Over the Rainbow….The Tablescape

This tablescape started innocently enough. I found napkins on sale at Steinmart. I was drawn to the colors I love in all the shades of the rainbow. Pink and peach. Blue and turquoise. Sunny yellow and yellow the color of butter. Green and kiwi. Cream and white… the shades of the rainbow as one color slowly blends into the next one.

There was no way I could choose just one color to work with. So I didn’t….choose, that is :)

I decided to pull out all the stops and use all the colors. Almost all the flowers in my yard have withered from heat. But we can still have spring on the table and in our hearts!

I found these at a thrift store. Now, I must tell you. I am not a good thrifter. The shops are too far from my house and countless trips of coming home empty handed have made me cynical. But I saw these and loved the color. I turned them over.

Can you see it? I have not mastered the art of photographing words yet. It says HEREND Village Pottery. The date is 1993. The best I can guess from my research is that this was made at one time by THE Herend. The yellow pattern reminds me of the Herend I am more familiar with.

The signature fish scale design on the bunny is very similar to the border of the plate. Regardless of their heritage, I loved the plates and they came home with me. If anyone has any information about Herend Village Pottery, I’d love to hear it!

It was a perfect chance to layer color over color…like the rainbow.

I used the delicate crystal etched in flowers. The crystal echoes the clear cube vase of the centerpiece and the staggered wine glasses holding floating votives.

The napkins work well with the stainless steel napkin rings I spray painted in Monday’s post. The color is perfect for these napkins, but will be cute as the “whimsical green” for Christmas.

I used the vintage silver plate flatware First Love by Rogers.

I used casual green flatware above the plate for dessert. One of my very favorite tablescapers oftens adds a second pattern here.

Carolyn Roehm’s book is full of beautiful pictures, recipes, and inspiration!

A breath of spring in the heat of summer

Birds fly over the rainbow….. true….

But Dorothy was right. There’s no place like home :)

Join Susan for Tablescape Thursday by clicking on the TT button on the sidebar! Thanks Susan!

I so appreciate your visit! Please take a minute and say hello!~~Susan

Herend…a Leaner Sleeker Look

I hope you all good holidays. Whewwwww…I don’t know about you, but I personally don’t need to eat anything that couldn’t fit on the end of a toothpick—and just one of those :). I am joining Susan At Between Naps on the Porch with the tablescape I first told you about here using my daughter’s new Herend china.

This was our Sunshine’s first time to host a family gathering or use her new china since her wedding in June. She asked for a little help setting her first formal table. Like a good mother, I agreed to help. (read: I have been dying to get my hands on this and jumped at the chance :)! The result was a symphony of gold and silver, crystal and linen!

The dinner plate is Gwendolyn by Herend. She loves the slightly scalloped edges and the fourteen karat gold accents. The salad plate is Chinese Bouquet in green also by Herend. The green is actually a deeper, truer green in person. It also comes in blue and I was rooting for that….alas, it is not my china :).

She had to have a little help with a few things. The silver is Burgundy by Reed and Barton. Although, this is her chosen pattern, most of it is mine. She will be getting a little here and there on special occasions for quite some time. The Battenburg placemats are mine also, but the beautiful linen hemstitch napkins were a wedding gift from one of her friends. I loved them so much I inquired where they came from. You can find them here—great prices. I think I need some too. You have seen the napkin rings—mine, for a dollar each at Old Time Pottery.

The younger generation seems to like a little less fuss—a leaner, sleeker look. (I think partly because they don’t have as much “stuff” as we do :). We used an inexpensive clear square vase with Kroger flowers. I love my Kroger florist! She knows me from the half price bin, but is always willing to save or special order something for me. We thought the white roses and green hydrangeas would be perfect with the china. I used clear marbles and the hydrangea leaves to hide the stems. The candlesticks and water goblets are Lismore by Waterford and also wedding gifts.

