Bamboo Flatware For A Steal

As you may remember from this post, I have dark brown bamboo flatware that I bring out for special occasions. I just got an e-mail today that Neiman Marcus is offering 25% off select home items, and these bamboo flatware sets are on sale!! They come in 20 piece sets (4 place settings), so for 12 people/place settings, the light bamboo ones are $56.25 total and the darker brown bamboo ones are $78.75. That's less than a pair of shoes for a way to really spruce up your dining table for special occasions! Just wanted to pass on a good deal, or maybe good gift idea for Mother's Day!

Impromptu Dinner Party

Last night we had our families over for dinner, and for the first time in the 4 years we have been in our house, we decided to do dinner outside. I have always wanted to have a beautiful dinner party on our patio, but in Florida, 90% of the time, the nights are humid and buggy. But last night was a perfect night and we had many reasons to be thankful to all be together.


With an hour to set up, I first brought out our two 6' folding tables, that we got at a Black Friday deal last year for $29 each, and our 8 folding chairs that we use ALL THE TIME for various get togethers.  To round out the seating for our 11 guests, we used our wicker bench (found for free in an alley behind our house) and our desk chair with pillow.

Next, I covered the tables with two green Ralph Lauren tablecloths that I bought at HomeGoods 6 years ago for $7 each. They are used pretty much every Christmas (I now have red ones too!) and every holiday in between. Green is actually a neutral color, so they go with everything and every occasion! Don't judge me, the hostess did not have time to iron them. But in an hours time, most of the wrinkles had fallen out, and because it got dark before guests arrived, I didn't worry about it. Typically, I would iron them, or wash them and take them straight out of the dryer. Quick Tip: If in a pinch, use some Downy Wrinkle Releaser on them as they lay on the table and smooth some of the wrinkles out with your hand.


The napkins I bought on super clearance years ago too at Bed Bath and Beyond. They are a brown polished cotton, and I got all 12 for $6 (thats 50 cents each!).  The flatware is a special fun set that I bring out occasionally from Neiman Marcus. I purchased it on sale, but even at regular price it is a good deal for 12 placesettings ($105!).

The stick table runner is a few years old from Plum Party, but you can find a similar one here or here. Sicne it gets dark right around 6pm when we were having people over, I decided to light up the table with lots of candles. My husband thought it was a little too romantic for what we needed, as we were only cooking hamburgers and hot dogs, but I still loved it. I gathered all the glass Waterford and antique bowls that I never used, and several little glass candle holders and filled them with water and floating candles from IKEA, and citronella tea lights from Pier 1. The 'D' pewter napkin rings were from our wedding registry at Williams Sonoma, and match our everyday flatware, also from our registry.

As the sun was setting, we turned on the globe twinkle lights around our yard (which are up all year), and started a lovely dinner. I think it came out pretty perfect for being thrown together in an hour.

 

Check back this week for a few last minute tips for Thanksgiving! Happy Turkey Week!

Ribbon Place Cards

I have become a bit obsessed with vintage letterpress, and after scouring the internet for a set of block letters to use for stamping, came up with a cheap and fun idea for place cards.

I found an inexpensive rubber stamp kit at Michaels that I used a 50% off coupon during the black Friday sale for around $5. I also got a gold ink pad for about $4 and some white and gold ribbon for $0.50 a spool.

About half an hour before an annual Christmas dinner with some friends, I cut the ribbon into 12" pieces, and simply stamped their names onto one end, and tied them onto my vintage stemware. The stamp set I bought was the Typewriter font, and included both capitalized and lowercase letters. I chose to use the lowercase for my names since it looked a little more fun and festive. I love how they turned out, and the ribbon really dressed up the glasses too!

I also bought black ink that I can use on a darker color ribbon, like red for Valentine's Day, or a more elegant party or shower. Of course you could use the stamps on some colored paper for gift tags too.

I kept the dinner simple with red square paper plates from Target, and some bright green polka-dot napkins from the party store. Each guest got a brightly wrapped gift - check out the How-To tomorrow!

Cheers and Merry Christmas!

Give Thanks

I came up with a quick and easy centerpiece for fall and Thanksgiving, all for about $10.

 My local grocery store had bags of gourds and mini pumpkins on sale for $2 each, and I also picked up a bag of oranges for $3, and some whole cloves for $3. At home, I used the cloves to decorate the oranges - just stick them in! I decided to decorate a few oranges with dots and with stripes.

Half way through the oranges, I realized I could spell out words (and luckily had enough oranges left!), and so I came up with T-H-A-N-K-S. I pulled out my two large glass canisters and my antique Candlewick cake plate, and arranged  them in a trio on the table. Then I filled the canisters with mini pumpkins, gourds, and the plain oranges. I left a few of the beautiful orange and green gourds out to be placed with the alphabet oranges. What do you think?

I know that the oranges may not last until Thanksgiving, but it was so easy and quick to do that I can always whip up another batch before Thanksgiving.  Maybe even do multiple groups of different words, things to be thankful for.

