Grill It Up!

May 19, 2014August 7, 2017 / Alycia Nichols / 52 Comments

INSPIRATION: BBQ Towel/Napkin, just $1 each from Dollar Tree

Memorial Day weekend, in addition to its primary purpose of paying tribute to our loved ones who have passed on, marks the unofficial start of Summer. Grilling and a picnic atmosphere are both a huge part of this time of year. We’re getting our Summer picnic table for 6 kicked off with a 90″ x 132″ economy white tablecloth from LinenTablecloth.com topped with a fun red & white checkered 60″ x 126″. These linens wash up really well, so no worries…slather on the bbq sauce!

Each place setting begins with a basic black dinner plate from the Dollar Tree topped with a smoky red crock (I can just taste the baked beans now!) from T.J. Maxx/Home Goods. The white flatware is also from T.J. Maxx.

Mason jars – typical at many family gatherings I attended as a kid – have become a staple in farm chic entertaining in the past few years. Here the old-fashioned drinking vessels are accented with a fun black & white striped straw from Michael’s.

What summertime picnic is complete with juicy, ripe strawberries? Try serving them up in something fun like this luscious red miniature colander from Old Time Pottery.

A duo of inexpensive clear glass water carafes from Big Lots is set up on each end of the table. A slice of lemon is added to each to add a little color and flavor as well as to make the carafes an integral part of the centerpiece.

“Ness’ Snow Cloud” African violets are presented in shiny red pails from Hobby Lobby and placed atop a Pottery Barn galvanized aluminum tray for a simple centerpiece.

The side table is set up with additional beverages iced down in a galvanized aluminum tub from Home Goods. A galvanized tin tray from Home Goods holds various sauces including two hometown favorites. The fun ant-covered plates are from Pier 1. Veggies for kabobs are served up on a cherry red Chantal serving dish.

My Dad – a farm boy-cum-business/civic leader – passed away last year, and while cleaning out the garage my Mom found his old Coleman lantern, thought to have been purchased in the late 1960s – early 1970s. As you can see, it saw some use in its heyday. It’s now a treasure for me as a reminder that “You can take Daddy out of country, but you can’t take the country out of Daddy.”

The grill master (or grill mistress, as it were!) has everything he/she needs including a porky little friend who ditched his chalkboard to hold the matches. The red plastic serving baskets are great for serving up ribs when lined with parchment paper!

Let’s get those coals going!!!!!!

Other posts on this site suitable for Memorial Day weekend get-togethers:
All-American Seafood Boil
Stars & Stripes
Ants In My Pants Picnic
Black, White & Red All Over
Blue & White Family Picnic

Other posts on this site using towels as napkins include:
“Popsicle Party”
“Black & White Barnyard Breakfast“
“Most Egg-cellent Fall Breakfast“
“Grill It Up!“
“Italian Honeysuckle”
“Picnic Ants“

I’ll be joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for “Tablescape Thursday” again this week and linking up with BeBetsy.com, a terrific lifestyle site with loads of fabulous ideas from knowledgeable and talented contributors. You can also find lots of great ideas at a fun new blog party, “Table It!” over at Christine’s Rustic & Refined.

Here’s wishing you all a safe holiday weekend!

Black, White & Red All Over Christmas Tablescape

December 12, 2012January 8, 2013 / Alycia Nichols / 70 Comments

I am all over the snowmen and glass cylinders this year! I pulled them out for “Winter Wonderland” tablescaping class demonstrations and they never made it back into storage. Even after classes were over, they became a part of our Christmas 2012 decor.

Last week I posted “Checkered Christmas“, a table for four in the library in which I used a squatty clear glass cylinder to display a jaunty snowman for the centerpiece. This week, I am taking that concept a step further with another black, red & white tablescape that uses the same snowmen and lots of the different sized cylinders that are so versatile year round. Well, just take a look and see for yourself!
(Click on any photo to enhance/enlarge it.
Photos by Sheri L. Grant and Alycia Nichols)

This black, white & red table starts with two 6-ft. oblong tables kissed together vertically to create a luxuriously long Tuscan-style table for 12. Cheery red floor-length tablecloths from LinenTablecloth.com yield that instantaneous holiday vibe. Note how cool the place settings look all lined up like Christmas nutcrackers! Holiday tablescaping is about whimsy and fantasy, so think about incorporating artistic touches hat will convey the magic of the season.

Last week’s table in the library featured round white chargers with black dinner plates. This week’s version flips the script with square black chargers and white dinner plates. The black against the expanse of red makes for a pretty dramatic look.

The next bit of drama is introduced via the napkin. A simple black napkin is folded twice lengthwise and a length of wide red satin ribbon placed on top. I then looped a small red ornament onto a length of thin satin ribbon and tied it around the napkin to give it a cinched waist look. Tuck the ends beneath the plate and add a sprig of snow-frosted pine greenery to finish the look. The simple and inexpensive step of adding the holiday ornamentation and cinching the napkin kept the table from taking on a decidedly Asian-inspired look.

