Celebrating Tablescape Thursday's 100th Anniversary

Last week while on vacation and the week before I left, I scored a few deals that I just couldn't walk away from!  Lucky for me, I did so just in time to be able to participate in the 100th Anniversary of Tablescape Thursday @ http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/.  Be sure and visit this link for more beautiful tablescapes as I'm sure this weeks party will be one you won't want to miss.


I heard through the blogvine, that our settings were to be outdoors, and I'm thrilled to have gotten a new table for my deck just in time!  If you follow my blog you may remember my old table blew over and crashed.  It had a glass top and I said I wasn't going to have another glass top again!  Well, never say never!  I found a new glass top table at Target on clearance and just could not pass up this deal!  I am convinced this one is much more sturdier than our old one was, even the Mr. agrees.  At $30.00 I am willing to take the chance!  I walked into Target the very day they had put most of their summer furniture on clearance.  I wasn't there early in the morning and so much was already gone, but there were still a few tables left so I snatched one up too!  Now I would prefer to have a totally different style altogether but let's be real here, I have one son in college, one soon to be on the way and NO job!  Everything I really want is over $800.00 and it is just not in the cards right now.

  However, I have always lived and believed there is no reason one cannot live happily within their budget.  It only takes a little creativity!  This is where the real creativity comes in now, stay with me here okay?   I also lost my big blue umbrella in that storm..now that was really disheartening!  Do you remember it was actually a BIG beach umbrella that I had also gotten a great deal on years ago?  Of course you do, well, I've done it again!  I got another deal on a beach umbrella from Sam's again while we were at the beach.  It was only $18.99!  It's heavy duty like the old one, but, OH! so colorful this year!   I am still keeping my eyes open for a great deal on a real patio umbrella but meanwhile I am enjoying my deck again at my new table.  Boy, is it extremely hot out here still, and this beauty is such a blessing right now! 

Okay, now that you are over the initial shock of my outdoor choices let's move on. It's time for a little outdoor dining! I set the table for two this evening, as it is quite a bit lately! That's what happens when the kids get older. Even the one that still lives with you dines out much more in the summer time. No problem, I can adjust and so does the patio! Let's take a look!

For this setting I mixed several of my old outdoor pieces with some of my new pieces!

I found these wonderful votives at Old Time Pottery at the beach!

This is isn't the only color I got in these but you'll have to wait to see the others.

These butterfly napkin rings were a clearance deal from Hobby Lobby!

Check out the reflection from my umbrella in the flatware.  Wow!

 Hmm..wonder if they make tye-died flatware?

Better Homes & Garden plate from Walmart

Palm glasses from Tomlinson's Warehouse purchased years ago!

 Also bought the two Palm trays at the same time from Tomlinson's Warehouse.  I love that store!

Since it's just the two of us I thought it would be nice to set up for a little wine and cheese too!

I bought this shutter box from Ole Time Pottery at the beach this year too.  It is going to be great finding all the uses for this piece.  I really like the way I'm using it tonight though!

Wine glasses from TJ Maxx

Sweet duck basket and tray from Hobby Lobby clearance sale.

Looks like the sun is setting now, time to light the candles.

Wow!  That really set's the mood!  It's the blue hour!

If you'll excuse me now, I'd better get started, it's getting late!

Thanks for coming by!  I do hope you enjoyed my setting and will come again, Okay?

Happy Anniversary Tablescape Thursday!

Leave me a comment if you stop by!  Now, go out there and beat the heat and dine in style!

Mary

It's A Giveaway Party and Celebration!

I have a wonderful surprise for you!  While I was on vacation I was contacted by the fine folks at CSN Stores.  It seems they have taken note of my blog and offered me the chance to sponsor a giveaway or review an item for myself.


 Oh, I sooo had to debate on this one!  You see there are numerous things I could certainly use for myself or someone near and dear to me, like my son who is in culinary school and living on his own down in Charleston.  He sure could use some more serious kitchen cookware, like a nice dutch oven for example!   Heck, I could actually even use one of these myself!   Then maybe I would be assured he would cook a fabulous meal for me when he comes home.  Pretty sneaky thinking huh?   Just browsing all the selections available at the CSN Stores websites showed they have certainly come along way baby!  You can still get an original style from days of old like this one below.

 My son would certainly get a kick out of this 42" dutch oven tripod from Camp Chef.   

Only I would prefer this beautiful Caribbean blue 6.5qt. dutch oven from Le Crueset.

Or this pretty green 7 qt cast iron dutch oven from Rachel Ray

Or maybe this gorgeous basil green Coq Au Vin Dutch Oven from Staub 

However, I'd bet my young Chef would prefer something more like this huge anodized 8.5 Qt Dutch oven from Calphalon.  Very industrial!  Oh, the decisions I would have to make!  It really was a tough call!

However, being the recent recipient of a fabulous giveaway myself,  I have decided it best to pay it forward. 

   I am pleased and thrilled to be able to bring you another opportunity to win a $40.00 gift certificate that can be used towards the purchase of any one of their thousands of online store items at CSN Stores.  Please be aware though of extra international shipping charges to those outside of the U.S. including Canada.   So now you get to be the one to make all the decisions!  LOL!


All you need to do to enter my giveaway is follow the instructions below for 3 chances to win.  I am going to allow 2 weeks for this giveaway so I will have enough time to try and figure out how to use a number generator.  Here's what you need to do...


1. Leave me a comment about something you would spend your gift certificate towards.
2. Become a follower and/or leave me a message that you are one.
3. Post a link to my giveaway on your blog too!


Not so hard is it?  I am so happy for you and can't wait to get this party started!  I really do appreciate this opportunity and hope it won't be the last time I hear from these wonderful people over at CSN Stores!


