Wondrous Wheat!

November 25, 2011January 31, 2018 / Alycia Nichols / 29 Comments

I hope your Thanksgiving was one filled with love and laughter and lots of fabulous food! Ours certainly was, and I was thrilled to be surrounded by family and friends whose love I treasure.

With 28 tummies to fill, we had to set up in various locations around the house with a different theme in each area. The lower level had seating for the football enthusiasts, while the main level had a table for 10 in the living room and one for 6 in the dining room. It is my understanding that wheat symbolizes prosperity and blessing. The dining room – with all the homemade breads and desserts on the buffet – seemed the perfect place to celebrate the fall harvest.

While black and creamy white may not be a traditional Thanksgiving decor combination, I decided to buck the system and go for it!

Inspiration for this black and white tablescape came from my Royal Stafford “Herdsman” dinner plates. The rim is peppered with stems of wheat among the bounty of fruits and flowers. The braided rope rim of the charger imitates the design on the inner circle of the plate.

The black napkins are folded twice lengthwise then doubled over inside the silver napkin ring. I fanned out the bottom for a fuller look of this simple napkin fold.

Keeping with the very traditional look of the table – color scheme notwithstanding – I chose Mikasa’s “Jamestown Platinum” stemware. The name “Jamestown” just evokes thoughts of colonial Virginia! (Fun fact: Jamestown celebrated their first Thanksgiving 401 years ago in 1610.)

Of course, Hampton Silversmith “Patriot” flatware seemed absolutely right for this traditional Thanksgiving tablescape! (Hampton…yet another Virginia city!)

An image of wheat on the menu furthers the theme. (Find recipes for the Drunken Peach Cobbler, Sweet Potato Pie, and Apple-Walnut Cake here or by clicking on “Recipes” tab above.)

The centerpiece was kept simple with a few silver candlesticks and blackbeard wheat in square vases. The very center of the table was reserved for a silver bread basket filled with cornbread muffins and my sister’s fabulous yeast rolls.

The buffet piece is a blackbeard wheatsheaf adorned with a simple black bow. No one was more surprised than I that it turned out as nice as it did…and didn’t fall over! 🙂

Thanksgiving 2011…out!

Pheasants & Peacocks

November 22, 2011November 5, 2021 / Alycia Nichols / 46 Comments

After Sunday’s very unexpected and very unnerving decorating fiasco (click here if you missed out on the horror of it all), I have finally regrouped. I figure I haven’t time to wallow in it with all the cooking and cleaning left to do before guests start arriving on Wednesday night. (I have forgiven myself for being such a nitwit, but I will never forget!!! :-))

I spent minimal time on this new centerpiece, but I think it will suffice. Ramon helped me rearrange the tables into a square shape rather than the original 12-ft. long oblong. It seats 2 fewer guests, but we’re also seating in the dining room (click here for those photos) and on the lower level for football fanatics.

A couple of full-length ivory linens drape the 6-ft. tables kissed lengthwise to create an “almost square” which will seat 10 of our 24 guests.

A deep chocolate charger is foundation to the exquisitely detailed Alex Piefers brown peacock china I bought a couple of years ago at a boutique called Home Finishings here in Lee’s Summit. I have an unnatural attachment to this china. It’s just so….cool! 🙂 I used it last year at my friend Jean’s house, too, in a post called Shake Your Tail Feather! (According to an unsubstantiated Google source, these dishes were manufactured by the Johnson Brothers in Britain, discontinued in 2003. I’ve been unable to find any other useful information on these beautiful dishes.)

I chose Complementary faux mother of pearl napkin rings (Old Time Pottery) and flatware (Target). The ivory Bed Bath & Beyond napkins are simply folded twice lengthwise, secured with the ring, and draped vertically across the plates.

I like the height of Godinger’s “Chelsea” collection stemware.

Everyone should be pretty well fed!

The new centerpiece made up of various sizes of LEDs, faux cabbages, pumpkins, pinecones and a few pheasant feathers is set atop a 28″ silver beaded-edge cake plateau. The mantel decor complements the centerpiece with several of the same elements.

