Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Non Floral Christmas Centerpieces

Welcome and thanks for stopping by!
I thought I would share a few non-floral centerpiece
ideas for your holiday table. 
 There is always so much going on during the holidays
sometimes setting up a nonfloral arrangement
makes sense both because you can
prepare it ahead of time & it saves money!
Such as a Gingerbread House 
 I often use items that complement the table theme
or can be used for the table for example
at the Country Christmas table
this vintage red truck that holds extra
napkins and flatware.
table I used this adorable cookies for Santa
plate and a few dog gone good mugs! 
 Here a simple arrangement of 
candy canes and ornaments in  a silver
bowl is lovely.
 If you collect Santa or Snowman
figures they would be a nice addition to your table.

 Here I've used a set of vintage ornaments
in a silver plate.  These are always a favorite
of mine as they remind me of my grandmother.

 I used an arrangement of silks, dried babies breath
gold and silver ornaments in this
antique ironstone wash bowl.

Finally a few glass containers filled
with festive red and green ornaments!

Shop your house this holiday to find what you can use
to decorate your table this season!

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Furry Tails and Cocktails with Santa

Welcome to Grandson Date Night!
Tonight it's Furry Tails & Cocktails
with Santa.
 Okay maybe we're not having cocktails
but rather hot chocolate in our
Santa mugs.
 This table was inspired by these
adorable doggie and Santa paper napkins.
 Using this cookies for Santa plate
and my set of Scotty and Westie mugs
for a centerpiece kept it easy
and boy friendly.
I also sprinkled a few
dog trinket dishes around.

 We served BowWow BBQ sandwiches & Pawtato chips
for dinner.  Afterwards we visited a local
pet store to pick out a gift for our grand dog!
 I ordered dogs from Amazon
similar to the animals I used 
however this was an epic fail
because they were teeny tiny!
 This familiar
paper check runner & red paper plates
were also used in the Country Christmas table.
 We all need to keep things simple during
the holidays & not changing
out the entire table is an easy way to do that.
 I also reused my plaid flatware,

 red sparkle balls & mini light up
Christmas trees!
 I actually planned this whole table 
at the end of last Christmas around my dog
Madison, but sadly she is not with us this year.
 It's a ruff life for these tiny
plastic dogs because they hit the trash
as soon as we were finished.
 I have collected these set of four
Santa mugs from Pottery Barn for several years
along with my collection of vintage Santa mugs.
I feel better about using the new ones for
beverages plus they are 
dishwasher safe & can be easily replaced 
if an accident happens.
Furry tails and cocktails is also a great entertaining
idea to gather with furry friends & their owners for 
cocktails and appetizers or cookies and cocoa before or after a group trip
to a local pet fundraiser or pictures with Santa 
this holiday season.

Sunday, December 2, 2018

A Country Christmas

Welcome to a Country Christmas in our kitchen.
We were heading out to our town's light up festival
on a Friday night after a long work week
so I kept it easy with pizza and paper.
 In lieu of flowers I used
my vintage like truck to hold extra 
napkins and flatware as the centerpiece.
 A red check paper table runner 
lines up battery operated
 mini Christmas trees
and red sparkle balls.
 I just love these tree napkins
with multi shades of red and green~so festive!
 You can see a peek of the gray
buffet in the background holding
our gingerbread collection of train lamp, 
gingerbread house and cloche holding a mini 
gingerbread house.
 I set out painted green mugs for coffee or cocoa 
after the lighting ceremony, 
while we will use soda cans and bottle waters for dinner
again keeping it super easy!
 The red truck has a matching
mini truck that holds tree
salt and pepper shakers.

I pulled out the plaid flatware I purchased at HSN a 
few years ago.  I imagine you will see a lot of the 
flatware this holiday season.

What get together are you planning for this holiday season?
Using paper makes for easy setup and cleanup
and allows you to enjoy
celebrating the blessings of family and friends!
Stop by the shop and grab some or all
of these paper items and plan it today -you can do this!

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Easy and Elegant Gingerbread House Girls Night In

Thanks for joining me today for 
an easy and elegant gingerbread house girls night in
using paper products.

 With a burlap tablecloth as the base
I used plaid plate chargers 
and matching plaid mini pedestal stands.
 I added matching plaid mugs 
to enjoy your favorite
seasonal eggnog, coco or coffee!

Then I mixed in red polka dot ribbon
wreath napkins and dinner plates
that are both beautiful and practical because they are paper.


This makes clean up both easy and quick 
so you can move on to gingerbread house decorating
with your girlfriends.

Gingerbread House Girls Night In With Cozy Cable Knits

Today we are hosting a Gingerbread House Girls Night In Idea for your holiday get together!
 Grab your girl friends, sisters and other special women in your life 
and invite them over for some gingerbread house creating
or just catching up before the rush of the holidays!

 The table is set with cozy cable knit dinner plates, red fringe linen napkins and 
mini pedestal plaid plates topped with matching plaid mugs for your cup of cocoa.
 I adore the green & white pom pom napkin rings which match the
burlap plate chargers.  Also the gingerbread table
accents make perfect place cards.
 For additional festivity I placed a linen
cable knit holiday tea towel under each place setting.
 Our gingerbread house is not real, 
but will last the season for 
many years of enjoyment.
Combining plaids, gingerbread, cozy cable knits
and festive colors is a great way to kick of the holidays
with girlfriends!

Christmas Tea Towels Make Great Gifts!

This season we have a great collection of tea towels available at the shop!
 I'm offering a few gift ideas & all these are under $15 each!

Top 5 Reasons Tea Towels Make Great Gift Ideas:


 Makes a great teacher, day care provider, bus driver, manicurist, mail carrier gift. Add with a set of paper plates and napkins or your favorite candle scent.


 Easy to ship without worry of breakage or expensive shipping costs


 Keep a few on hand in your gift closet* for a quick surprise visitor or to take for a hostess gift.


 Buy multiples for gifts for your book club, Bible study group or other monthly meetings or club friends


 Makes a great gift idea for someone you do not know very well such as a coworker gifts draw, in law family member or new neighbor.


*A gift closet is an area of your home whether it’s a closet, drawer or small tub that you collect inexpensive gift ideas for unexpected birthday and holiday gifts. These can be both seasonal and gender specific items.

Thursday, November 8, 2018

MeeMaw Animal Party

Thanks for stopping by!
Today we're celebrating a grandson's
birthday with an animal party.
I have linked the sources for the 
table elements in the store name(s).
 Sometimes it's hard to plan for a boy vs girl birthday
especially elementary school age
so I went with an animal theme.
 I knew a floral centerpiece would not do so
I shopped the house and borrowed my 
topiaries from the front hall as the centerpiece
pretending they were giant evergreens in a 
jungle for animals!
I had bought these on QVC.
 Playing off the animal theme I used these
silver salt and pepper shakers.
Mine are from Godinger years ago
but you can find them still on Ebay.
 Each place setting features a burlap charger,
black plate, animal party napkins
and a festive napkin ring from Hobby Lobby.
 To play up the animal theme I purchased
plastic zoo animals from Amazon and sprinkled them
around the table.
 To add to the festive table I used
multi colored plastic tumblers
as glasses.  These were used all summer
and purchased at Target.
This was a super fun table to setup
as boy will be boys we ended up 
playing leopard battles zebra etc
after dinner!