Monday, March 4, 2019

Spring Blooms Tablescape

Hello readers, hello March! In today's post I'm sharing a tablescape with spring in mind. Whether your March came in like a lion or like a lamb, today we will focus on the promise of "Spring Blooms" here at the table. Color is key!
All week I am celebrating spring tablescaping, along with a group of other stylists, hosted and organized by Chloe Crabtree from the blog Celebrate and Decorate. In planning my table today, I knew I wanted to start with my dinner plates from the MacKenzie-Childs Flower Market line. These plates were created with a background choice of white, green, blue or black. I loved the black, simply for how dramatically the [predominant] tulip bloom in blue / purple coloring stood out against it.
I kept the table linens softer, layering a pale pink linen square (with matching napkins) over a yellow damask round cloth. In coordinating drinkware, I reached for a set of vintage mugs I had with an equally dramatic orchid bloom decorating the mostly black mug. The swirl stems are antique Depression glass, with an iridescent finish. The flatware is vintage (Nobility Plate silverplate), in a delicate rose pattern.
If you notice in the photo above, the table was set originally with no placemats. It was at that point in which I wanted more color for the table to really feel spring-like. I added what I found to be the perfect placemats beneath the plates. The pink leaf tips were a common thread for the linens and centerpiece, tying them all together nicely.
The centerpiece of pink peony blooms with ferns are a faux arrangement with "acrylic" water, nestled in a clear, round (bowl) vessel.
The napkins are held by miniature watering cans, used as a place card for each setting. The salad bowls are a clear glass with lettuce leaf-shaped embossing. The salt and pepper shakers are glass with blue and yellow guilloche enamel lids.
The MacKenzie-Childs teapot in the Flower Market pattern adds yet more color and bloom to the overall table styling.
The mugs are designed with the added surprise of sipping and seeing another dainty orchid bud inside each gold-trimmed rim.
From the MacKenzie-Childs website, the description of the Flower Market line reads, "set a sunny table in glorious color, fresh from a country garden....", and that was my goal today. Spring blooms of daffodils, tulips, iris, poppies and peonies are just some of my favorites in the garden from March-May (Zone 7a). If it's too early for spring in your region, having potted blooms - such as orchids, kalanchoe, or even potted bulbs like hyacinths or tulips - is a great way to usher in color and create your own spring! Check your grocery and find many potted bulbs / plants you can later plant and try nurturing outdoors.
My table today is set for four, perhaps to be shared with three volunteers who will come to my house and help me in my move / purge. I may even let you take a set of dishes home with you for your trouble! Bring a truck, I might even let you take the table and chairs.😉
For plenty more Spring inspiration, please see the complete list of bloggers participating in this gathering below, and links to their tables. Each day different bloggers are featured, and the links are updated to take you right to their posts. Be sure to check back to see them all. To Chloe Crabtree - a special thank you for organizing this event!

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
My Thrift Store Addiction | My Family Thyme | Me and My Captain | Follow the Yellow Brick Home | Katherine's Corner | Twelve on Main

Tablescapes are but one subject on my blog, and you can find other topics on the main menu at the header of my blog. If you're on a mobile or handheld device, just scroll to the bottom of your page and click on web version to see the menu. You may also search topics with keywords, or by labels, both options located on the sidebar of my web page. 
Spring Blooms Tablescape Source List
As a vintage and antique wares dealer, my typical fashion in tablescaping is mixing a blend of found items with newer, more readily available ones. For your own unique styling, try shopping your local antique malls, thrift stores, or flea markets for unique additions to your table designs.
Tablecloths, napkins,  Nobility Plate flatware, guilloche salt and peppers, lettuce glass salad bowls, Depression stemware, Otagiri black orchid mugs, miniature garden pails - vintage purchases
Flower Market dinner plates, teapot - MacKenzie-Childs
Placemats - Pier 1
Silk peony arrangement in acrylic - local overstock auction house purchase

Thank you for your visit today. Your readership and comments are always welcome.
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Friday, March 1, 2019

Tales of the Traveling Totes #18: Urban Renewal

Hello, armchair travelers, and Happy March!  Thanks for joining another adventure recap - this being #18 - of the Traveling Totes. This group got started back in 2015, and you can read all about it at this link. My personal tales with Miss Luna C and Miss Charley C can be found here. Be sure to read to the end of this post for another great giveaway, just in time for spring!