This would also make a great place setting for your Holiday table. Just use the letter of the guest's first name spelled out in cloves, and place the orange on their plate. Guests will have something sweet and savory to take home with them. 

Since our dining room is in the middle of our house, I see this centerpiece a million times a day, and it constantly brings me warmth. The smell of the oranges and cloves has filled the house with their autumnal aroma, and the simple word of THANKS is a constant reminder of all we have to be thankful of this year.

Halloween Dining Decor

I am having some Ghouls over for dinner tonight, and decided to spruce up the house with some easy Halloween decor. Here is the dining room:

I used the same orange fabric from our Gator party, and added a cute cutout spider web runner from Pier 1. Here's a closer shot. 

The black wrought iron candlesticks were my grandmother's, and I have no idea how old they are. The blood taper candles are also from Pier 1. The spider is from the dollar store and I just suspended him from the chandelier.

In the background, you may see the mummy tray. I wanted to create one like Martha, and since we had a vintage glass head from a garage sale trip years ago, it was just too easy! I simplified Martha's recipe since I didn't want to deal with anything sticky. It came out just as I had hoped!

 

• Start with the head. You can get a Styrofoam one or a glass one, and actually I have seen vintage reproductions of my glass head at Pier 1! 
• Next, get two large rolls of gauze. The night before, heat up some hot water and either regular tea bags or instant coffee on the stove. 
• Once it is hot and brown in color, remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes, or until it is at a safe temperature to touch. 
• Place each roll of gauze, unraveled, into the pot for about a minute.  
• Remove, wring out in the sink (do not rinse), and place on a paper towel lined cookie sheet. You need to let the gauze dry out for about 12-18 hours.  
• Once you have the gauze dry, simply wrap it around your head until it looks like a mummy! I used about 1 1/2 rolls around the head and then draped the rest along the tray. 

I used a large silver tray from Salvation Army ($2), and after cleaning it, covered it with napkins, since I will be putting food around the mummy.  A super easy project that I will definitely replicate next year!

More to come this weekend as Halloween comes. Check back soon for more fun and fast projects before Halloween night!

Thanksgiving Place Cards

Setting the table for Thanksgiving does not have to be overly dramatic or time consuming... after all, you have more important things to do, like cook a turkey! You simply need to let your guests know that they are welcome there. Simple place cards add that finishing, and personal touch any Thanksgiving Day tables. Here are a couple of my favorite place cards available, all you need to do is download and print!Download these fun and vintage place cards here, courtesy of LollyChops.

Also from the lovely world of Martha Stewart:Download these more traditional turkey place cards here.

And lastly, my FAVORITE! I love this because it is beautiful, simple, and also a favor your guests can take home with them!

Thanksgiving Day Menu

Thanksgiving is almost here (can you believe it?!), and whether your day is full of family, or a few people, there are some great ways to spruce up your table.

One of my favorite bloggers, Mrs. Limestone, is a fabulous graphic designer when she is not at her day job or renovating her amazing Brooklyn home. She has created some awesome (and free!) Menu templates you can use for your Thanksgiving dinner found here for downloading.

I think I am going to blow one up to Legal Size and place on a picture stand at the beginning of the buffet, instead of one for each place setting. Thanks Mrs. Limestone!

Beginning this weekend, there will be a recipe or Thanksgiving Day idea here EVERYDAY up until the big day, so check back soon!

Presentation Is Everything

Tableware is one of the most important things in entertaining. It is what you use to present your food, and even if it is store bought, you want it to look good.

When my husband and I were registering for our everyday place settings, we wanted something neutral, but not white, and could be used for both a casual dinner or a festive dinner party. And then we found Vera.... Vera Wang for Wedgwood, two amazing companies who know about table style and presentation, have teamed up to create the stoneware Naturals line. We chose the Leaf color as our set, which you can see in my recipes and above, is almost khaki with a hint of green. The more we use it, the more we love it, and the way all our food looks on it too!

The point is, your everyday dishes should be versatile and presentable, in the fact that you will use them daily for EVERYTHING. White is classic, and while this was my first choice for tableware, we decided to be just a little different. Also, my mother had always LOVED the Fiesta Dinnerware, and after 25 years of marriage and boring plates, decided to ditch her old place settings and splurge for all her favorite colors of Fiesta. She just loves how the vivid colors of the plates really bring food to life. Since ours are neutral, I love to incorporate other colors into our dinner presentations. As you may recognize from pictures, we have red bamboo plates, and orange baroque plates from Pottery Barn. I am also a HUGE fan of Nora Fleming's line of off-white dishes with "mini's" to decorate for any occasion.

No matter what you are cooking and serving, always remember that presentation is a dish's first impression. You want to be sure to serve it on something that you love as much as the food itself.

Photos courtesy of Wedgwood, Nora Felming, Pottery Barn, and Homer Laughlin China Company.