Peaceful Cherry Blossoms

April 22, 2022April 22, 2022 / Alycia Nichols / 17 Comments

I have perhaps finally gotten the hang of adding a wee bit of voiceover to my videos. This is my first, so please grant me your kind mercy! (In my head I sound like the very Scottish Mrs. Hughes in “Downton Abbey” when I say that !🤣🤣🤣)

April is on its way out, and I’m getting this post up just by the skin of my teeth! While Missouri isn’t exactly the cherry blossom capital of the world, we have our fair share of beauties. Our orchard when I was a kid had several that always produced the most magnificent show of color! As for the fruit…well, the birds got the lion’s share of that.🙄

The centerpiece starts with a fountain of pink and white faux cherry blossom branches assembled in a simple white cylinder. To more closely tie in with the plates, I added a number of bare branches.

There is no discernible maker imprinted on the back of the plates, but I bought them at Home Goods. They have a bit of a lip all around which makes them great for any variety of entrées. The soft pink glass chargers are from Hobby Lobby.

I absolutely LOVE the gold tone stick-thin flatware and colored glassware, all from Home Goods.

I have no recollection where I may have bought these faux bonsai, but they’re a wonderment for Asian-inspired decorating.

This magnificent monogrammed lumbar pillow is from the supremely talented **SewGracious** **Monograms**.

The goldtone pagoda lanterns are from a decor boutique here in the city of Lee’s Summit where we live called **Cameron’s Home Furnishings**. I love to go there to browse, and I almost always find something I simply “can’t live without.”🙂 The sake set is from World Market.

I love to use fabric cocktail napkins even when I’m just having a glass of ice water, and I have quite an expansive collection. These were recently acquired fromThe Robin’s Nest on ETSY, and I can’t say enough great things about the design!

This tablescape works well for cherry blossom season celebrations, National Cherry Pie Day (already come and gone this year, but will make its return on Monday, February 20, 2023), George Washington’s birthday, ladies’ birthdays, bridal or baby showers, the promotion of breast cancer awareness, or for any Asian-inspired occasion.

Interested in seeing more Asian-inspired posts on this blog? Check these out:

Really into pink like I am? Take a look at these posts!

Like big, overreaching centerpieces? Here ya go!

And this post, Life Is Just A Chair of Bowlies, is great fun if you just love cherries!🍒🍒🍒

Thank you for stopping by to say hello! I always appreciate it!

Chinese Takeout

September 22, 2014September 25, 2014 / Alycia Nichols / 52 Comments

I’ve been MIA thanks to aggravating the herniated discs in my lower back. If you’ve never experienced lying in bed in a brace for days on end, believe me….you have been spared a living hell!!!!!!!! Anyhoooo…I’m able to at least sit at my desk for short periods now, so I wanted to hit you with this sort of transitional summer-to-fall tablescape I created about a month ago. No traditionally autumnal elements involved, but the rich colors march in time with late summer/early fall. This tablescape would also be great for Chinese New Year, a casual birthday gathering, or even an Asian-inspired rehearsal dinner.

This time of year starts to get really busy, so what’s a girl to do when faced with a dinner party for which she only has the time and energy to either cook OR decorate? If you’re THIS girl, you decorate and order Chinese takeout!
(Click on any photo, then click again to enhance/enlarge it.)

INSPIRATION: Beautiful floral toss pillows from Home Goods that usually hang out in our living room. The design worked well with the Asian theme.

INSPIRATION: Beautiful floral toss pillows from Home Goods that usually hang out in our living room. The fabric design worked well with the Asian theme.

This table for 6 starts with a full-length ivory tablecloth from LinenTablecloth.com. A raw silk runner adorned with bamboo images is centered on the table. The place settings are made up of stone-colored dishes purchased years ago at Tuesday Morning. The rice bowl and plate are separated by a simply-folded ivory napkin from LinenTablecloth.com.

The “Cambridge”faux bamboo flatware is from Home Goods. It is set to the right of the dishes to make room for the intricately carved chopsticks and a red miso spoon from Pier 1 Imports. Each place setting has a traditionally-shaped teacup (World Market) and a very American water glass in a smoky black (Dollar Tree).

I enjoyed creating this soothing centerpiece. I had all of these items already in my inventory and have used some of them in various other centerpiece designs. For instance, the rectangular vessels lined with smooth river stones, filled with water and then topped with floating candles were used in a very different way in Hooray for Vodka! The gold Buddha figurines at each end of the table were used at each place setting for the post Peaceful Peonies nearly 3 years ago. I bought the votive holders – used here to visually connect the mirror image elements at each end at a wholesale clearance sale many years ago. The pieces of bamboo laid on the table also act as visual connectors and tie in with the images on the runner.