 The theme of my travel update today is Renewal. More specifically, Urban Renewal. I've been lying dormant through much of winter here on my blog and, well, it's because Mr. P. and I are MOVING - downsizing - into an urban loft. We are ready to begin a new chapter in home living.
Miss Luna C in our urban loft 
You may or may not be surprised, or think this is the ultimate in Luna C life and living. If you were paying close attention, I have been dropping hints with comments throughout the past year both on my blog and blogs I read. The process of buying and selling happened very quickly and unconventionally, starting on the day of our last traveling tote update. We received an unsolicited call from a realtor, asking us if we would be interested in selling our home. Events of both buying and selling continued to unfold throughout the holidays, and we closed on our urban loft in mid-February. We closed on the sale of our home this week, the last week of February.

 We had been looking at condos since 2011, initially as a second home (in FL). Ultimately, we shifted focus toward downsizing locally, and all the signs were pointing toward a GO to seize this timely opportunity. I'm mentally ready for this, even ready to leave my beloved garden (there is a shared terrace garden at our new home!), but the logistics of downsizing are somewhat daunting to me. 

 So, my friends, my travels have almost exclusively been spent in purge activity - death cleaning -  right here in my own house, running up and down from my basement to second floor, and to donation centers. Immediately following Christmas, I started organizing and separating Christmas decor. Our contract allows us to stay in our home after closing on its sale, so the purge has been intentional, not impulsive. Our target move date is no later than late May, preferably sooner. Since January 1, I have purged clothing (taken to women's shelter),
Clothing Purge 2019
paper (still more to go, but the shredding company made a house call and shred on premises!), 
Paper purge 2019 - first cut
dishes (at least seven complete sets, and 2 partial, more to go), 
Dish Purge 2019 - first cut
vintage furniture decor (much more to go!),
Furniture Purge 2019 - first cut
and shoes/purses (Miss Luna C, Supvr) Four family members grabbed some before donating the rest.
Shoe / Purse Purge 2019 in process
The irony of the shoe/purse purge was that I received an email from Benita Roberts of Chasing Quaintness - on the same day - informing me I had been randomly selected and won a copy of Marie Kondo's "the life-changing magic of tidying up". I'm still waiting on some magic in getting this purge complete!

 Just a day or so after closing on our house, when the stress valve of purge activity / moving was ready to blow, our realtor texted me, offering a break with a pair of tickets to see the touring Cirque Mechanics: 42Ft - A Menagerie of Mechanical Marvels at our local performing arts center. Short of running away and joining the circus that day, it was the perfect antidote for Mr. P. and me, along with Miss Charley C.
Now, a quick look at our new home (listing photo, below), and I will send you off to my other traveling tribe mates to see travels much more interesting than mine, I'm sure. I'll be back - when I can - and fill you in on more details of this new adventure.
NOW, ONTO THE GIVEAWAY!

The Traveling Totes Tribe is offering another giveaway. Cherry Kay of Entertaining Women is our giveaway sponsor this time. One lucky reader who leaves a comment on Cherry Kay's March 1 post will have their name thrown into the hat for an opportunity to win this set  of adorable MacKenzie-Childs bunny candles! Hurry over now!
Where have all the other Traveling Tote tribe members been this winter? Check them out at the links conveniently located below to see. It's always fun when we come together, no matter where we travel, near or far.

Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths
Emily with Miss Courtney Childs@ The French Hutch
Patti with Miss Kenzie and Miss Taylor @ Pandora's Box
Jenna with Miss Coquille @ The Painted Apron
Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda
Rita with Miss Luna C @ Panoply (you are here!)
Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul
Jackie with Miss Madi K @ Purple Chocolat Home
Cherry Kay with Miss Carrie Ann Hall @ Entertaining Women

🙏🙏Thoughts and prayers for our fellow toter RJ @ The Sketchy Reader,
as she is away caring for a family member! 🙏🙏

Thanks for traveling along on our adventures. Hope to see you on our next adventure recap, June 1, 2019. Don't forget to leave a comment on Cherry Kay's blog!

Rita C. at Panoply

Sharing: Pieced Pastimes, Best of the Weekend, Amaze Me, DIDI, BNOTP, Inspire Me, Make it Pretty, The Scoop, Celebrate Your Story,SYS, Delightsome Life H&G, Grace at Home, Vintage Charm
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