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!



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.



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.



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.



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.



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.



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.



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



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



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



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.





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.





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!



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!

 

 

Easter Dining

Easter was a sweet affair at our house this year.  It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and I enjoyed seeing my brothers and spending a little time with their families and my sweet mother.  I cooked like nobody's business and hopefully sent them away full and satisfied.

It was such a busy morning, but I managed to set a fun and whimsical Easter tablescape for us as well.  

 I pulled out a large piece of yellow buffalo checked moire fabric that I've used for the tablecloth several times before. I wanted to keep things casual and add lots of color too.

Here's my table all set for eight shown before I pulled in the extra chairs from the kitchen.  We all fit but I am thinking I really should consider getting a longer table.  My dining room would accommodate one just fine with a slight furniture rearrangement.  For my settings, I opted to use a mixture of glasses and plates.

Four place settings had the Butlers Pantry "Gourmet" dinner plates mixed with Accoutrements Cornelia Cream salad plates.   All of the china used is from Lenox.  

Each of those settings also had a checked floral napkins and a polka dotted egg napkin ring of which there were four different colors and my new purple stemware from Novica.

The polka dotted egg napkin rings I purchased at work from Stein Mart.

The other four settings had Butlers Pantry dinner plates and salad plates and green goblets from one of Walmart's Better Homes and Garden collections.

They all had a little ceramic ducky napkin rings paired with yellow floral napkins.

I used my wedding stainless, Louisiana by Onieda for all eight settings.  This photo here shows you how close the two settings were in the middle.   Pretty tight huh?  It's a good thing our family doesn't mind rubbing elbows together.  LOL!

My new stemware made it to the Easter table this year but I still want to do a special purple setting using them soon but not just yet.

I kept a few elements for the center of the table that I used in my last setting but added a few new things as well.

Since I knew I would busy cooking the rest of the meal I took the easy way out on the dessert and bought a coconut cake from Sams.  It was delicious and sooo moist!  I also bought the mini croissant rolls from Sams too.  They are my all time favorites to enjoy during the holidays.

I just couldn't wait to use my wire eggs for a centerpiece.  I wanted to add our dyed eggs to them and had intended to have everything ready before our guests arrived.  Unfortunately working everyday the week prior to Easter and cooking all morning on Easter left me strapped for time to dye the eggs.

Thankfully I was able to talk my son and one of my nephews into helping out with dying the eggs.

They were so sweet!  They really wanted to dye the eggs with two different tones on each side.  I did not have any of those wire egg holders so they patiently held each egg in the cup to get the different colors.  Thankfully we only dyed a few but I couldn't help but chuckle when I looked across the table at dinner to see my sons fingertips were dyed too.   

They did such an awesome job and were able to place them on our table to complete our centerpiece.  But the real reason to get the eggs dyed was to have them ready for our family's annual "egg wars" where we tap them against each other on the ends to see who has the winning egg.  This blue and green one shown here was the winning egg and my son was the proud winner.

With the eggs all done, the food cooked and table set we all sat down, enjoyed each others company and stuffed our bellies full!

I hope you had a fantastic Easter with family and friends too!

I am linking this post to the following parties;

Let's Dish

and

Tablescape Thursday.

Thanks for hosting such fun parties each week ladies!

And thank YOU for dropping by too!

Have a wonderful day!!!

Coffee or Tea?

So what will it be?  Your invited and for a very special imaginary brunch here at the Decorative Dreamer.  I do hope you'll come.  I've set the table just for you and I've even put out a stack that I think you'll love.  So come on, don't be shy, how about stopping in for just a spell, I promise not to keep you too long.  Okay?

  Why do I think your going to love this?  Because it's blue and green and reminds me of Spring.

How do you like this combination of dishes?  I love it.  I was playing with my dishes this morning, trying to decide if I wanted to do a tablescape or not and felt so happy after I pulled these pieces together that I decided to share a little happiness with you too!

For some reason I have been craving the colors blue and green.  Enough of all this brown and grey in my world!  I am ready for blue skies, blue water and green, green grass.  How about you?

I started with my pretty colbalt blue calico dish by Queen's, found at TJ Maxx.

Then I decided I wanted something green.  I just had to use my Franciscan Ivy dishes because they represent lush green growth to me.  That's what I really want to see outside this year!

 Then for my final plate, I decided to add this blue and green Ivy plate from Pfaltzgraff.  It's more of a denim blue in color.  Isn't that a wonderful thought too!  Sounds great to me, I sure do miss hanging out in my blue jeans Yall!

Love, love, love it!!!!  Oh, and I almost forgot, I also added the woven placemats for that outdoorsy feel.

Since you are invited, I put out my wedding stainless, by Oneida.

And my older green and white checked napkins.  They used to be the right shade of green here but have faded so.  I sure do wish I had some fabulous blue and white napkins to coordinate with these dishes.  I guess I will have to put that on my hunt list, huh?

So what would you like Madam?  Are you still drinking coffee?

Or are you right there with me and ready for some good old fashioned Iced Tea?

I've even set the centerpiece to hold whatever you might need for your drink, because I'm thoughtful like that.   Wink-wink!

Cream and Sugar anyone?

Thank you so much for stopping by, I'm so glad you came!

I guess I'd better whip us up something good now, huh?  I'm sure you have a busy day ahead too.  What will it be?  Remember ladies, this is make believe land here, so I can serve you whatever you'd like today and it's calorie free!

Now how can you refuse that?

Have a great day everyone!

I hope you have time to visit more friends over at 

BNOTP for Tablescape Thursday.