Thursday, February 9, 2012

2012 Valentine's Day Tablescape

Well, it's almost that time and I've just about got everything ready for Valentine's Day.  I've done a little decorating outside and inside and I've got the table set now too.  Woohoo!  The only thing left to do is to find a few special sumpin sumpin's for my sweeties to let them know how much they are loved.  

I am very pleased with this years table scape.  I already had everything I used for this, except for one element.  

Do you know what that is?

Here's a hint...these are very precious, strong and fragile at the same time.  But, the ones I bought can't be broken. 

If you guessed the hearts, you are correct!  Yay!

I absolutely fell in love with these wonderful melamine heart plates I found at Target.  They had them in full plate size and salad size and pink as well.

I wanted the red because I just love how they sparkle.  Hard to tell in these photos but I think there must have been some type of glitter used in making these.

I love how they just pop right off of the white of my Butlers Pantry dishes by Lenox.

 And, I love how the white dishes pops off of my red place mats.  Do you remember when I found these last year at Ross?  They are made of vinyl and so easy to clean!

A Valentine's dinner deserves the very best for those you love so I pulled out the silver we inherited from my in-laws many, many years ago when my MIL passed away.   

Thanks to Cherry Kay at Entertaining Women I now know the pattern of my silver is called Francis 1 by Reed and Barton.  Luckily for me she recognized it and identified it for me along with my bouillon spoons that I posted about last week.  Thank you so much! 

I decided since I was using the silver to eat with we may as well use it for our drinks as well.  The goblets are our most recent inheritance from my in-laws last year when my FIL passed away.  He had kept the goblets and several other pieces when he remarried after my MIL passed away to use himself with his new wife. 

Our goblets are engraved with the initial of our last name as is all of the silverware.  It was very customary for people to do this back in the day.  Not so much now.  I didn't have time to polish the goblets before this post so you will have to excuse the tarnish please.  Maybe you could just focus on how cool the battenburg lace looks in this reflection instead.  

Speaking of the battenburg lace, I just have to share how I came up with this runner.  It is actually two battenburg lace valances that I have saved forever and a day when I used to have them in our bedroom.  I just placed them on the table back to back and then added my red runner right on top.

I think lace and hearts just go together so well, don't you?

My valentines runner was a project from last year.  I bought a plain red runner from the DT and painted it.  So simple!

I used these same exact flowers for one of my settings last year only in a different container.  The white milk glass vase was a nice find that I picked up last year from a thrift store for only .50 cents.




On my sideboard I created a Valentines cloche display using a crystal bowl that was a gift from a friend that I filled with hearts.  I thought is was perfect since it has roses on the side of it.

I mixed in a few of my shiny hearts with the glittery ones.  Love it!

I can hardly wait!  I hope the Mr. will cook us something good.  LOL!

Thanks so much for visiting and I hope you enjoyed my Valentines table scape.

Wait!  I want to show you one more thing.  When I found the plates at Target I was actually there shopping for something else too.

 Here is a glimpse of a few things I picked up for a very special project I am working on.

I am going to create a very special Valentines card for a very special young lady this year.  I do not know who she is but I do know she is one of God's children who needs to hear how very special she is and how loved she is.

I was so touched by a post that Susan at My Place to Yours did HERE a few weeks ago about the girls they minister to at Hope Unlimited for Children.  I don't know how this escaped me before but I had not caught on to the staggering amount of young girls who are forced and subjected into prostitution in Brazil each year.

When she asked very simply for help in sending Valentines to these young girls so they would begin to understand their worth I knew I had to make one too.  I hope you will also consider taking just a small bit of your time to help as well.  You don't have to make something, you could just send a card and it would mean so much!  There's still plenty of time because Valentine's day is not until April in Brazil.  I feel so strongly about this I immediately put this on my FB page for my friends as well.  I plan to share this post with them as well, because I know every little card will help.  If you want to help too, please click HERE to see Susan's original post.

Thank you so much!  I hope you all have a wonderful day!

I can't wait to get home tonight to check at all the other wonderful tablescapes who are joining; BNOTP for Tablescape Thursday


16 comments:

  1. Your table is so pretty Mary. LOVE the plates and the placemats are pretty too. You sure are ready for you LOVE and your family!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love so many things about this one, Mary. (Favorite part of all was the shout out to Hope Unlimited.)

