The 2011 Christmas Luncheon

The most magical time of the year is Christmas. It brings out the child in all of us, and for most of us the best.
Busy as I am with the preparations, my favorite thing is of course the table setting. This year I decided to go for the traditional colors of the season with an emphasis on the RED.

I hope you like it.

I decided not to go with my usual matching of my

Christmas color scheme with the room decor

and celebrate with as much red as I could possibly stand

I even changed out the shades on the chandelier!

The centerpiece was a $10.00 find at a rummage sale.

It is filled with cranberry wooden beads

 topped with silk evergreens and red poinsettia

The red tapers, six in all are in crystal candleholders

atop a mirrored runner to reflect the sparkle

My Christmas china looks new when dressed with the red accents

The china pattern is repeated in the Lenox tablecloth and napkins

the red of the chargers brings out the little berriesin the pattern

The salad plate is new this year

A red and gold filagree pattern

sets an elegant tone

Adding to the color riot are matching poppers

very necessary for those funny pictures of everyone in paper crowns!

Red wine goblets on crystal stems were  the perfect choice

On the side table crystal water service

The mirror is dressed with a bountiful pepperberry wreath

The server is prepared and waiting for the dessert course.

Here I did take a break from the red and enlisted the help of

the yellow nutcracker to guard the goodies!

One last look

Thank you for coming by my little blog

Thank you for sharing your homes and creative ideas with me

I wish you a very very Merry Christmas

and all the very best in 2012

This week I will be joining

Tablescape Thursdays

and

Seasonal Sundays

Please click on the links to the right

to see other beautiful

tablescapes

The 2011 Thanksgiving at the Junction

Thanksgiving marks my one year blogger-versary!
When I began this creative journey I was so happy to have found a community of those who find joy in collecting and creating beautiful settings for all the special occasions we are so blessed to celebrate. I quickly found that it was more then a solitary documentation of my events when I began to make a circle of sweet, supportive 'cyber-friends'. Thank you all for you kind comments, the funny stories you share on your blogs and for your continued support of my creative endeavors.
Welcome my cyber-friends to the second annual
Thanksgiving at the Junction!

A more monochromatic color scheme this year

was inspired by the WS individual transferware

soup tureens purchased at the end of season last year

I added the solid brown salad plate atop the

Queens Myot Thanksgiving 

dinner plate framed by my favorite white chargers

A closeup of the pattern play

Each place setting rests on

 a burlap textured tablecloth

and simple brown placement

The textural theme was accented by these overscale

basket weave pumpkins found at Target

Keeping in mind the large scale centerpiece

 I accentuated its size by adding

 lamp shades to the battery candles

This tablescape did not lend itself to crystal

glassware, but these brown hued wine glasses found at the dollar store were perfect!

Target also had the perfect napkin rings for this

natural theme -

they look as if they were carved from wood!

Every year it seems as though Williams-Sonoma

has a piece I just can't live without.

This year was no exception.

My DH bought this as a surprise for me!

Yes, he's a keeper!

Extra plates on the server are complimented

by another 'floral'

with neutral and natural accents

Another service area in the dining room

holds the WS soup tureen

draped with seasonal florals

Thanks for taking time to drop by today.

To all of my 'cyber-friends'

All of my Fabulous Followers

Everyone of my super supporters

and the hosts of the blog parties I post to

Thank You!

I'm sure there are many others out there sharing their beautiful

ideas on decorating for the season

Click on the link to the right to see what they're up to -

This week I am joining

Seasonal Sundays

and

Tablescape Thursday

Wishing you many blessings of Thanksgiving

Halloween at the Junction

Halloween is almost as much fun for children as adults... ooops. Did I get that backwards? LOL
Well, here in The Junction the town is all a buzz with preparations for the 'holiday'.  The store front owners seem to decorate as much for fright night as they do for Christmas!
I am no exception ... I think it's contagious. I have my table set for the Halloween dinner, and the foyer is all set to welcome my visiting goblins.
Stop by for visit and I'll give you a preview.

On the foyer table

 a little Halloween village greets you

This little witch is one of my favorite pieces

Notice she's smiling!

Another smiling ghost rounds out

the other half of the setting

The dining room buffet is set to welcome you

Hey wait a minute?!!?