I certainly hope that you and yours enjoy a safe and loving Thanksgiving! After stuffing yourself with turkey and pie on Thursday, throw on your elastic waist pants and pop on over to join tablescapers from all over the globe for Susan’s Tablescape Thursday!

Autumn White Wedding

October 4, 2011February 1, 2018 / Alycia Nichols / 94 Comments

I recently received a request for ideas on an autumn wedding. Not that I have anything against fall colors, but sometimes it’s fun to march to the beat of your own drum. Try instead an autumn rehearsal dinner, bridal shower or wedding reception using the more unlikely colors of white, cream and chartreuse with touches of earthy brown for good measure. (For more wedding table ideas click here!)

If the weather is still warm enough in fall to do an outdoor wedding event, go for it! When you set up outdoors, the sky is the limit where your decorating options are concerned!!!

A full-length ivory table linen is topped with a satiny brown runner to add color and dimension to the tabletop. The place settings are fairly traditional with glossy silver chargers and ivory dishware from TJ Maxx. (One huge no-no is to use items that will upstage the reception decor on “The Big Day.”)

The napkin (Bed Bath & Beyond) is very simply folded across the dinner plate and tucked beneath. A white mini pumpkin is centered on each napkin. While a faux pumpkin is used for this sample setting, I suggest using the real thing. Mini pumpkins can be purchased at the grocer this time of year for around 50 cents apiece, and they make a great little take-home gift. (Or you can take the leftover pumpkins to bling them up and use them in a fall arrangement like here.) If you know a calligrapher or someone with exceptional handwriting skills, ask them to pen the names of each guest onto the pumpkins! Cooler yet….have them inscribe the monogram of each guest. That’s really different and kinda fancy to boot! 🙂

Keep the flatware along the same line of formality as the rest of the setting. The design on this flatware is similar to the pattern on the rim of the dinner plate. I went with Cristal d’Arques “Longchamps” crystal that offers a lot of bang for your buck.

Long tables offer an opportunity to do so many cool things with the centerpiece!
A mix of high and low arrangements fill out this 12-ft. table. For even longer tables (so cool to see 18-, 24-, or even 36-ft. tables!!!), add more high ones to balance it out. For this table, I used a little wrought iron number I bought earlier this year. It’s reversible…or at least I made it that way by accident! Lesson learned? Play with your toys…don’t just use them the way they were displayed at the store!!!

This is the way it’s used here, but it’s actually upside down and missing some parts!

This is how it’s supposed to look. I finally figured out what all those “extra” mystery pieces were for!

I outfitted the top of the centerpiece with a grapevine wreath bought at Hobby Lobby. I secured it with floral wire. Next came lots and lots of flowers including chartreuse and creamy white hydrangea, white roses, and a few orchid blooms. (Sprigs of green hypericum berries, unripened coffee beans or unripened raspberries would really look slick and add more texture, too!) Hydrangea quickly wilts, so the trick is to put the water vial on the end of the floral stem immediately AFTER it is inserted into the wreath so it doesn’t wiggle loose. (Took me half the doggone wreath to figure that one out! :-() Use floral tape to secure the vials to the twigs so they don’t poke out or fall off during dinner…which would be highly embarrassing! Tuck in bits of fabulously bright chartreuse reindeer moss to help hide the mechanics of your arrangement, and finish it off with a plump white pumpkin. (Hint: When you go wreath and pumpkin shopping, take the centerpiece you’ll be working with along to make sure the wreath is the right size and that the pumpkin won’t overwhelm or topple it.)

The ugly little spindly legs on the bottom part of the centerpiece are camouflaged with mounds of florals accented with reindeer moss and a white mini pumpkin.

A mini pumpkin rests comfortably on a cushy bed of reindeer moss. I like the moss to look a little bit messy as nature would have it.

The side globes hold a single orchid bloom atop more reindeer moss.