    The valance turned runner was a fantastic idea. I wouldn't have thought of it and now want to copy you. I also love the red hearts. Believe it or not, I went on a hunt for red heart dishes around town and couldn't find a single one. Seriously! Don't these people know it's Valentine time? I could see the glitter in the finish in the photo and like the way it looks too. You used your silver wonderfully with this one. My MIL had wonderful monogrammed pieces before her home was burglarized. It still makes me angry when I think of it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mary such a lovely table. Love those red plates! My favorite though is the lace valance with the red runner...so pretty and thirfty and clever! I will go check out the valentines for girls project. Hugs, Linda

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gorgeous table! I really love your clever runner -- SO pretty, too. Glad Cherry Kay filled you in on the name of your silver pattern. ALL the Southern "girls" of a certain age recognize Francis I! It was my grandmother's pattern, but it went to my sister, alas! I have some silver goblets like yours and need to pull them out and use them!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I ove your table, Mary. I like how you created your table runner, so beautiful and so clever of you. The heart plates do not look like melamine at all, they're beutiful and so perfect with how you used them. Your silver flatware are stunning!...Christine

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a beautiful Valentines Day tablescape, Mary! I adore the way your battenburg lace looks against the red...brilliant idea!
    I bought the same plates at Target in the pink last year...they are on my bakers rack at the moment.
    Your silver goblets & flatware are just GORGEOUS!! Heirlooms to be treasured, for sure.

    Hugs,
    Rett

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi lovely lady.
    I love the way you put this all together with your gorgeous heirloom Treasures so sweet. This Tablescape for Valentines Day is beautiful. Im your newest follower on your blog now. Thanks so much for your sweet comments on my Tablescapes. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and a Happy Valentines Day with your family.
    XXOO Diane

    ReplyDelete
  8. You've created such a beautiful Valentines Day tablescape. The spliced valance technique is sheer genius, and I love the effect with your wonderful hand painted runner perched on top! So glad that you pulled out those silver goblets. They are a treasure. Our Francis I also belonged to my mother-in-law. Did I tell you that it is the all time most popular pattern ever made? Well, it is! Have a memorable celebration! Thank you for inviting us for a peak. Cherry Kay

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mary, I love your pretty red and white table, and the valance-turned-runner certainly works for me!

    Thank you for helping raise awareness for our Valentine Project at Hope Unlimited for Children. Whoever receives your wonderful valentine will be blessed indeed! If you haven't already, I hope you'll link up this post on my blog to show that you've blogged for Hope! While you're there, grab a Bloggers for Hope button for your blog, too, if you like. Many thanks, friend!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I could see the sparkle in the little heart plates right away. It's really cool. I bought some chargers at Target a few years back that had that kind of sparkle in them. They are among my favorites because of that. Those silver goblets are absolutely gorgeous!!! I can remember when monogramming or lettering was very popular. (I just totally dated myself!!!) Everything from linens to silver to hankies...all personalized. You're right...not so much practiced these days. I wish I could get our monogram on everything we own!!!!!! :-) I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Your table looks lovely! Love the Battenburg lace, and your pretty plates. I had Francis 1 too, but it was stolen when we were robbed while on vacation a long time ago!
    I am so impressed by your painting on the runner, so sweet! And such a great idea!
    I will pop over to see about the Valentines. I always had my class make them for the Vets Home, and I would drop them off. So sad to see those men who fought for our country old and alone.
    Happy ♥ Day!

    ReplyDelete
  12. This all looks so pretty! The Battenburg lace valance looks gorgeous under the red! How neat that you painted it! You are very talented!

    Love the silver heirlooms too!

    Happy Valentine's Day!

    Katherine

    ReplyDelete
  13. He descubierto tu blog y me ha gustado su contenido. Desde hoy lo sigo, si lo deseas te invito a conocer mi blog y si es de tu agrado, me gustaría tenerte como seguidora en mi blog para seguir en contacto. Un saludo muy cordial.
    Manoli.

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a beautiful table. I love your silver...how lucky to have this passed down in your family!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Just beautiful Mary, love how you used two valences to creat a runner...great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Your table is just stunning Mary!
    Oh that silver, and the runner and that cloche!
    But your dining room is the crowning glory....I love that room!
    Hugs friend,
    Cindy

    ReplyDelete

Hi Fellow Dreamers! Blogging is all about sharing. I enjoy reading your comments so please feel free to drop me a comment to let me know your here if you see something you like. Thank you so much!