Last week I liked the checkered pattern brought to the table via the linen and the snowmen’s scarves. This week, however, I kept the pattern a bit more subtle by creating a menu on my home computer with a black & white checkered backing. Using a ribbon hole punch that creates two evenly spaced vertical holes for threading, I tied it all together with a piece of thin red ribbon to complement the napkin treatment. Menus are a cost-effective (approximately 20¢ per menu including cost of colored ink) and easy way to not only let guests know what’s for dinner, but to give them something to take home as a memento of the evening. They are also a way to bring additional color and/or pattern to the table.

Sleek and simple Hampton Silversmith “Patriot – Mirror” flatware is used because of the squared off handle that works well with the square of the charger and dinner plate.

As with last week’s tablescape, simple clear glass stemware from Old Time Pottery is used. Stemware needn’t always be expensive to look good!

The same squatty glass cylinder used on last week’s table appears here, and this time he’s brought his posse! 🙂 Two smaller, thinner cylinders and two tall, slender ones have snowmen inside on a cloud of snow. The amount of pine greenery in each depends on the cylinder size. The small ones have a mere sprig of greenery, while the squatty original still has a long branch curled around the base inside. The tall ones are outfitted with long, full branches in an upright position. All are brightened with a few size-appropriate red ornaments. Lots of votive holders in a shape similar to that of the cylinders dot the table.

Note the black & white checkered scarf that mimics the design of the menus. On each end of the table is yet another small, squatty cylinder filled simply with “snow” and a cluster of shiny red ornaments. These complement the snowman cylinders without matching them to the letter.

This is how the mantel looked before I decked it all out with bling and greenery for our personal Christmas decor. More streamlined, simple. Oversized red Christmas balls are placed on each end atop short black wrought iron stands. Smaller ornaments on stands and on the mantel are placed in between with a few votives. On the hearth are two rustic Z Gallerie black hurricane lanterns filled with assorted sizes of red ornaments.

A stovepipe hat tree topper works perfectly with the snowmen on the table! This was just for my tablescaping class. I later added more ornaments and a few snowmen to the tree for our personal decor which will stay up until January.

So…there you have it! A variation on a snowman theme! Many of the elements for a round and intimate table for 4 tweaked to create a long and lush table for 12. Kinda like Burger King, y’all…have it your way! 🙂

For more Christmas tablescapes on this site:
“Checkered Christmas“
“Pink & Purple Chocolate Christmas“
“Sugar High Payback“
“Contemporary Christmas“
“Cranberry Christmas“
“Cranberry Christmas Squared“
“Get Me To the Church On Time“
“Christmas Progressive Dinner“
“White Hot“
“Winter Brunch”
plus NINE other tables on one page under the WINTER tab including “Frosty the Snowman” which demonstrates another fun way to use these snowmen!!!

If you would like to see another way to make glass cylinders really come to life on a table, check out the “Wedding” page. Scroll down to the 3rd post called “Love & Orchids“, and you’ll see how a variety of sizes are used.

I am happily skipping along to Cuisine Kathleen’s “Let’s Dish!” on Wednesday (anytime after 6:00 p.m. CST on Wednesday) and Susan’s “Tablescape Thursday” (anytime after 9:00 a.m. CST on Thursday). Join me! My blog buddies can really rock some holiday tablescapes!!!

Checkered Christmas – A Snowman Theme

December 4, 2012December 12, 2012 / Alycia Nichols / 70 Comments

It’s December 4 and a balmy 60°F degrees outside….in Kansas City! (For those readers who live outside the U.S.A., that’s smack dab in the middle of the country, and we are usually shivering through daytime highs of only around 35°F or 40°F by now!) Hardly the weather for a snowman! So you can imagine my tablescaping students’ surprise back in October when they walked in and saw a room full of them! A snowman-themed tablescape is always fun, though, whether you’re entertaining the mathematically young or the young at heart.

Next week I’ll bring you a variation of this table for a larger number of guests to demonstrate how the same basic elements can be used to create a table with an entirely different look! I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
(Click to enhance/enlarge any photo. Photos by Sheri L. Grant)

This is the kind of table that just brings me a lot of joy! It’s playful, but with a teensy air of sophistication introduced via the details. A full-length black and white checkered tablecloth from LinenTablecloth.com is the driving force behind this fun table setting. Its bold pattern commands attention in an unconventional way for Christmas. The dishes – a white ceramic charger from Old Time Pottery and a black ceramic dinner plate from Dollar Tree – are kept simple to avoid competing with the pattern.

Plain white cotton napkins are folded lengthwise to drape off the side of the table, gathered with ornamentation for a miniature Christmas tree, and embellished with a sprig of snow-covered pine.

Clear glass stemware from Old Time Pottery is used, including an Irish coffee mug for an after-dinner adult beverage laced with a chocolate-caramel liqueur.