The smaller components of the extended centerpiece correspond with the main piece. Iron candlesticks with fat pillar candles are flanked by small rose-filled globes stuffed with reindeer moss to keep a consistent look.

This same concept could easily apply to a winter wedding by swapping out the pumpkins with oversized ornaments. The look also works well indoors so long as the height of the centerpiece doesn’t interfere with overhead lighting, fans, etc.

I’m hooking up with my pals at Susan’s Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday again this week. If you’ve never visited, you really must! Lots of talent out there!!!

A special shout out and great big thank you to Angie over at Echoes of Laughter who helped me figure out how to get rid of the bothersome “no reply” feature when I leave comments on other blogs. Teamwork paid off!!!

Autumn Blues

September 20, 2011October 5, 2017 / Alycia Nichols / 109 Comments

This week – September 22 to be exact – I celebrate one year of sharing my craft with all the other tabletop enthusiasts who look forward to Susan’s Tablescape Thursdays at Between Naps on the Porch. I have made some incredible connections through my association with this group, and it has been a wonderful journey down a road paved with the exchange of neat ideas. Beyond that, it has been an experience that has created truly supportive and caring friendships with people I have never had the pleasure (yet, anyway!) to hug in person. I am further beholden to all of you fabulous folks who have so graciously become a follower. You guys rock, and I thank you!

A happy and very unexpected extra this week: I discovered this morning that I am the winner of Yvonne’s StoneGable Giveaway!!! The prize is English Transferware from Nancy’s Daily Dish!!! Thank you to Yvonne for hosting the giveaway and to Nancy for her incredible generosity!!! I feel like Melissa McCarthy at this year’s Emmy Awards!!! 😉

I have posted some fairly over-the-top tablescapes the last several weeks. This week I am toning it down just a bit for a more laid back summer-into-fall transitional tablescape that is easy to replicate and that I hope you will enjoy.

This tablescape is one that would work well for an intimate evening with close friends or sharing a meal with another couple. It deliberately strays from the trappings of a traditional autumn table so that it can simultaneously represent the official close of summer.

The full-length table linen transitions from summer white to a deep ivory. A pretty April Cornell table runner from TJ Maxx brings color as well as the only floral element needed to the table. The runner’s brown background captures the essence of autumn while the varying shades of blue keep a foothold on the last bastion of summer.

A deep brown charger is topped with creamy ivory dishes with a scalloped edge from Pier 1. (These were purchased 6 or 7 years ago.)

The menus were created on my desktop computer using a soft blue lightweight cardstock backed by a deep brown heavier weight. The pages are secured using simple silver brads purchased at Hobby Lobby.

Beneath the menus are April Cornell napkins folded in the easy “Double Ring” style as illustrated on page 17 of Denise Vivaldo’s book “Perfect Table Settings“. This easy napkin fold allows the menu to enjoy a cushioned pedestal rather than lying flat. This particular fold just happened to yield a really interesting design!

The flatware is a faux mother of pearl from Target.

While using the same pattern of stemware for a setting is lovely, it’s often just as pretty (and sometimes prudent!) to mix the colors and patterns. Here a single deep blue stem from TJ Maxx dutifully breaks the monotony of the clear glass at its sides and mirrors the blue in the runner, napkins and menus. The trick when mixing is to identify some fundamental element of the stemware that either matches or complements.

Individual salt & pepper shakers are always a nice touch.

Sometimes simple is better, and in this case that certainly rings true. The centerpiece is composed of a clear glass globe set atop a very traditional lacquered wood stand from Old Time Pottery.
(To see another tablescape using glass globes, click here.)

Fresh curly willow nestled in the bowl resembles the meandering vines found in the runner and napkins. To achieve this simple, inexpensive (and totally reusable!) look, wind fresh curly willow tips tight enough to slip past the mouth of the bowl. That’s it! The willow will stay green for several days and darken gracefully with time. It’s beautiful either way. I store several bowls with the willow still inside it so that I don’t have to buy fresh every time!

