The Decorative Dreamer: Lenox

Showing posts with label Lenox. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Romancing Mardi Gras - A table for two

Hello friends and followers! Do any of you entertain the tradition of Mardi Gras? I will admit as a southerner from South Carolina we really don't adhere to this tradition much. About the most you will find of Mardi Gras celebrations here is based more on the religious tradition of Fat Tuesday centered around the observance of Ashe Wednesday. Even then, it is limited more depending on what church you attend as to whether they give any observation to this at all.

I did not grow up observing Mardi Gras, but I do love anything that is seeped in tradition and that which is especially creative and colorful. One cannot deny that Mardi Gras is definitely colorful in more ways then one. So with that in mind, it is what I have set out to embrace with my Mardi Gras tablescape this year. A colorful setting with a colorful tale!

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Tradition holds that Mardi Gras is a time of reveling in ones last evening of indulgence before moving into the season of lent and repentance. While I find all the partying and extreme food over indulgence quite exciting I also can't deny that I also find Mardi Gras to be a bit romantic as well.

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I guess it has to do with the all the mystery that surrounds Mardi Gras with all the masques and costumes. For some reason, the whole idea of Mardi Gras reminds me quite a bit of those historical romantic novels where masquerade balls and opulence ruled with intrigue among the royalty.

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OK, don't laugh y'all, perhaps I do spend too much time in my novels, but you know I'm right don't you? Sooooo.....it is in this scenario I have created my table for two for Mardi Gras.

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Image a house full of guests waltzing in a huge ballroom full of many masked guests where hushed whispers of dinner being served is announced. A giddy young couple rushes to their seats to find that the table is set but exclusively just for the two of them. Or imagine an older couple who have seen many years of Mardi Gras celebrations among the masses who cannot wait to escape to find a bit of solitude before retiring for the evening. Or better yet....imagine a middle aged couple though despite hosting the largest celebration of the ton, sneak off privately to find their own bit of paradise in the mystery that is them.

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They adjourn to the dining room where they find the table set in beautiful rich colors of Green, Gold, and Purple representing the royalty that is of their descent and the tradition of Mardi Gras.

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A metallic gold medallion style place mat from Bed Bath and Beyond is accompanied by Lenox Butlers Pantry and topped off with a beautiful purple, black and cream toile salad dish from Portebello by Inspire.

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Each setting also appropriately shines with Louisiana flatware from Oneida. Additionally, there are two glasses of stemware for indulging in both water and wine.

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The local embroiderer was even commissioned to adorn the table linens with the family symbol of Mardi Gras Royalty.

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Only a minimal amount of serving pieces are on hand for condiments as there will be footman readily available for serving dishes.

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Tonight is a grand occasion with all the pageantry expected of such an affair. The table dressing finery is a rich sparkly green runner combined with a beautiful purple satin wrap to drape the one of the centerpieces. Both are adorned with the familys prized jewels representing justice, faith and power.

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There is even a peacock to represent her beauty and integrity in addition to a crown of gold representing his family line of nobility. No details were spared in this celebration for two where the masks are left behind, because tonight is all about the two of them indulging in each others company.

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Oh yes, these two are all set for a romantic dinner for two to indulge not only in each other but in all that they are together. May they always continue to prosper!

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Yeah, I spend way too much time in the books, dreaming of other times and other worlds. I have always enjoyed a good story. I hope you did too. I still think reading is as wonderful a pastime as many of our more modern day entertainments and indulgences. Don't you agree?

Happy Mardi Gras friends, from The Decorative Dreamer!

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Silver and Gold Christmas Dining Room

Were in full celebration mode here at The Decorative Dreamers house, how about you? We've already started the celebrations at our house last Saturday after hosting Christmas for my husbands side of the family. It was so nice to be able to see everyone and to have been able to do so without being stressed from work this year. I love working retail and I do miss working, but I have to say that it has really been a blessing time of year. I have been able to slow it down and focus on the little things and that has meant quite a lot to me and to my husband as well. He always takes the week before Christmas off and is thrilled to have me home with him this year. He also has always been one of my most treasured blessings!

My dining room is one of my favorite rooms in this house. I love it for so many reasons. One reason is because of the location of the room in this house. It is to the left when you enter our home as most dining rooms are but because our house sits so much higher then the street when you look out of the windows it overlooks the whole yard and just feels so open. I also love that it has another door that leads into the kitchen. Because the view is so enjoyable I have never put blinds in this room. I do finally have curtains but since this room is so rarely used they always stay open

I also love that this room is large enough to accommodate a big table which I now finally have. It has enough space for additional pieces of furniture for serving as well as a Christmas tree too. When I started this tree it was primarily to showcase my collected Lenox ornaments. I started collecting one of them each year starting when my husband and I first married. That was in 1988 and we now have quite a full set. I decided they would be best complimented with silver and gold and so the dining room tree came to be.

This year I added the gold angel wings that I got from after Christmas sales last year. I actually had forgotten I had them until last week when I came across them while organizing my Christmas decor storage. They are quite large and really pretty but I think they would have been better if I had put them on first so they would be more in the background. I do love them though!

I read a blog this morning that talked about focusing on details this Christmas. Not necessarily with regards to decor but with regards to special visions that create wonderful memories. I loved this bit of advice. I really want to do this not just for the holidays but for everyday!

I couldn't believe my luck when I went out just last week to find a new tablecloth to fit my larger table. I found exactly the color and size I wanted at the first place I went to. It is an off white color with silver metallic threads throughout. I love TJ Maxx! I thought for sure they would have been sold out already but I guess since it's larger in size I was still in luck.

