Colonial Williamsburg Christmas Centerpiece: Welcome to the 174th Tablescape Thursday!

Greetings!  Hope you’ve been having a wonderful day!  My day has been a little wacky.  I had an eye exam this morning and I sort of forgot when you go for an eye exam, they dilate your eyes.   So, if these pics look a little blurry, you’ll know why.  lol  It was definitely a challenge taking photos and sorting them with partially dilated eyes.

I love the “Colonial Williamsburg style” fruit trees. The tree I created this year is a bit different from those I've created in years past.




I took the leaf out of the table so this tablescape is a bit cozy.   I started out with red candles but changed to gold ones midway through the picture taking process.  So you’ll see both red and gold candles in this table setting as you scroll through this post.

In years past, I’ve created this fruit centerpiece with red apples, as seen in this picture from last year.  I always fill in around the fruit with holly from a large holly bush/tree in my front yard.  The holly tree had almost no berries last year, so I used pyracantha berries along with magnolia leaves around the base of the tree.

This year I used lemons and limes instead of red apples.  The holly bush (which is more like a tree it’s so big) had lots of berries this year.   So, instead of using pyracantha berries atop the magnolia leaf base, I added a few clove-studded oranges, instead. 




The limes are so big, they almost look like green apples, don’t they?  The dining room is filled with the wonderful scent of oranges, cloves and lemons.  Wish you were here to enjoy it with me.   If you would like to make a Colonial Williamsburg style fruit tree some year for Christmas, you’ll find the tutorial HERE.




I couldn’t capture any great pics of the china due to the glare of the chandelier (and my wonky eyes) so I pulled this picture from a previous post.




Instead of using the matching salad plates shown below,




I decided to use these accent plates in the same "Winter Greetings" pattern, instead.  Years ago I purchased 16 in this style (along with 12 in another Winter Greetings style) to use on a buffet table for Christmas parties.  They also make great dessert plates, too.  This year, I’m using them as our salad plate for Christmas dinner.

Can you name all the cute birdies?  Starting on the top left and going across, they are:  House Finch, Cedar Waxwing, Eastern Bluebird and a Downy Woodpecker.




Chickadee, Goldfinch, Nuthatch and a Cardinal.







For napkins, I layered gold sheaths trimmed in red and green over paisley napkins.  Green beaded napkin rings adds a touch of glamour to the setting.




Over the years, I’ve gradually collected Waterford's, 12 Days of Christmas champagne flutes. This is the first year I finally have six, enough to set a full table. I've collected days 1-6.  Isn’t it fun to have a collection you add to each year.  I think that may be more fun than just buying it all at once.   Is there anything you're collecting a few at the time each year?




I hope you have the most wonderful Christmas ever this year.   Merry Christmas to you, sweet friends!




Announcement:  The winner of the Noritake Giveaway has been announced on the giveaway post, HERE.

Resources:
Chargers: Horchow or Neiman Marcus, 4 years ago
Dinner Plates: Lenox, Winter Greetings, 3-4 years ago
Salad Plates: Lenox Accent Plates in the Winter Greetings pattern, 3-4 years ago
Stemware: All Waterford: Iced Tea is Araglin, Ruby Hock Goblet is Lismore and Champagne flutes are designed in a variety of Waterford patterns
Flatware: Towle, King Richard
Napkins: Marshalls or HomesGoods, 2 years ago
Napkin Sheaths: Pier 1, 1-2 years ago
Napkin Rings: Old Time Pottery (only $1 each)
Centerpiece was created on a wood, cone-shaped form, received as a Christmas gift from a friend many years ago.  You can see the form and view a tutorial for making the centerpiece in THIS post.
Brass candlesticks are by Baldwin.


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Welcome! Thanks for coming to the party!

A Mercury-Glass Christmas Tree Table Setting: Welcome to the 173rd Tablescape Thursday!

Several months ago I was shopping in Marshall's and I came across a mercury-glass Christmas tree. It was very early in the season and the stores were just starting to get Christmas stuff in. The tree was only $12.99 so I purchased it with the idea of buying a few more for my Christmas table setting this year. I was envisioning a centerpiece filled with pretty, silvery trees. Unfortunately, I never came across anymore silver trees in any of the discount stores. Pottery Barn had them but the price was way more than what I wanted to pay.

Then it happened. I went on a Christmas home tour and there it was, the table I had envisioned. These home tours are bad for the pocket book, ya know? It was gorgeous and I was ruined. The next day I bit the proverbial bullet and purchased a tall tree and two small trees at Pottery Barn. Ouch. Merry Christmas to me.