The snowman centerpiece is made up of a squatty clear glass cylinder (I’m using these cylinders a lot this season!) layered with faux snow, pine branches and bright red berries. Red, besides being a traditional Christmas color, is a natural when paired with black and white. To complement the snowman’s attire, I added a dash of it to the table using a criss-cross of wide red ribbon. Notice how the checks in the tablecloth mimic that of the snowman’s jaunty little scarf. (I used these snowmen in a post called Frosty the Snowman two years ago. Click HERE or on the “Winter” tab above to see the difference.)

I used lots of votives on the table to counterbalance the deep tones of the black and red, further offset the quadrants already defined by the ribbon runners, and to add an adult dose of seasonal warmth and ambient light.

Over on the vitrine is an assortment of sweet treats and “whoopie juice” for your hot chocolate. The pine boughs used here are the same as those used on the dining table. (Repeating a key element throughout the room lends the desired cohesive look. Besides the pine boughs, other repeated elements here include snow, snowmen, black & white checks, the color red, and stovepipe hats.) Flanking the vitrine are huge urns topped with giant red ornaments.

The secretary on the opposite wall from the vitrine is decorated with a few more snowmen and more pine boughs including a wreath. Notice how the “Rule of 3” is used here with the wreath as a backdrop.

Geoffrey, dressed in his sexy fur-trimmed apron and stovepipe hat, joins the evening’s fun with an offering of Christmas cookies. Really, Geoffrey, you’re an English gentleman. Find a top hat that fits, will ya!!! 🙂

A silver Revere bowl filled with shiny red ornaments is simple but elegant.

Nine other Christmas posts can be found on this site’s WINTER page.
Additional Christmas posts on this site:
“Pink & Purple Chocolate Christmas“
“Sugar High Payback“
“Contemporary Christmas“
“Cranberry Christmas“
“Cranberry Christmas Squared“
“Get Me To the Church On Time“
“Christmas Progressive Dinner“
“White Hot“
“Winter Brunch“

I am delighted to join Cuisine Kathleen once again this week for “Let’s Dish!” starting at 6:00 p.m. CST on Wednesday and Susan for “Tablescape Thursday” starting at 9:00 a.m. CST on Thursday. My fellow tablescapers have some marvelous ideas for you to see!!!

Derby Day Dining

April 10, 2012January 31, 2018 / Alycia Nichols / 39 Comments

Last week I posted photos of the Kentucky Derby Buffet I created for my “Art of Tablescaping” students. This week I have the sit-down dinner version that uses a number of the same elements from that buffet table to demonstrate how various pieces can be used for either setting.
(Click on any photo to enhance/enlarge!)

The same table in the same room is all dressed up for a slightly more formal sit-down meal. I used the same black floor-length linen to let the gleam of the silver and brightness of the red roses show best. The white china tones down the dark linens and flower, thus saving the table from looking too morose.

I swapped out the more plentiful Arcoroc “Seabreeze” glass buffet plates for my sister’s very formal Noritake “Whitebrook” china. Derby Day is the time to pull out your finest china and silver, and this china is definitely treasured in our family. The china rests atop highly polished silverplate chargers.

These same lettered napkins were displayed in a silver champagne bucket in the buffet version. They are now simply folded, placed beneath the dinner plate and allowed to hang so as to prominently show the initial. The white of the napkin helps to break up the sea of black linen.

The same heirloom silver flatware pattern – last week placed head-to-toe at the start of the buffet table – is used.

Noritake “Spectrum” iced beverage glasses await the traditional Southern sweet tea. The same julep cups that surrounded the huge silver punch bowl on the buffet last week are now placed at each individual setting.

Each place setting gets its own salt & pepper shakers.

Last week these riding boots (actually a Z Gallerie umbrella stand!) were up to their straps in French baguettes. This week, sitting atop an heirloom silver tray (used last week to display veggies), they spill over with lush red roses. The silver candlesticks flanking the urns on the buffet last week are now on the table. Again I used metal case Paradise candles to keep the look pristine and avoid wax spills on my linen.

Over on the buffet behind the table where the punch bowl and julep cups were displayed last week is a more subdued coffee set up. The red rose balls on oil-rubbed bronze urns from last week remain in place.

On the wall sconces are miniature versions of the larger buffet urns with horseshoes added to further tie them in with the Derby.

With just a few tweaks here and there you can go from buffet to sit-down, casual to formal without sacrificing style. While the horse was omitted from this setting (I’m sure no one would want to spend the night staring up his rump!), the Kentucky Derby feel is definitely still there. It’s semi-formal, but made less stuffy with the addition of the whimsical centerpiece.

Another table on this site that I think would just look fantastic for a Kentucky Derby celebration, “Roses in October”, can be found HERE. Although it is set up using white roses, a simple switch to red roses would make it just perfect! If you’d like to see another tablescape using red rose balls and bouquets, click HERE for “Should Have Put A Ring On It” or HERE for “Kentucky Derby Buffet”.

I’ll be skipping on over to Tablescape Thursday at Susan’s Between Naps on the Porch on Thursday anytime after 9:00 a.m. CDT.