Another folding table was needed for guests. Here we used a tablecloth and gold chargers. I love to use my mint juleps as flower containers for smaller tables. Alone or in a group they still make an impact. We had so much fun with our first mother/daughter playdate with dishes!

I want to take just a minute to wish you all a new year filled with far more joy and love than you can imagine….that is exactly what you have brought me this year. My one year blogaversary is coming up and I couldn’t have ever dreamed or imagined how much my first year with you would mean….thank you.

Click on the Tablescape Thursday button on the sidebar for a quick cab ride back to Susan’s on Thursday!

Tablescape Thursday…She Said the Magic Words !

Once again, our gracious hostess Susan at Between Naps on the Porch has invited us to her place to play with the dishes. Thanks so much Susan! If you are a regular visitor, you may know that our daughter got married last summer. So with engagements comes the bridal registry, and then gifts, and then finally MORE NEW CHINA! We spent a two days together last weekend painting two bedrooms and she finally got around to saying the magic words I’ve been longing to hear……not, “we’re having a baby” but “will you help me set my table?”. Yippee! This is music to my ears! I have been wanting to get my hands on this since June. Sunshine is a smart girl who knew what she wanted. She has loved Herend since she was a teenager when she received a small decorative heart. So, when she started making decisions for her bridal registry she chose this as her dinner plate.

This is the Gwendolyn pattern by Herend with 24 karat slightly scalloped edges. She thought one day it might mix nicely with either of these

This is Lancaster by Haviland and belonged to my grandmother. It is the pattern I always use for Thanksgiving and in the fall. The leaves and colors make it perfect for the season. It too is white with a very slight scallop and thin gold edging.

This is my formal china-Rosalinde also by Haviland. The very center of this plate is white (like the Herend plate), the outer rim is bone. Once again, it has a slight scallop and a gold edge. Do you think this might be genetic—three generations of gold scallops? :) We both thought this would be a good salad plate on top of her Gwendolyn. But for her salad plate, Sunshine mixed patterns. Brides seem to do that more now. She chose this

This is Chinese Bouquet by Herend. It is was of Herend’s oldest patterns inspired by an even older Chinese pattern. This particular pattern was commissioned by Count Albert Apponyi a distinguished nobleman and statesman of Hungary. Chinese Bouquet comes in blue, rust, or green. Sunshine chose green, but I was rooting for the blue. Look at all those serving pieces available!

Herend has been made in the small village of Herend near Budapest since 1826. Started by Vince Stingl, it quickly changed hands after a bankruptcy. The creditor Mor Fishcher took over and developed the artistry. It was a favorite of European nobility. In 1853 a Herend pattern, entered in the New York Exhibition of Industrial Arts, won an award. From that point on, it became an American favorite as well.

Many of the patterns were created and named for specific families or people. This pattern with flowers and butterflies is Queen Victoria.

You bird watchers and fans will love this pattern. Susan you would love this one! It was created in 185o for the Rothschild family of Europe. Twelve different motifs depict a nineteenth century tale about Baroness Rothschild who lost a pearl necklace in her garden in Vienna. Several days later the necklace was found by a gardener who spotted birds playing with it in a tree.

Not only does Herend produce china, they also create beautiful collectibles and figurines. This elephant is from the Safari Collection and is the popular fishnet pattern.

I personally aspire to fishnet bunnies—in several shapes, sizes, and positions :)

Here is a starfish in the green and white fishnet pattern.

The starfish and this sea urchin are from their newest collection.

I do own one small piece—the rose in the secretary was a gift. Mine is pink, but they come in several beautiful colors.

I can hardly wait to help Sunshine set her table for Thanksgiving! This will be the first time in over 25 years that the Thanksgiving holiday meal has not been at our house. The next generation is at least temporarily borrowing the torch…and I am thankful :)

Please visit our gracious hostess Susan and a lots of others for more table fun! You can click on the TT button and be there in a flash! Thanks for stopping by!