I like to create an inviting outdoor lounge space for guests to hang out before and after dinner that works with the theme of the dining table.

The coffee table – or tea table as it were – is set up with a tray holding a beautiful red teapot and the same black teacups found on the dining table from World Market. Another of the black votive holders is here, too, for added ambience. The miso spoons set upon black slabs of slate are for serving cocktail hour hors d’oeuvres. I set up miso spoons in a similar fashion for my stepdaughter’s 30th birthday celebration buffet, Blue & White 30th Birthday.

The side table in the corner is set with items that coordinate with elements on the dining table. The bright red orchid makes the area stand out a bit more and visually connects with the single orchid blooms used on the dining table.

I bought these lighted paper lanterns with a bamboo design in the clearance section at Target many years ago and have never used them. They really add to the overall ambience and look great against the night sky. They were very easy to put up with the permanent hangers I installed earlier this year.

Other Asian-inspired tablescapes on this site:
Mandarin Bling
Copper Zen
Float Like A Butterfly
Mikasa Daylight (Design #2)
Year of the Rabbit
Zen Garden
Mum’s the Word
Peaceful Peonies
Blue & White 30th Birthday

I am linking up this week with:
Christine at Rustic & Refined for “Table It!”
Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for “Tablescape Thursday“

Peaceful Peonies

January 10, 2012March 20, 2021 / Alycia Nichols / 68 Comments

Chinese New Year is January 23, 2012. I love the colorful pageantry associated with this holiday! Last year I created a traditional Chinese New Year tablescape using lots of red and gold with black accents. (Click HERE and scroll down to “Year of the Rabbit” to see last year’s post.) This year, now tired of all the red used for Christmas decorating, I went rogue with a fiery hot pink.
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One of the great things about this particular tablescape design is that the Asian influence is somewhat understated, thus rendering it suitable for various contemporary-styled occasions such as rehearsal dinners or ladies luncheons (sans the candles, of course). The two-tone linen combo of sizzling hot pink over the more neutral black immediately draws the eye in.

To demonstrate how the same dishes can create an entirely different atmosphere depending on the accessories, compare this setting to that of “Let Them Eat Cake” from a post last year. (Click HERE and scroll down to “Let Them Eat Cake“.) A gold leafed glass charger and gold-rimmed white china from Pier 1 are topped with a an F. Winkel & Co. “Jacobean” salad plate. The vivid coloring and busy pattern of the chinoiserie salad plate are just the right combination to accent the plainer underplates and bring in the black, gold, hot pink and white.

I had my eye on these Buddhas from the moment they hit the store shelves at Z Gallerie last year. I must have chewed half a pound of fingernails waiting for them to go on clearance, hoping there would be enough left over. Jackpot! Got all I needed at 75% off!!! Here they hold a gold mercury glass votive.

My “old reliable” goldtone flatware works well here with its subtle pattern.

I opted for crystal stemware with gold rims, but opaque black stemware like Mikasa’s “Elegance-Black” would work well, too.

I felt the need to break up that searing hot pink surface a bit more. I achieved this by folding the black poly-cotton napkins from Bed Bath & Beyond into a long chevron and placing them beneath each setting, allowing them to extend downward over the pink linen.

I almost always use either white or ivory candles, but I’m getting bolder in my old age! 😉 Long black tapers are set into a trio of 20″H goldtone candlesticks to add height and color down the table’s center.

Black powder-coated ginger jars hold a mix of pink peonies, white alstroemeria, and star blossoms. (Florals used here for demonstrative purposes are faux, but I encourage the use of natural flowers for actual entertaining. If, however, all natural flowers are out of your budgetary reach, try mixing realistic fauxs with fresh. The key there is realistic fauxs that blend well!)

Lined up on each side of the centerpiece are four gold mercury glass votives to add ambient light at the lowest level.

The notably restrained buffet decor is a giant black ginger jar flanked by a pair of the same F. Winkel & Co. plates as used on the table. Florals from the table are extended by simply plopping 3 peonies into a shallow black bowl.

2012 is the Year of the Dragon, so printed menus with the Chinese symbols for dragon – 龙年 – or a dragon watermark, or menus in the shape of a dragon would be another element to make this table special. Specialty stores may carry oversized ceramic dragons which would be a great addition, too! (Or go check out Grandma’s attic for them. These dragons, as well as panthers for some odd reason, were all the rage in contemporary 1960s homes.) A nice substitute for the peonies would be deep pink carnations, orchids or, depending on availability, pink plum blossom branches which symbolize luck. If your budget allows for it, rented bamboo chiavari chairs in black would be the crowning touch!

More tablescapes using hot pink on this site:
“Daisy Crazy“
“Hello, Dahlia“
“Let Them Eat Cake“
“Hollywood Fright Night“