I still needed one more small tree. I didn't want all the trees to be exactly the same--so much more interesting when they don't all match. I just wanted them all in the mercury-glass style. I eventually found another one in Marshall's, but it was more silver than mercury-glass looking. You'll see it in some of the pics below. I wasn't satisfied with it and eventually I found another mercury-glass tree inexpensively on eBay, also visible in some of the photographs below. It adds a fun twist to this table setting.

The three center trees (including the tall one) are the ones from Pottery Barn. One cool thing about the PB trees: they are designed so you can tuck a string of lights up inside. In this pic below, the lights inside the 3 center trees are turned off.

In this pic, they are turned on.  They are really pretty with all the lights in the room turned off and the table is lit by candlelight alone.

Dinnerware is Noritake, Platinum.  I really wanted to add a tiny reindeer onto the center of each salad plate, but all the porcelain paint I found said it was non-toxic but not food safe.  Does anyone know of a paint that is considered food safe?







Glassware is Lenox, Fair Lady, chosen in 1978 as a bride-to-be.  I was just 12.  Yup, we marry young in Georgia.  Okay, I'm lying.  I was really 14.  The silver edging of the Fair Lady stemware worked beautifully with the Noritake, Platinum pattern.

All aglow...




Let's turn the lights off...just candlelight now.




Looking forward to all the beautiful table settings linked for Tablescape Thursday.

Resources:
Chargers: Horchow, 3-4 years ago
Dinnerware: Provided by Noritake, Pattern is Platinum
Stemware: Lenox, Fair Lady
Flatware: Towle, King Richard
Napkins: Neiman Marcus (look for their free monogramming and free shipping sales)
Mercury Trees: Pottery Barn, recently
Mercury Votive Holders: Pottery Barn, 2 months ago


To receive the latest posts, as well as updates about blog parties, subscribe via an RSS Reader or have BNOTP delivered right to your Inbox.  You'll find links to subscribe via RSS and e-mail on the sidebar to the right.  Thanks for reading; so glad you are here!

Reading this post via e-mail or RSS feed?
*If you are reading this via email or RSS feed, to view all the tablescapes linked for Tablescape Thursday, click HERE.

Please Read:
If you are participating in Tablescape Thursday, please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on your post name, then just copy and paste the address that shows up in the address bar, into the "url" box when you link up.

You'll need to include a link in your post back to the party in order to link up and participate.  That's so visitors to your blog will be able to find the party and  the other Tablescape Thursday participants.

If you would like to use the Tablescape Thursday logo button in your post, just copy and paste it to your computer and upload it to your post as you would any photo. Or, grab the html code you'll find under the "Parties" heading at the top of this blog.

Please, don't add your post name/blog name ALL IN CAPS...it tends to create big spaces between the rows of links. Thanks!

Let's try something fun today! Please visit the person who linked before you and after you...that way everyone will get some visits. Hope you'll visit more, of course.



Welcome! Thanks for coming to the party!

Giveaway: Beautiful Noritake Dinnerware and Stemware for Four

Announcement: Thanks so much to all who entered the giveaway from Noritake. The winner, chosen by the InLinkz Random Number Generator is:  Jennifer,  No. 237.  Congrats, Jennifer!  Please e-mail me at betweennapsontheporchatgmaildotcom.

Thanks again to all who entered!

I’m excited to share a fabulous giveaway today, one that’s perfect for this time of year.  The holidays are upon us which means family and friends will soon be calling.   Enter this giveaway, and you just may be serving them from brand new Colorwave dinnerware  and beautiful Breeze stemware in your favorite color!
 
The Noritake Colorwave line is amazingly versatile.  Recently, I created a fall table setting on the porch using both Colorwave Raspberry and Colorwave Chocolate in the same tablescape. 


 

The dinner plate was "Raspberry" while the bowl was "Chocolate."  They worked beautifully with fall patterned salad plates.



 

The stemware I used for that table setting was from the Noritake “Breeze” line.  Breeze Amber was perfect for an autumn setting.  (View this tablescape HERE.)


 

This stemware is also available in blue, clear, green, pink and red.  Wouldn’t the red be perfect for Christmas? 


 

Colorwave dinnerware comes in a variety of colors, too.  For this children’s Thanksgiving table I paired Colorwave Mustard, which is a wonderful sunny golden yellow, with a turkey themed salad plate. 


 

I’m looking forward to using Colorwave Mustard next summer paired with a floral centerpiece--maybe sunflowers.  (View this tablescape HERE.  Napkin fold tutorial can be found, HERE.)


