Have you ever considered a Thanksgiving Progressive Dinner? A moveable feast is a fresh way to enjoy the holiday. Perhaps pre-dinner cocktails and hors d’oeuvres at the first home while watching the Macy’s Parade and Bowl games, the main course at House #2 with a little more football, and finally dessert at House #3 followed by a neighborhood tour of Christmas lights to kick off the new holiday? You’ve arrived at House #3!
(1:18. No music, just in case you’re opening this at work! I’ve got your back!😉) And oops! Yes, that IS an open laundry room door caught in the mirror!🙄
A table laden with a variety of desserts is a sure way to delight your guests! I describe this one as Thoreau meets Liberace…a hybrid of natural and glitzy elements.
This dessert bar could be easily transformed into a Christmas/winter theme by exchanging the pumpkins and wheat for holiday elements like small trees, poinsettias or paperwhites, and interesting ornaments.
The huge dessert board that displays the cookies and pecan pie is from a lovely shop in downtown Lee’s Summit, MO, called Very Violet Boutique. I have BIG plans for this substantially-proportioned board in the coming years!
I LOVE this tray from Home Goods that holds the Cambridge “Esben” flatware and Pier 1 napkins! Those wrought iron handles…yaaaaaassssss!!!
These little duck casseroles were purchased at World Market YEARS ago. They’re perfect for individual rice or bread pudding with whiskey sauce! Emphasis on the whiskey sauce, y’all!🥃
The table runner with colorful meandering vines was purchased along with 6 matching placemats at Pier 1 many years ago. It’s nice to be able to shop your home for “just the perfect thing” and actually find it!
The wheat sheaves and smaller charcuterie/cheese/breadboards are all from Home Goods. I particularly like the wood slice cake riser. It will serve me well for years to come.
I created this cupcake stand using a couple of wood slices and a 3-legged wrought iron piece I happened to have. The oven-safe Rae Dunn cupcake holders are from Home Goods. They REALLY dress up cupcakes and muffins!!!
The expanse of desserts is broken up with this pumpkin/gourd/acorn/apple-filled wooden “trough” from Nell Hill’s in Kansas City, MO. I’ve used this vessel for a couple of tablescapes this season, including “Home for the Thanksgiving Holiday“.
More miniature covered casseroles from World Market for perhaps a taste of crème brûlée?
I have had these striking candelabra for a number of years and pull them out just about every fall for decorating somewhere around the house. As I often do, I used metal case candles which are a bit safer if accidentally knocked over. These are 15″H and perfect for lending a bit more height to the tablescape. (I have them in 6″ and 25″, too!)
More desserts, you ask?!! Why, indeed! It’s a dessert extravaganza!!! Don’t forget the coffee!
So there you have it! Perfect for Thanksgiving or anytime during the holiday season when family and friends gather together!
This is my final autumn-themed post for 2021. I hope to see you back here soon for the winter holidays!
If you’re looking for more ideas for your Thanksgiving or autumn tables, take a peek at these on this blog!
So…my first real post after a 2+ year absence. Hmmmm…I think I’m just going to let the photos do most of the talking. I’m still feeling this whole new WordPress thing out, but I decorated inside and out like it was 1999! No matter that parties and teas and luncheons will not take place here in these times of COVID-19. This is for US…for you! I’ll start with the Twelve Days of Christmas dining room and then move through the rest of the house in follow-up posts.
DESIGN INSPIRATION:
“12 Days of Christmas” dinnerware from the Better Homes & Gardens Christmas collection purchased 2 years ago but first used this season.
The pink dresses worn by the “9 ladies dancing” on the dinnerware drove the color scheme this year. I did my best to incorporate other elements from the song on the table including the “swans a-swimming” (the white porcelain swan centerpiece and the Limoges salt & pepper cellars), the “geese a-laying” (salt & pepper shakers my Mom brought back from her Bucket List trip to Dubai in early 2019), the gold (numbered napkin) rings, the partridge, and pears. The candelabra are from my days as a fine rental shop owner. As I’m still trying (without much luck) to select new dining room chairs, ballroom chairs with metallic gold covers fill the void.
I have never bought flocked trees because of the mess, but this year I couldn’t resist. Pencil trees are my jam now as a space saving measure, and these fit nicely in the dining room. Ornaments pick up the bright, festive colors from the dinnerware and include the “ladies dancing” (with a nod to Misty Copeland) and various wind instruments representing the “pipers piping.” The large gold metal reindeer have been used in other Christmas settings past including on the porch for “Better Late Than Never, Part 1”, flanking the single large tree for “Twas the Night Before Christmas Progressive Dinner“, and actually ON THE DINING TABLE for our “Christmas Progressive Dinner” back in 2011. A smaller version of the big boy reindeer makes an appearance here atop a storage chest on a silver tray filled with festive fruit, lights, and greenery.
The vitrine that was in our library for 15 years has now taken up residence in the dining room. Makes serving before and after dinner drinks (the norm if you’re a guest here for dinner!) much more convenient.
The smaller china cabinet on the east wall gets the full lighted greenery treatment that snakes through the collection of aluminum vessels, some filled with faux pears for the season. Inside, a simple pair of small evergreens (with more geese a-laying!) add a touch of Christmas. A trio of rustic evergreens tucked on the side of the cabinet add even more light to that corner.
That’s it for the dining room! It’s getting pretty close to Christmas, so I guess I’ll have to hustle it up getting the other rooms posted. See you soon!
If you’d like to see more Christmas settings from years past, just scroll down to “Christmas” under Categories toward the top of the sidebar to the right. You’ll pull up 30+ holiday entries from which to choose including a couple of my all-time favorites, “Black, White & Red All Over” and “Tartan on the Tee“. If you’re specifically looking for more pink-infused Christmas celebrations, pop over to my 2012 dining room, “Pink & Purple Chocolate Christmas” or a little something-something from 2014 called “Confectionery Christmas” both of which are very kid-friendly.
Thanks for seeing me through my return to blogging! I hope to see you again and again in the coming months!
Tablescapes at Table /Twenty-One 