Summer Gold + Give Away Winner!

First things first...We are truly blessed to have the means to set a pretty table and invite our friends to join us for good food and fellowship. I am mindful that many are not so fortunate. My daughter has a passion for the work of the Food Bank. As a singer-songwriter, she has written and recorded a song that is the anthem for the world wide Crop Hunger Walk project. Her song, "Raise Your Voice" is featured in their video. I've included a link in the side margin of my blog. I hope that it will encourage you to support projects in your community that contribute to the effort to overcome hunger.

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Entertaining Women's first blog post was July 7, 2010. It's hard to conceive that I've been blogging my tablescapes for two years. I never dreamed that I would be "published" in any format. It was always my Aunt Ida's dream for me, and I think that she would be happy. I'm having even more fun with my blog today than when my daughter-in-love, Jamiann at THE BLACKBERRY VINE, graciously helped me figure out how to even start a blog. I look forward to my third year. I adore the many new blog buddies that I've come to care about, and I am humbled by your support and unending encouragement. Thank you seems so inadequate. I introduced my blogiversary give-away several weeks ago... HERE. I used the random generator to select a name, and I am pleased to announce that the winner of the 12 Mottahedeh "Sacred Butterfly" Dinner Plates is SARAH @ HYACINTHS FOR THE SOUL Sarah, please email me your address, and I'll carefully pack the dinner plates and send them your way. I think that you'll enjoy them for many years. Congratulations!

The Mottahedeh "Lion" Tureen, another of my eBay finds for a great price, has been residing on the dining table for the past few weeks...

...with a pair of white reticulated and lidded lanterns. The floral arrangements left over from the Fourth of July table still look nice, so I removed the red roses and added them to the dining table vignette. By this point, my brain was on a roll, and I visualized a tablescape design in my mind. I call it "Summer Gold."

I recently came across this inexpensive pair of long green crinkled fabric runners at a local shop. Tip: These runners are twice as wide as shown here. I simply folded them in two to create runners approximately the height of a place mat. It would be so easy to buy 54" or 60" wide home dec fabric, split it down the middle and hem it with your machine or pull out the Stitch Witchery and steam iron. I also plan to criss-cross them on a round table for a party of four. So versatile and fun! I think that I'll go shopping for more fabric.

Once I chose to go with the tureen and it's gold accents and the green runners, my color story was set...white, gold, and green...perfectly cool and inviting for a hot summer day!

The Acrylic Woven Gold Charger Plates were a $.99 for 12 eBay find. They're light, so shipping was minimal...a great deal. The gold sets the mood for the table. I used a plain white dinner plate with a gold rim beneath our Nana's wonderful vintage crystal accent plate with the green border. At first, I placed the crystal plate directly on my workhorse dinner plate, the Wedgwood "Countryware" dinner plate, but the embossed rim of cabbage leaves "fought" with the crisp design work in the accent plate. I added an additional layer by inserting the Limoges 10" white dinner plate with its simple gold rim. Tip: Why did I leave the Countryware plate in the stack? The gold charger is quite large, and I left the "Countryware" in place simply to improve the proportion of white to gold. Proportion can make or break a design. If something looks "dinky" to you when you're creating your tablescape, your eye is telling you that you have a proportion problem. Think about a room that you've fitted with furniture that ends up being too large...or too small. We've all done it at some point. I've been guilty of buying the huge, extremely comfortable sectional...only to get it home and realize that it's way too large for my room. I don't care how many years it sits there, it never looks right when it's out of proportion.

The crystal accent plate dictated the composition of the stack. Its crisp stylized motif demands companions that don't distract. Tip: The Limoges Gold Rim White dinner plate was picked up for a pittance at a local antique store. I bought a stack of them. Some of them are the Limoges, and some of them are virtually the same plate by Johnson Brothers. When shopping for vintage plates, don't be afraid to mix different brands. Any minor differences will not be noticed by your guests. Remember, in the final analysis, each person will be examining only one plate...the one that's directly in front of them.

The gold-tone bamboo flatware continued the tone for my design, and the Williams-Sonoma hemstitched linen napkin in a slim tri-fold added a nice crisp pop to the table.

The Waterford "Simply Lime" goblet 'played well with others today. Can you see the horizontal 'slash' cuts at the base of the bowl? I liked the way that they co-ordinated with the palm fronds in Nana's Lalique tumbler. I also chose the Lalique because the frosted cut-work added another impression of white to the table. I like the shape of the goblet mixed with the Val St. Lambert crystal candlesticks strolling down the center of the table.

Our son and his family are coming tomorrow to spend the night before driving their older son to Kamp Kanakuk in Branson, Missouri. Our younger grandson is going to spend a few days with us while they make the trip. We are so excited, and we've been making plans to do some fun things while he's here.

I can hardly wait to have our family gathered around the table for supper. It will be a kid friendly meal; Sweet Mister is going to grill chicken and hamburgers on his new grill. I'm headed to the grocery store to stock up on fixins' that we'll need while our dear ones are here. Do you have family coming soon? I hope that you do!

Thank you, yet again, to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting her magical meme, Tablescape Thursday. I'll be linking my post to "TABLESCAPE THURSDAY." Hop on over and check out the myriad of marvelous tablescape designs, after 10:00 AM on Thursdays. You'll be glad that you made the trip...it's a wonderful adventure.

When I think of June, I think of lazy summer days and time to share a meal with friends. How about you? With thankfulness for her dedication and efforts, I'm joining the multi-talented Tablescaper for her fabulous meme SEASONAL SUNDAYS. Hope to see you there!

Wednesday evening is the fifteenth edition of Cuisine Kathleen's meme, "LET'S DISH". So excited to be a charter member. Pop over (pun intended for the Chef Supreme Kathleen) and join the fun!

It's always a treat to learn something new when I go exploring in blog land. Tonight I'm excited to join Yvonne @ Stone Gable for her new meme, TUTORIALS, TIPS, & TIDBITS. Bring your notebook...there's so much to learn!

You can check out KC's music at www.kcclifford.com, on iTunes, and on YouTube. I hope that you'll take a few minutes and give her a listen. You'll also enjoy reading back through her blog on this site. The girl can really write! KC has just released her 5th studio CD project, "The Tag Hollow Sessions". The sold out CD release concert was this past weekend. "The Tag Hollow Sessions" is available on iTunes or through her website. I hope that you'll give her music a chance. I know that I have zero objectivity where she is concerned, but I think that you'll fall in love with her music and her!