One of my dearest friends, Monica Goodwin, gave me these fabulous (and very heavy!) carved candlesticks for Christmas one year. I like the height they provide without taking up a lot of space. Here’s another fun little trick: If you prefer chunky pillar candles as seen here instead of slim tapers, simply use a bit of Cling or other floral adhesive to temporarily adhere the candle to the top of the candlestick to steady it. On particularly breezy evenings I suggest taking the safety measure of using LED pillar candles as seen here.

Well, that’s another one for the books! Thank you again to Susan, my blogging colleagues, and all of you who stop in each week to let me know how I’m doing.
Happy Almost Fall! 🙂

More tablescapes on this site using curly willow:
“Copper Zen”
“Welcome Back, Joel”
“Blushing Bridal“

Won’t you please join Yvonne, Nancy and the rest of us for Tablescape Thursday again this week? You’re always a welcome guest!

Mikasa “Daylight” Giveaway!

March 22, 2011July 29, 2017 / Alycia Nichols / 80 Comments

This is one of the most exciting posts I have ever created!!! I hope YOU are excited, too, because you have a chance to win a Mikasa “Daylight” gift set!!!!!!!!! It is just TOO pretty….I fell in love with it the moment I saw it!

First, the business end of the giveaway. Rules for your chance to enter and win are:

Leave a comment and become a follower of this blog, Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One. Both current and new followers will be eligible. Scroll to the bottom of this post, or click here to become a follower.
Post photos of your best spring tablescape on the Mikasa Facebook page. Be sure to mention on their Facebook page that you are a part of this fabulous giveaway!!!

That’s it! That’s all! It’s just that easy!!! The contest for this beautiful Mikasa “Daylight” gift set starts right now and runs through March 30, 2011, 11:59 p.m. I will select and announce the very lucky winner here on Friday, April 1, 2011. (Wouldn’t it be nice to get a GOOD April Fool’s Day surprise for once?!!) The winning table will then be featured here on Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One the following week with a link to your blog! So put your creative thinking cap on, pull out all the stops, design & photograph your best spring tablescape, and enter to win! I can’t wait to see all the fabulous entries!!!

Now…pictures of not one, but TWO very different set ups I created using this incredibly versatile pattern.

DESIGN #1

The first design pairs the apple green found in the dishes with lucious purple, and it is suitable for breakfast, brunch or a spring luncheon.

On a crisp white table linen, I started with a Pier 1 “Natural Flower” placemat and a plain white porcelain charger. While my chargers look great with this ensemble, Mikasa has a fabulous charger in the”Daylight” pattern that would look even better! Atop the charger is the “Daylight” dinner plate.

The final layered piece is the “Daylight” soup bowl. Off-centering the bowl allows you to show off the design on both pieces. Simple glassware and flatware lets the dishes be the star. (Mikasa has crystal glasses in this pattern, though, that would really make your table special!!! Their “French Countryside” or Wallace “Butterfly” flatware – both available through Mikasa.com – would be a hit here, too!)

My husband insisted that the table needed place cards, so I fashioned these using plain white tent cards to which I added a leaf design and piece of natural twig to complement the dishware. OK, Ramon…you were right again! Whatever, man! 🙂

It’s officially spring according to the calendar, but it’s still a bit chilly out. To bring nature in, the centerpiece contains lots of outdoorsy elements including a weathered metal birdcage filled with spring flowers from the nursery. When the weather warms a bit, I’ll plant the flowers in containers on the porch (if I can keep them alive that long!). A Hobby Lobby grapevine wreath on a Pier 1 iron stand adds further texture, color and dimension to the display.

I bought this cool clear gazing ball at Z Gallerie last year.

A pair of these pretty white birds were a recent purchase from Michael’s.

African violets in white ceramic pots anchor the ends of the entire centerpiece.

Bells of Ireland from St. Patrick’s Day are still thriving, and they go very well with this color motif. Pots of chartreuse pothos would also be an excellent choice.