 There were M&M's in the little bowl!

The Tablescape is a fun setting with festive bats,

spider webs and witches booties

(AKA salt and pepper shakers)

Topping a round orange dinner plate

is a black rectangular plate

with a haunted salad plate

The little 'Boo Bowls" were a find in Target this year

The Bat Chip and Dip

 was a steal at a Rummage sale

$1.00!

Whats Halloween without a black cat?

Happy Haunting!

This week I will be linking to

Tablescape Thursdays

and

Seasonal Sundays

Click on the links to the right to see other

beautiful tablescapes

The Tropical Luncheon

Warm balmy breezes continue to blow in the Junction which was the inspiration for this tablescape.
 Much to my surprise, Wegmans (my local grocery store) was in the same frame of mind. When I stopped in to pick up a few items for the weekend, I walked right into a display of tropical flora that stopped me dead in my tracks. I was smiling from ear to ear as I loaded them into the cart - I knew immediately just which dishes to use!

Welcome to .... The Tropical Luncheon

I could hardly wait to get these beautiful flowers home!

I knew just the colors I wanted to use.

I accented the live tropical blooms

with silk palm fronds as placemats

The dinner plate is a solid soft green that allows

the bold colors of the salad plate to

take center stage

The white handle flatware gives some relief

to the riot of color that is also seen

here in the ice tea glass to the right

The patterned napkin is Vera Bradley from Macys

 the orange solid napkin from HomeGoods

and those colorful striped napkin rings

are from Kohls

The Ice Tea Pitcher can be found in Target...

Thought it was a good match to the other patterns

The little green bowl was last season there as well

As an accent I used my Pier One tropical dinner plate

as a serving piece, which rests on the striped runner

Thought I would give the salad plate a close up

The colors are so festive!

What would the tropics be without a beautiful parrot?

When I saw this in HomeGoods in the dead of winter

I had to have it ... guess I was dreaming of warmer days!

I think I just may make this one my screen saver!

One last look....

From the parrots-eye view

Hope you are enjoying

these beautiful sunny days as much as I am!

This week I will be joining

Seasonal Sundays

Tabletop Tuesday

and

Tablescape Thursday

Grab a tall glass of something cold

 click on the links

to the right, and enjoy!

Seaside Luncheon

Seaside Luncheon? Well one can dream. I am homebound this weekend so there will be no trips to the famous, (or depending on which T.V shows you watch)  'infamous' Jersey Shore for me.
The next best thing was to create the atmosphere of the shore, and enjoy it on my own back porch.
I know, I know it's 4th of  July weekend, and everything should be red, white and blue, but I did just do that for memorial Day, and my heart is aching for the beach!
So here is a tribute to all the beach lovers out there, especially my older daughter who loves 'Beach Themed" decor.
Welcome to the Seaside Luncheon

This tablescape is a departure from the anchors away

look of Red, White and Blue I originally planned

for this weekend, but the weather has been absolutely balmy here

so mind just went to more spa like colors

Turquoise blue waters and pristine sand beaches

that's what I had in mind

Local stores helped set the mood.

Mikasa basket weave dinner plate

Cindy Crawford salad plate

kohls seashell soup bowl.

Flatware from CTS

This small serving platter is from Ross Stores

the sea urchin salt and pepper shakers are

from Williams Sonoma.

The pale turquoise tablecloth

is topped with a fishnet throw

from Michaels.

Napkins are Waverly

 The color is just perfection!

The contemporary pattern keeps it fresh.

The flatware is from CTS.

 At first thought the color was odd,

but here it reminds me of sand.

Speaking of sand, I added a little as a 'runner'.

The ocean colored stems are from HomeGoods.

Wouldn't you just love to be at the beach

 sitting in this little chair

watching the sailboats drift by?

Sigh!

Or, you could just have lunch here on the porch.

We could watch for sea turtles.....

There seem to be a few around...

Or, we could just imagine the lighthouse

guiding sailors safely to shore...

Better yet, we could just avoid the traffic and stay home,

here on the porch.

I hope that whatever your plans this weekend

that you are safe and happy!

I will be joining

Tablescape Thursday

Seasonal Sundays

and

Tabletop Tuesday

Click on the links to the right to see how others are celebating the holiday.

Thanks for dropping by!