of my dining chairs I chose just a simple gold mesh bow with cherries.

Red tasseled runners spanned across the table.

Santa, sitting atop his reindeer was the focal point. Gold sprays, faux cherries, red votives lined with gold, mat white ornaments, a single large gold candle stick which held a white and gold pillar, and small green trees added a variety of height, texture, and color.

Two square vases held red and llime green sparkle filler and provided real excitement to the setting.

For my place setting I used gold chargers, white china, and flatware edged with gold. Gold mesh bows were tied around the red linen napkins making them look like little gifts waiting to be opened. I elevated them on the cup and saucer.

Santa - HomeGoods

White ornaments - Martha Stewart

Gold sprays and cherries - Michael's

Gold and white candle - HomeGoods

Red linens - HomeGoods

Red and green filler - All About Home

China - Azberg from Germany

Flatware - Wallace

Gold chargers and votives - Target

Now we will move on the our more casual table set just for the two. A black linen cloth covers this table. Can you see Santa peeking from the back of the chair? He looks like he is waiting for a hot breakfast. We have enjoyed these two chair covers for several years.

Red chargers held a large black plate and a smaller holiday scene salad plate.
The flatware has an off-white handle and compliments the soft white in the smaller plate. Two napkins, one red and one off-white, were folded together and tied with a black and white polka-dot ribbon and a red jingle bell. Red goblets were accented with napkin rings.

Since this table is rather small, the final embellishments were a white candle, a glass cylinder filled with the same lime green and red filler like the dining table, and a white bottle brush tree.

Black tablecloth - I have had for several years.

Red chargers - Target

Black plates - Jennifer Farrell, Black from Deals

Accent plate - Royal Stafford from HomeGoods

Flatware - Target

Napkin rings on glasses - HomeGoods

Thank you for stopping by for a short visit. Thanks again to Pat from Back Porch Musings for the photography assistance. She is always ready and willing to help.

Have a Blessed Christmas.

Charla

Tour 2009

Our local garden club hosted their 2009 Christmas House Tour yesterday, December 13. Our home was one of four along with a local church that was included this year. The past few weeks we have been quite busy readying our home for all the excitement.

To capture it all, taking the recommendation of Pat from Back Porch Musings, (I am sure all of you have seen her lovely home and photography) I purchased a Canon G11. The day of the tour Pat and J stopped by and she most graciously took some pictures for us. Needless to say, I was so pleased she volunteered. So, most of the pictures I am sharing are taken by her and just a few by me. After Christmas, I want to really get into using the new camera.

Enough said, let's get on with the show.

I am joining The Nester in her Christmas Tour of Homes, Thrifty Decor Chick and her Christmas Tree Party, and Susan at Between Naps on the Porch and her Monday Metamorphosis, and Susans's Deck the Halls. Please be sure and visit each blog to see all of the loveliness.

Welcome to our home.



Our stairway is one of the most treasured items in our home. It is walnut and was taken from my great-grandparents home on our family farm. The home was built in 1863 by my great-grandfather. Prior to it being torn down, we salvaged the railing and spindles. Two of them are "well-aged" but we used them with just one left over. We could have had replicas made but it just would not have been the same.

On the stairway you can see my collection of Santas which our grandchildren just love.

On the railing I use a double lighted garland, poinsettias, amaryllises, green hydrangeas, and small white baby breath. Shiny gold ribbon accents each bouquet.

This picture looks from our living room into the foyer.

On the foyer table is a nativity I have had for years. The "Joy" tree sit in a cream ware pedestal bowel. A White Lenox plate and some ornaments complete the vignette. Under thable are two lanterns, gold ornaments, a wonderful story of the First Christmas, and a framed photo of my great-grandparents home just before it was torn down.

This is our large tree in our living room. I used some ornaments that have been with us for years. Some were my grandmother's and others, my great aunts.
Of course with small children, some are the "safe" kind that they can help with when we are decorating the tree each year.

Taking the advice of several bloggers and Laurie at All About Home, I joined my large glass ornaments in groups of three. It really does make a great statement and highlights my accent ornaments.

On this marble top chest, a family piece, I used large silver and gold tree candles and silver and gold ornaments in a glass container. In the sunlight, they really glisten.

Santa sits in snow in a glass cloche. Other pieces of the vignette are a white bottle brush tree and a red ornament in my antique glass jam server.

Another table holds this cloche with a gold and red nest and eggs, a gold ornament, and red glittered shreds that are used to fill gift bags.

This is my built in china cabinet in our dining room. I used votives an addition the the lighting that is in the cabinet. The crystal and silver pieces are family heirlooms that I treasure.

This Jim Shore piece was a gift from HD about five years ago.

I used 16 green bottle brush trees and silver ornaments as accents with the silver and glass.

This Lefton nativity was a gift from HD approximately 35 years ago. It has such gentle colors and detail.

Our mantle over our fireplace was a floor joist in one of the first log cabins in our area. It was given to us by a friend when we built our home in 1979. Lighted garland, ribbon, a variety of gold and red accents, red lighted trees, gold candle sticks, and these angels complete the fireplace.

I'll take you upstairs for a quick look at our three guest rooms.

