Tablescape Thursday – Holiday Breakfast Table Setting

For Tablescape Thursday I’d like to share changes to the breakfast table in the kitchen. The linens, flatware and water goblets remain the same as the October setting, but the dishes were switched out for Spode "Christmas Tree" plates and bowls.

A matching pair of candlesticks with red candles and candle rings, join matching goblets, sugar and creamer, a crystal angel and crystal tree.

The Spode cake plates and serving forks and handy for serving biscuits, rolls, etc.

Although I have a dozen "Christmas Tree" mugs, I don’t have any cups and saucers. So the off-white Canonsburg "American Traditional" serves our tea drinking needs.

On the counter near the stove small Spode votive cups are grouped with tree-shaped candles.

On top of the stove three sets of tree-shaped salt and peppers stand with two pairs of snowmen shakers and a framed menu.

I have not been able to go to the backyard to get fresh greenery (we had a big snow storm last week, and the snow is hard and slippery), but the holiday items gives the place a festive touch. However, since the family will gather at my house for Christmas, my mother and I have been hanging garlands on the fireplace, over the dining room entrance, etc. Happily, we still have a week to get everything (including the food) done.

Thanks for visiting today. Be sure to visit our hostess Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for more holiday Tablescape Thursday posts.

NOTE: I am late in posting because Blogger did not allow me to load photos -- until I bought more storage!

Vintage Thingies Thursday – Holiday Aprons

Having been side tracked by a very bad head and chest cold for the past week and a half, I have not been able to do any holiday posts (quite in contrast to holiday 2007 and 2008). Then, just as I was writing this today, the power went off for three hours.

For VTT today I’m sharing a couple holiday aprons – one fairly new, the other vintage from Ebay. Since my kitchen has a Christmas tree theme with dishes, candles, salt and peppers and figurines,

I bought the matching linens from Spode, including a bib apron:


The second is a green gingham half apron with cross stitch embroidery forming trees on the pockets.

Note the row of pockets across the apron:
Darker green and red thread makes a pretty pattern.

See more Vintage holiday Thingies Thursday posts listed by Suzanne at Coloradolady.
Happy Holidays!

Trim the Tree Thursday – Angel Tree

Trim the Tree Thursday is sponsored by Brett at The Hostess With the Mostess. Brett is amazing at planning and organizing for entertaining.

For this week’s post I will show my angel tree, which I did for many years. It stood in front of the window in the living room. It is a 7-foot tall artificial tree with wide full branches. It is lit with clear mini lights - a 140-string set with programmed flashing, and a 100-string with steady lights. Gold bead garlands are crisscrossed over the branches. The angel ornaments are supplemented with ivory, peasant blue and peach glass ball ornaments. The colors pick up those in the draperies and upholstery.

Under the tree is a large ceramic nativity scene.

Over the years I had collected many different angel ornaments. I gathered quite a number of Renaissance type angels made of plastic with cloth garments.

I bought several each in blue robes, in red, in ivory, in blue green, and one each in gold and purple. These angels were placed strategically across the tree to give it visual rhythm. Other angels were filled in throughout the branches.

Thank you for letting me share one of my favorite trees. For more Trim the Tree posts see the list at Brettinsky’s blog.

Christmas Tree Vintage Styling

For the past few years I have been having has a sense of longing for the Christmas trees and ornaments in the 1950's and 60’s. I do not know where the ornaments went that were at our house while we were growing up. I always remember the shimmering aluminum tree my aunt and uncle had. I believe it came with a revolving color wheel that splashed light on the tree. It seemed so stylish at the time.

Well, a visit to an antique store day before yesterday, November 28, provided me with a small group of vintage ornaments -- plus one lone crystal prism.

Many are not in the best shape, but they serve to evoke the nostalgia for Christmases past.




The lot also included a few Santa ornaments. A couple of them resemble bread dough. One cute little Santa is in an unopened package from Grant, a store which went out of business years ago.



At the Family Dollar store I found a $2.50 tree topper in the style of the fifties.



Then yesterday, Nov. 29, at T.J. Maxx I found a container of 16 silvery and soft gilt pinecone-shaped ornaments for $3.99.


Earlier, at Home Depot I had found a 2.7 ft. silver tinsel tree for $14.99.



This is how it looks so far with the ornaments and topper on:




Actually, I am scared to use the topper on the tree, since it has a warning to not use it on a tree with any metal. To take the pictures, I got the camera ready, then switched on the lights and snapped quickly, and unplugged the tree and the topper immediately. I took this without the lights and the ornaments seem to combine well with the tinsel tree.



Now, I must locate a suitable tree skirt, and also a few small angel ornaments to try to fill out the decorations. I must also select a nativity scene, since each tree at Oak Rise Cottage must have a creche underneath.

I decided to put this tabletop tree in the Living Room since I have not put up the 6 ½ foot tree in there since about 2002:


That big tree is in a box in the Garage. It is very realistic looking and I have missed putting it up each Christmas and filling it with angel ornaments. However, it takes quite a lot of effort to set up the pole in the tree stand, put on the branches, and string on all the lights. Then, it’s time to add all the glass balls and angels.

Maybe I’ll invest in one of those pre-lit, easy-to-assemble trees. In the meantime, it’s fun setting up the much smaller trees. My next project is the 4 ½ foot tree for the Dining Room. That one will have glass balls and nativity ornaments.

Thank you for stopping by my blog. Happy Holidays!