Tablescape Times Three

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Motif Monday Linky Party - 1 - Fleur-de-Lis Times Three

Welcome to our very first Motif Monday Linky Party!

I am posting a bit early so that you will have time to decide on your table!

(Click on the pictures throughout the blog for better resolution and zoom.)

My motif of the day (really 2/21) is the Fleur-de-Lis. I happen to be a French teacher (among other things) when not tablescaping. The typical Fleur-de-Lis motif is explained here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleur-de-lis. I have numerous souvenirs from trips abroad and gifts from friends and students that reflect my love of French culture.

(I should point out that I teach Spanish, too, and my background is really political science and statistics along with language studies and linguistics. And I paint. And do web development. These are my paid jobs, not even my hobbies! So, if you're one of those people who think French teachers only have eyes for France, that's not me! I love it all!)

The bookend below and the hatbox are two examples of Fleur-de-lis motifs. The hatbox is interesting because each Fleur-de-lis is formed by wheat bundles. I know the Limoges box doesn't have the motif of the day, but it is my favorite! It reads, "Paris - Atlanta," on the front and back. On the sides it reads, "4386 miles." I love that it has a car on it...never mind the Atlantic Ocean!

The tatted doily was made by my great-grandmother. She passed away when I was seven years old, and I love having some of her treasures.

These are some of my lovely French books I have purchased at various antique shops here and abroad.

The coaster on display is of the gardens at Versailles. The design seems to echo a Fleur-de-lis.

The sugar and creamer are Lismore.

The silver is Sir Christopher by Wallace. Love the sugar tongs! I bought these when I was expecting Emma, my oldest daughter, who is now in middle school. She is a co-author on this site - the one obsessed with Audrey Hepburn. See her last post here: http://tablescapex3.blogspot.com/2011/02/all-audrey-all-time.html

I have to say I started out with more fresh fruit and cheese. I nibbled a little while taking pictures.

Mmmmmmmm.

The embossed faux leather tray was purchased at The Pottery in Commerce, Georgia many years ago. It was $1.00, I think. Too bad The Pottery closed. Wall-to-wall bargains. I wish I had bought more.

The chocolate pot is an antique Lenox pattern, P72. Most of P72 was made for Tiffany & Co., Ovington Bros., etc. This piece and the 12 snack plate and cup sets I have in this pattern were an UNBELIEVABLE deal I found on eBay. These pieces date from 1917. The cobalt is stunning.

The detail on the early Lenox is fabulous!

The antique cotton napkins were passed down in the family, are hand-embroidered, and are at least 70 years old.

This table would make for a nice afternoon coffee, tea, or chocolat chaud (hot chocolate) gathering for three.

The weather is actually perfect in Georgia this time of year for an afternoon on the porch. Looking and nibbling at this table, I realized that I need to head to Panera for some croissants. Of course if we added croissants, we would not leave out Nutella! My children adore it! I keep a stock of it in the pantry. Even though Nutella is Italian, it is a very popular item for breakfast or snack time in France. The history of Nutella can be found here: http://www.nutellausa.com/history.htm

A beautiful February day - 67 degrees at 5:00pm!

Caught my younger two children playing outside while working on the table.

And they caught me!

Speaking of being caught, Ava (conveniently wearing a Paris shirt) caught a lizard. Older brother Carson smiles proudly at her success.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Blessings,

Andrea

What motifs do you like? We look forward to your sharing!

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All Audrey, All the Time

Search Amazon.com for Audrey Hepburn

If you haven't ever heard of Audrey Hepurn, now is the time to learn! My grandmother and I just ADORE her! One of our traditions is to watch one of her movies every now and then. I think I have seen all of her movies except one she made when she was older. A good starter movie to watch if you haven't ever seen anything with her in it is, "Wait Until Dark." Beware, it's scary! But it is very, very good! My first was the original, "Charade," which is also great. This is my list of Audrey favorites:
1. Wait Until Dark
2. Charade
3. Sabrina
4. How to Steal a Million
5. My Fair Lady
6. Breakfast at Tiffany's

So, I hope this explains why I made an Audrey Hepurn tablescape today. The plates, cups, and spoons are from an espresso set my grandmother and mother bought me at Tuesday Morning. They are pink, black, gray, and white. I think Audrey would have liked them. The plates under that are some white accent plates that belong to my grandmother. The pink candles in mini-wine glasses came from CVS. They are the cutest things, and they were the perfect size for the china! The napkins are white. For the napkin holders, I had a creative idea. I found some faux flowers and hot-glued them to new, unused black hair-bands. (P.S- From experience, attaching the flower to the rubber band with a hot glue gun might not work the first time. :) ) It makes just as nice a napkin ring as anything and looks great on the table. You can use other things besides flowers.

Also, I used four black placemats. The focal point is a black wire stand from T.J. Maxx. For inexpensive decorations I found pink things I could layer, curled paper ribbon and even a bath scrunchie. Then we put electric candles from CVS and covered up the bottoms of them as much as we could. My grandmother reminded me she had all of the DVD cases, and I thought to make a DVD tower on the stand. I added a few things to build it up, like more faux flowers. They are just layered on, not even glued. Over all, I love the table! I hope that you and Audrey would, too!

Thank you for visiting my post! I hope you will see some Audrey films soon!

- Emma :)

Search Amazon.com for Audrey Hepburn films

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Sunday, February 13, 2011

Blue Monday - "Wedgwood Tea for One"

Ah, what to do for Blue Monday? I thought that I would "borrow" a bit from my daughter's last week's blog. In the spirit of the day, perhaps she will not mind. After all, this Monday is Valentine's Day and last week was such a busy one that I decided to treat myself to a few minutes alone. A quiet moment with a "spot" of tea or coffee seemed like the perfect way to unwind, so I pulled out some of my blue Wedgwood Jasperware (another addiction!) and set a silver tray for one.

The setting is deliciously small and perfect for a quiet moment. The sugar and creamer were a long ago purchase, as was the plate (perfect for a croissant or scone). I love the look of Wedgwood blue and I have collected Jasperware for years - just look at the decorations on one of my Christmas trees!

Search Amazon.com for wedgwood jasperware

I found the silver butter pat with the "S" monogram at Scott's Antiques in Atlanta and the sterling demitasse spoon (along with three others) was a gift from my sister. It is the Towle Virginia Carvel pattern. So sweet!

The diminutive white napkin is actually a cocktail napkin, but I thought the size was perfect for this setting. The cut glass vase was a gift that I received many years ago.

I love all of these pieces, but the prize is the lovely teapot. It was a surprise gift from my husband over twenty years ago. He drove to Tennessee on a business trip, instead of flying, so that he could secretly travel to a shop in a nearby town to buy this treasure for me. We had visited there on an earlier vacation and he had remembered that the store sold Jasperware! I told you in my Valentine's Day blog that he is a keeper! Thankfully, my time alone with my "Tea for One" gave me a chance to reflect on people and things that are important in my life. I highly recommend it!

Diane

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It's So Very Cheri

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Tip Junkie

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Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Valentine's Times Three

Welcome to our very first Valentine's Tablescapes shared on the web! There are three different posts below: grandmother, mother, and granddaughter. Visit them all to see our different takes on Valentine's Day. Please click on our sponsors' links right and below and PLEASE leave us comments! :)