This is called the Grandmother's Room. Its little blue tree was a perfect fit with white and light blue ornaments, snowflakes, and ribbon. The silver bed tray is awaiting guests. At the end of the bed is one of many quilts make by my grandmother. I love this room so much. I told HD we may just move up here from our bedroom on our main level.

I used old silver pieces as accents along with this hand carved Santa. In the bowl are antique ornaments from HD's family.

I got the Santa before the tree! Sorry but I don't know how to move my pictures around. Anyway, brown glittery deer, snowflakes, glitter Santas, and cream and brown ornaments are used on this tree in one of the guestrooms.

Here is the tree! Under it you will see a doll carriage that was my Mother's in 1921.

This white tree with its pink and green ornaments sits in what my grandchildren call, Nana's Office. We read lots of books and paint lots of pictures and talk about lots of life in this room.

This is just a taste of the tour but I hope to post our kitchen and a couple of tablescapes before the holidays are over.

Thanks for stopping by and have a Blessed Christmas.

Charla

IT'S ABOUT TIME!

IT'S ABOUT TIME!

I know, it has been over two months since I have posted on For the Sake of Time, but honestly, I have not had the time. I guess we all know that it really isn't that but it is that we haven't taken the time to do it.

Well, with the apology over, I want to share on Susan's Metamorphosis Monday and Cindy's Made It With What I Had. Please visit them to view all the changes taking place this busy time of year.

First let me warn you, two of these are simple changes but the third and final could have been a "barn burner". So, let me begin with the saga of an old chest, handed down to me by my great aunt about 18 years ago. She really was not a very pretty thing. She was pressed wood on the sides and back and hardwood, of some kind, on the drawer fronts, top, and sides. Her greatest flaw was wheat decals. I kid you not! She was definately a 60's girl. Years ago, I removed the decals but she still showed the scars. All this time she sat quietly, in a hidden corner of our upstairs bath, visable only if you spent hours on the "potty".

Since we are preparing for our local Garden Club Christmas House Tour, I decided that she needed a true makeover. Down the stairs and out the door she went. First, I sanded her lightly avoiding too much abrasion. Using a foam roller, LOVE those, she received two coats of Benjamin Moore Chocolate Candy Brown. The pulls were really quite fine. They were so old that they looked like they had on ORB finish, so I decided, why fix perfection.

Here she is, back in her quite corner of the world, providing a great place to store extra linens.



Secondly, remember Lady Lavabo. After about a month with the "faux" ivy, I decided that she too needed a small change.




Off the Michael's I went with my 40% coupon in hand. I found "faux" weeds for her. Don't you think this is much better? I certainly am happier and I think she is too.

The third and final metamorphosis concerns the light fixture in the sitting area of our kitchen and dining room. When we built, this was where our dining room chandlier was hung. Sometime I will share some pictures of our house before we made a major renovation. But, back to my story. I had my ORB spray paint all ready to go. You see, this one was BOLD BRASS, and I do mean bold. Even after 15 years, she was a real "shiner".

After a few gentle reminders, HD took her down and look at what was hiding under there!

The wiring insulation had started to burn away and you could see scorched areas on the underside of the fixture. HD said it was an accident waiting to happen. I am so thankful that we found it before there was a real problem other than cosmetic issues. So, off to Wal-Mart I went and purchased the look I was going for with my paint.

Here she is! Hot flashes now on the back burner! Sorry, it is late and I am tired. I am so thankful that we found it before there was a real problem or than cosmetic issues.

She also matches my dining room chandlier and now the two live happily ever after. This one is getting ready for the open house and I can't wait to share more with you.

Thanks for visiting today. Have a wonderful Monday.

Charla

It's Party Time!

It's Party Time! Cloche Party that is, hosted by Marty at A Stroll Thru Life. So many of you have been excited that I am sure there will be standing room only. Just be patient and I am sure we will all at least be able to see what is happening.

Remember my cloche caper? It has been such fun moving them all over the house especially with the change in seasons. In addition, I have included some apothecary jars filled for fall fun.

On my dining room table I have two of the three I bought that day. The goodies inside are from HomeGoods as is the runner. I love the rich warm colors of fall tapestry. The opposite side of it is a dark red velvet which I will probably use for Christmas.

The box of fall flourish has pears, apples, berries, dried leaves, and pine cones. I moved them in and out of the cloches several times before I was satisfied with the look. In fact, I even moved them after I took these pictures. The two dark brown candles are from our local Dollar Tree. They really had a great selection this fall.

This cloche was a gift from my daughter for my birthday. She purchased it at All About Home a wonderful place for your decorating pleasure. I am currently enjoying it on my kitchen counter
filled with "fallishness".

During the late summer this apothecary jar from Marshall's at Lake of the Ozarks, enjoyed a splash of pears.

This retired teacher just couldn't resist preparing for school. The two larger jars were from Old Time Pottery and hold brand new pencils and rubber bands. The small one I have had for quite some time and is filled with paper clips. Old books and a pair of antique spectacles finish the vignette.

This is the smallest of the three cloches and features an antique tin type, wooden grapes, and an antique spool. It is the perfect size for my small marble table in the front window.

My final jar, once filled with pears, now holds a fall spray from Michael's. The size was ready made for the jar and blends perfectly with my kitchen.

Thank you Marty for inviting us to the wonderful party and thank all of you for visiting.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Charla