 

The Raspberry Colorwave dinner plates that worked so well for autumn, made a reappearance in this Christmas table setting. 


 

Raspberry would also work well for a Valentine’s tablescape.   (Tablescape can be viewed, HERE.)


 

Colorwave comes in every color under the rainbow: red, yellow, green, blue, lilac, mint green, suede, graphite, sky blue and even white.  There’s a Colorwave pattern for every taste or occasion.

 

 


Giveaway: 4 Colorwave Place Settings & 4 Breeze Goblets


Noritake is generously giving away a beautiful table setting for four.  The giveaway includes four (4) place settings of Colorwave dinnerware and 4 Breeze Goblets.  The winner will select the Colorwave dinnerware and Breeze stemware in the color they like best.  Awesome!

How do you enter?  
There are several opportunities to enter.  The more times you enter, the better your chances are of winning since the winner will be chosen by a random number generator.

To enter this Giveaway:
1. Visit Noritake HERE and select the Colorwave pattern you would choose if you should win the giveaway.  Then leave a comment on this post naming your fave color. 

For additional opportunities to win:

2. For a second entry, subscribe to receive updates from Noritake about new products and upcoming sales.  You’ll find the “subscribe” box at the bottom of their home page, HERE.  Don’t forget to leave a comment on this post for an additional entry.

3.  For a third entry:  Leave a comment on Noritake’s Facebook Wall HERE letting them know you are entering the giveaway at BNOTP.
Not on Facebook?  Feel free to link to this giveaway on a forum where you're a member, or on your blog if you’re a Blogger. Don't forget to leave a comment on this post for an additional entry. 

4.  For a fourth entry, "Follow" Noritake on Twitter HERE.  Leave a comment on this post for an additional entry.

Important: *Be sure to leave a comment for each entry since the winner will be selected using a random number generator. 

As always, you do not need to be a Blogger or have a Blog to enter.
 
Note: This giveaway is restricted to U.S. residents due to shipping costs outside the country.

Giveaway ends at midnight, Sunday, December 18th.

Best of luck to everyone!

Thanksgiving Turkey Napkin Fold Tutorial

Recently, for Tablescape Thursday, I posted a Thanksgiving tablescape with the little ones in mind.  It included a fun turkey napkin fold.   Today I'm sharing a tutorial showing how it's made, in case you would like to incorporate it into your Thanksgiving table this year.

To create your turkey napkin fold, besides a napkin, you'll need a pinecone and a chenille pipe cleaner.  Actually, one pipe cleaner will make the necks/heads for two turkeys, so you'll only need 2 pipe cleaners to create turkeys for four place settings.

For this napkin fold, it's best if you fold your napkins on an ironing board so you can press each fold as you make it.  A little spray starch would be a great idea, too.  I didn't have any starch on hand and the napkins still came out pretty well, but starch would have given them a bit crisper look.  It was also very humid and raining off and on the day I created this table setting.  I had the door to the porch standing open since it was so warm out.  It's a wonder the folds I made didn't completely wilt.  So, if you don't have starch, don't worry.  They should still be just fine.

Fold your napkin from right to left and press.

Starting at the bottom, fold up the edge of your napkin about 1 to 1 1/2 inches and press.  You may need to "test" fold a napkin or two before you figure out the right size/width to make each fold.  You'll will need to have about 4-5 inches left over in the end that doesn't get folded into the fan shape.  That left over section actually becomes the support for your napkin.

Turn the fold you just made up underneath the napkin to create another fold, and press.

Fold the napkin upward again and press.

Repeat this folding process back and forth, pressing each fold along the way.  Stop with the napkin in the position shown below with about 4-5 inches left unfolded.

Fold the whole napkin over from left to right...as shown below.

Take the top right corner and fold it downward (all four sections) and tuck those down under the napkin folds you've made, as shown below.

Press along the slanted edge of the flap you've tucked down.  This will be the support that helps keep your napkin stay standing up on the plate.

Place your napkin on the plate and gently open it up into a fan shape.  Here's a view of the back of the napkin once it has been opened.  You can see how the sections that were folded down and tucked behind the folds, become the support for the fan-shaped tail.

Just place your pinecone in front of your folded napkin and tuck your chenille pipe cleaner down into the pinecone, bending it to create the look of the turkey's neck/head.

For additional napkin folding ideas/tutorials, click on the heading "Tablescapes" at the top of this blog and scroll down past the tablescape links where you'll find additional napkin folding tutorials. Happy Turkey Day!