Speaking of silver, this year I even made time to polish the silver. Now mind you we will not be using this silver tea set but since I was polishing my silver serving pieces I decided to polish this set up as well. I love how shiny and sparkly it is!

Our marble buffet table also sparkles as well this year. It's the perfect place to display my Fitz and Floyd. I love unwrapping these pieces every year!

I actually have used this tray several Christmas's to serve ham. I think I may have to retire it from serving duty though because I noticed it is starting to loose some of it's coloring around the edges. I just can't bare the thought of seeing it all worn and rubbed off, but gosh the ham sure does look good served on this pretty platter!

I purchased this manger scene from the Atlanta market this year. It was from a vendor who sold handmade ornaments from Peru. They are just spectacular. Can you imagine making this by hand?

Okay, I just have to share this little tidbit tip I used this year. Early in the season even before I set out any trees or Christmas decor. I pulled several pieces of my silver serveware and displayed them in a utensil dish. I did this so I would see them and remember to get them polished before company came. I am so glad I did this. I had them in another utensil caddy then switched them over to this one since I needed the caddy for silverware. I already had this metal container and then I found a glass container I already had as well that fit perfectly. I love this look and it matches a larger metal piece that I usually use on the dining table for floral displays year round. I think I will now keep my serveware out and handy all the time now. That way it gets used as well as serving a decorative look appropriately in the dining room.

I hope you have enjoyed the tours of Christmas this season. I hope to do more blogging again now that I more time to do so.

QUESTION: I have a bit of a dilemma that I hope someone will help me with. My son has restored one of my older more expensive laptops that crashed many years ago. It is now totally restored and free of any old pictures and virus's too. I could use it again to blog but am very concerned to do so since I have been through several laptops that mysteriously developed virus's that caused them to crash totally. I have also recently deleted several blogs I followed because they were causing my blog feed to be filled with strange blogs that were not only phishing but some that were x-rated. I currently use a chromebook but am unable to use photoshops (Picasa) on this without a great deal of hassle. I have been using my phone for photos and my blogger app to post them, then editing the words on the blog with my chromebook. If I go back to my laptop I can use my camera for better photos and be able to edit them and tag them as my property which is important to me. The question I guess I have is how can I prevent these virus's from creeping in again. I am hoping some of you will take the time to share what measures you use to prevent this from happening. I am interested in hearing what you do not just with malware but with anything you can do on blogger to prevent this as well.

As always, thanks so much for stopping in again today. I really appreciate it and hope you'll come back again sometime if you'd like.

Most importantly,

I want to wish each of you a very Merry and Blessed Christmas!

Jesus loves you!

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Thankful Tablescape

Hello Blogland! I couldn't resist sharing a Thankful tablescape with you because I've got so much to be thankful for, much of which never comes across on this blog. Some of you have asked again where I've been. Well, the long and short of it is, I've been working! My new job now in retail allows me to work during the week and have my weekends and Mondays off. What a blessing that is, and I love it!

I am not blogging as much these days because it's really just not that much of a priority to me. Quite simply, I've decided to leave the everyday blogging to all you wonderful and inspirational professional bloggers. I do hope that there's still room out here for those like me who want to pop in on occasion and share. I am still looking at your blogs and gaining beautiful inspiration and ideas as I am sure you can see from much of what I share as well. So....without further ado, here's a Thanksgiving tablescape that I hope you will enjoy!

Love my turkey basket. It was from Ah, at home. Too bad they are no longer in business.

I decided to give this years setting a mixture of old and new.

The "Be Thankful" bags were from Michaels last year.

I just couldn't resist using these linen placemats that I purchased from a church/yard sale a few years back. I just love the fall colors of the crewelwork on them.

My fabulous Lenox dinner plate is from my Butlers Pantry collection.

And the salad plates were from TJ Maxx and Marshalls.

Now, isn't this the cutest little thing? I found these corn holder plates at a local thrift store. I love that they are just the perfect color match to my Butlers Pantry dishes as well.

Here' s some new! New style and new linens. I just had to make these chevron napkins this year to be a little trendy ya know!

I like the way the chevron coordinated with my runner I purchased a few years ago from Joanne fabrics.

I used my grandmothers crystal with the gold etchings for the wine and these pretty gold goblets purchased from a resale store were the perfect choice for tea.

Gobble, gobble shakers were from Ross.

From this view, I think either my brown or woven place mats may have been a better choice but then I wouldn't have gotten to use the linen ones...and well, I like those...alot!!! LOL!

These candlesticks were the perfect choice of color. I love how well they coordinated with my runner.

And the pine cone candles have always reminded me of fall.

Here's a little trick I learned from all of you bloggers. Wrap some jute twine around almost anything and it will add just that extra touch of cuteness!

I've also done a little rearranging in the dining room too. I moved my china hutch off the side wall and placed it on the back wall of the dining room where the marble table and mirror used to be. I had another side table in here where this black sideboard is now and the black side board was where the marble table is now. Basically, I took out one of the extra side tables because it was feeling just a little too crowded to me. Even though we only use this room a few times a year, I still like it to feel as spacious as possible. I still revamping this room little by little. Hoping to find a new rug this year. Now that's quite a challenge. Would love any suggestions on that!

Well, there's my Thankful table y'all! I hope you enjoyed it.

For more beautiful tablescapes please check out

Let's Dish

and

Tablescape Thursday

I can hardly wait to get things set up for Christmas this year. I am literally chomping at the bit. I may even break tradition and do it this weekend. Well, maybe.

We shall see!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

I wish each of you a very Happy Thanksgiving!