The salad/dessert plates and cup & saucer sets are magnificent! The saucer color just blows me away!

There are many, many additional tabletop and serving pieces in the “Daylight” collection. You can bet your bottom dollar I will have several on my birthday and Christmas wish lists!

DESIGN #2
The second look I put together is geared toward the dinner hour to show, in the Mikasa website’s own words, how the “Daylight” pattern is “perfect for casual and formal entertaining alike.” The Asian influence created here was suggested by my stepdaughter in a moment of creative clarity while working on her chemistry homework. Thank you for the suggestion, Robyn!

This is a much simpler, pared down look that really gives the dishes the starring role.

In many Asian cultures, drinks are not often served with meals. Therefore, I decided to forego stemware for this setting. Starting again with a white table linen, I topped that with a bamboo placemat. Notice how the placemats are turned vertically to hang off the table for the side guests and horizontally for the end guests. This was just a measure for added visual interest on my part. The same white porcelain charger from the first setting was used although, again, the apple green of the “Daylight” charger would look even better. Here I imagined a meal served teppanyaki style (a la Benihana) with a salad, soup (served from the buffet in back), and then the grilled entreé.

Chopsticks are traditionally and correctly placed to the right of the dishes on a chopstick rest, but I liked them here on the edge of the plate instead. For those who have not yet mastered chopsticks, Mikasa’s “Rockford” stainless flatware is the perfect substitute!

I used plain white cotton napkins, folded to resemble a Japanese obi (sash). A fortune cookie rests atop each napkin. According to Wikipedia, “fortune cookies have been summarized as being ‘introduced by the Japanese, popularized by the Chinese, but ultimately they are consumed by Americans.'”

I wanted the centerpiece to convey a feeling of tranquility and simplicity. A bamboo tray lined with smooth river rock and neat rows of square votive cups is my version of that. Tall square vases filled with blooming cherry blossom branches flank the lighted piece with a few additional votives placed on each end.

The tranquil Asian theme is carried over to the buffet. A matching bamboo tray holds cups and saucers ready for tea after dinner. A neat stack of soup bowls with Pier 1 miso spoons awaits a healthy portion of egg drop or sweet and sour soup. (If you want to go more authentic, Mikasa has a beautiful 10 oz. rice bowl in the “Daylight” pattern!!! There is also a fabulous 20 oz. rice bowl for serving!) The teapot shown here is from Pier 1, but…you guessed it!…Mikasa has a stunning tea pot in this gorgeous leafy pattern! (On my wish list, Ramon!)

So….that was a lot of pictures!!! I hope you were able to get a little inspiration from these diverse settings. I will feature other table settings using the “Daylight” pattern in future posts when I can finally get outside in the fresh air!

Remember…to enter: just leave a comment and subscribe to follow this site below, then hustle on over to Mikasa’s Facebook page to “Like” Mikasa and post your most enlightened spring tablescape! I will announce the winner on this blog (no fooling!) on April 1! Happy tablescaping, and good luck!

Last, but not least, I’m linking to Susan’s Tablescape Thursday again this week!
Join us, won’t you?

Love & Orchids

September 29, 2010December 19, 2012 / Alycia Nichols / 16 Comments

Click here or on the “Wedding” tab above to see the all photos of this tablescape!

Yes, I know I said I have retired! But when a friend asks, you answer…with a gracious – if not cautious – yes!!!

I know autumn has settled upon us, but pictures from this late summer engagement party could not be ignored. I had such a wonderful time putting this together with a surprisingly almost total “hands off” approach from both families. In the end, they were pleased and I was relieved. No, I won’t be doing the wedding. I really have sworn off that part! You may see, however, a shower tablescape or two next spring as they near their June wedding date.

Click here or on the “Wedding” tab above to see the all photos of this tablescape!

Congratulations, Kelli & Christian!

Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One is proud and pleased to participate once again in Tablescape Thursdays hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. You are welcome to peek in on the talents of lots of other tablescape enthusiasts!