Woohoo!  Now to tell you all about my good fortune.   Before I went on vacation last week I found out that I was a winner too! Yay! Can you imagine my excitement to find out that I had won the fabulous book giveaway from Kat @ http://lowtidehighstyle.blogspot.com/.

 If you are not familiar with her blog you are really missing out on something special. She is a very interesting and talented free lance writer who shares her work and her world with us through her blog. Her work often features some of the most beautiful places you can imagine! It is always an adventure to stop in as you can be assured you will see stunning photographs and get the complete and captivating stories behind the photos when you visit her site.

Such was the case when I visited her site on this day and entered the following giveaway, @ http://lowtidehighstyle.blogspot.com/2010/06/house-at-royal-oak-and-giveaway.html.

My win, the book entitled, "The House at Royal Oak", is a story, written by owner, Carol Rizzoli chronicling her life and changes during the renovation of an old house in ruins towards the creation of a wonderful bed and breakfast inn. You can view actual photos taken by Kat from this inn at the link above.

 I cannot wait to kick off my shoes and settle back on my hammock and escape into this wonderful story! Thank you so much dear, I am really looking forward to enjoying the tale of this woman's journey!

Thank you all for visiting me today and I look forward to hearing from you!  Good luck to each of you!  Let's party!

Wall Decor Transformation

Boy is it good to be home!  Long story short our vacation this year was riddled with complications, not exactly the calm and relaxing week we had hoped for.  Because I like to keep my blog my happy place, I will not bombard you with all the whiny details of a less then desirable week.  I have chosen instead to share a few highlights from our trip.  One of the big highlights from our trip was getting to shop at all of my favorite outlets and stores in the Garden City and Myrtle Beach area!  Unfortunately and fortunately (yes I meant to say that) I had plenty of shopping time due to several overcast and rainy days!


One of my favorite stores in Garden City is called Tomlinsons Warehouse.   While it is not your typical warehouse size (it's smaller) it is packed with bargains of all sorts, in clothing, jewelry and accessories, home decor, art, housewares, bedding, and even team paraphernalia.  We Carolinian's love our Gamecocks!   Woot-woot!  Any who, I love, love, love this store.  I actually found many goodies from two visits there last week but today I am only showing you one such beautiful find!


Why?  Because this post is all about the final touch to a project I have been working on since May.  I have been working on transforming a wall vignette in my dining room.  It took this past week to get the final pieces to complete the look I was going for.  Can you guess what those pieces are?


Let me start from the beginning, this is how my wall looked before I started.  I really wish I had also gotten a photo a little further back so you could see the bigger picture but this will have to do for now.

Without seeing the rest of the room you wouldn't know how much this frame stuck out like a sore thumb.  I absolutely adore this print I purchased from one of our local South Carolina artists.  I had this framed when we lived in our old house to go in our formal living room.  It is a very nice quality mahogany frame that I happily paid dearly for!  It originally also had a deep rose colored mat that was too dark for this room.   I  painted the mat several years back because matting is sooo expensive to replace in a custom size.  Well even that did not satisfy me and I still felt like it wasn't quite right, so I finally decided it was the frame.

Then I decided if I was going to change the frame out I would do it as inexpensively as possible.  I kept my tape measure handy and finally came across this picture above in one of our local thrift stores.  Do your remember me telling you about this bargain?  You can read all about it here if you want, but basically I only paid $5.00 for this beautiful frame.

I had to do some slight adjusting to my matting again, as it was off even though the frames were of equal size.  I didn't quite take into account the "width" of the frames being different..lesson learned.  My original matting was a double mat.  After removing the top mat it was a better fit but had some fading and one small spot where the sticky from the top mat peeled away some of the bottom mat.

But I was determined not to let this stop me so I decided to try painting the mat again.  I used a sponge technique because it compliments a few of the other prints I have in this room.  You could also use a mini roller for a smooth finish if you want to change out the color entirely.  As you can see I still had a few more adjustments to make on each side of the mat that had be cut off.  Finally it was done and ready to be rehung!

 This photo shows you a few of the other frames that are in this room.  My gold framed mirror above the marble table and the two silver toned frames on the other prints in the room.  I am much more satisfied with this new gold frame.  I think it is much lighter and even more complimentary to the print itself.

Don't you just love it?  I certainly do!

I left my candle sconces in place but made a few more adjustments.

 Like adding these small plates I had on the wall on the other side of room.  They are a match to the tin plate I have of this pattern that sits on the sideboard.  I have shown you that before too, here.

Then I put this beautiful decorative plate inherited from my inlaws centered right above the picture.  This plate is what actually inspired me to repaint my dining room from red to the color it presently is now.  However, I was not quite finished.  I was still needing a little bit more to my vignette.  I have been keeping my eyes open since May for just the right finishing pieces.  You would have thought it would have been easy to find what I was looking for but I just couldn't quite put my eyes on it until this past week.  What have I been looking for you ask?  Well, more plates of course!  Not any old plates would do, I wanted plates that really spoke to me, and they had to be a great match too of course.  So...ta daa...here they are!!!

I just fell in love with these Vera Bradley plates immediately the minute I saw them. I think they are just the right color combinations for this room too! I had been looking for something that had both the teal blue and a darker blue with a bit of white.  I just love the paisley design on them too!

Finally, the look I was after for this wall! 

I am joining the following parties today.  Be sure and stop by the following links for more wonderful similar posts!  You won't be disappointed!

http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ for Met Monday

http://smilingsally.blogspot.com/ for Blue Monday

http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/ for Before and After party.

Thanks for stopping by today, please leave a comment if you do.  Hope you enjoyed your visit!

Mary