The Epiphany Feast Tablescape - Celebrating the coming of the Magi

According to Wikipedia, Epiphany, meaning "vision of God", which falls on January 6, is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ. For many Christians, the day commemorates the coming of the Magi, the Wise Men who followed the star to witness for themselves the child called Jesus.

I'm not much of a "tablescaper".  I love to see the elaborate tablescapes that people create, but have never had much of a talent creating my own.  I do love a pretty table though, so I'll keep trying to set one.  My tablescape today reflects the theme of the Epiphany.  I've done the entire table with a "silver and gold" color scheme.  My centerpiece is the manger scene at the time that the wisemen visited.  I had planned to do a New Year's Eve tablescape using some magnolia leaves that are sprayed gold, but as I was scrounging around trying to find silver and gold things, my eyes fell on the lovely Lenox Wise Men that I had on my shelf and I had my own epiphany!  And here it is.....

 My china is two different patterns of Rosenthal.  The dinner plate and the saucer are the same pattern but one is in silver and the other is in gold.  The salad plate is the "classic" pattern and has a small band of deep blue outlined in gold.   My goblets are inexpensive tea goblets that I bought several years ago at Belk Department Stores and my champagne stems are all vintage.  I have four of one pattern and two of another - I'm sorry I don't know the pattern names.  And the coffee cups.....well, now, I didn't have cups at all in my Rosenthal patterns.  The Rosenthal china plates were some discontinued pieces that I picked up from a department store closeout and there were no cups.  In the bottom of my china cabinet I found some old Fire King cups in the swirl pattern with gold rims, so I used them.  I probably should have left them off, but they're not too bad.

The Wise Men bringing their gifts to the child Jesus.  Some of my vintage mercury ornaments are in a small bowl atop a silver base.  Silver candlesticks hold gold swirl candles.  All of these things are sitting on a shiny silver platter with gold handles.  It gives sort of a mirrored effect.

The real magnolia leaves are sprayed gold, with some of the green still showing through.

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A vintage champagne stem.

Layers of Rosenthal

A side view

A view towards the french doors that lead to the library.  My table runner came from Marshalls.  I used it on my brown tablecloth for my Fall tablescape found here.

The placemats are like lace doilies but are in the shape of a house.

I love how the silver base holding the ornaments picks up the images of the Wise Men.

The baby Jesus and the sheep are from a vintage manger scene made in Italy.

Another vintage crystal stem pattern.

The star of Bethlehem!  These fragile blown glass ornaments are about 80 years old.  I don't store them in my attic anymore because they are getting more and more fragile with time.  I have about fifty of these vintage blown glass ornaments  that I put on my tree each year.

I hope you enjoyed my tablescape.  We plan to have a few friends over for a simple dinner of a steak, baked potato and salad.  We will remember the Epiphany and the star that signaled the birth of a child that would change the world.

For some awesome tablescapes, follow this link to Between Naps on the Porch .

A Santa tablescape - Saying goodbye 'til next year

Packing up my Christmas china, I decided to take a few photo's before it went back into the china cabinet for it's eleven month hibernation. I had always wanted Christmas china, but while my children were growing up, I always found a better use for the money than splurging on things that weren't necessities.  In 1993 my youngest daughter was working at Waccamaw Pottery (a Southern homegoods store at the time) for the Christmas season in her senior year of high school.  She surprised me on that Christmas morning with a set of Christmas china - she bought a service for 4 and talked her dad into buying another to complete a service for 8.  She had bought it at the last minute on clearance plus got her employee discount.  And it was my favorite theme - Santa Claus!  It fit right in with my collection of Santas that I had received as gifts over the years.  I still get excited when I open up my buffet each December and start digging around for the Christmas china.  I'm sharing because I think you'll love it too!

A simple holly design on the saucer

A winter snow scene on the salad plate

And the most exciting part of all!  Santa peeking out from behind the tree on the dinner plate.

See!  The winter snow scene that's on the salad plate is from the window behind Santa, and there's the holly at the bottom.

The "holly" goblets you see in the background were made by Libby Glass in the 1980's for Arby's as a giveaway with a combo meal.  I picked these up at a flea market this fall for $10 for 10 glasses. I am a flea market fiend!  Check out some of my Saturday Morning treasure blogs mingled in with my others to see some of my fantastic finds.

My Fitz & Floyd S & P's and some little F & F snowmen decorating the tree in the background.

Another Fitz & Floyd Santa with a carload of gifts.

And Merry Christmas to all as he rode out of sight.

Back they go into the bottom of the buffet until next year where they'll evoke the excitement of Christmas all over again.  Do you have some favorite pieces that you pull out during the holidays that make you smile? 

See other beautiful tablescapes with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch.

Tablescape - Turkey plays leading role in dinner theater production

Ah, the poor turkey - one against so many!  Actually it was two turkeys today.  Small turkey's are tastier and we had thirteen for dinner so two smaller birds were salt-brined overnight in order to give us roasted perfection for the hungry crowd today.  I spent all morning preparing the turkeys, cornbread dressing, green beans and giblet gravy.  My other daughters spent the morning cooking all the side dishes at their respective homes.

Our family gathered at 2 p.m. in my daughter, Krista's new home which is much roomier than mine.  I had originally planned on hosting dinner today, but as the numbers grew, we made the decision to use her home.  My tablescape was featured in an earlier blog post here.  

Krista's mother-in-law is downsizing and recently gave her all of her Lenox "Eternal" china, some very pretty stemware (I don't recall the pattern - I think Cambridge?) and her sterling silver flatware.  It made a beautiful table, don't you think?

My daughter, Laura came in with her family.  Jake and Chloe greeted each other like two long-lost first cousins - they just saw each other a week ago.  My sweet grandchildren!

Below, exchange student, Sarah Czerny from Germany, was excited about her first turkey dinner.

Below, Sarah and Chloe are just a year apart in age.  It's been a blessing to have Sarah part of our family this year.

Nadir Sims-Mendes is also their exchange student from Spain.  She and my granddaughter Genevieve have the same quirky sense of humor and get along famously. Nadir was very shy when she came over in August, but my daughter's boisterous family has brought her out a lot.

Even the family dog, Winnie, wants to get in on the action.

We served buffet style.

The younger ones had their own table.

The desserts were heavenly!  Homemade chocolate cheesecake, sweet potato pie, and a decadent chocolate cake made by Sarah and Chloe.

Now it's time to pack up the flatware and go home.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Linking to:

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2011/11/happy-thanksgiving-welcome-to-170th.html?utm_source=feedburner

Fall Tablescape 001 - My Dining Room decked out for the Fall Season

Tablescape Thursday

My first blog on tablescaping

I did a little teaser on Sunday's post about the Fall Tablescape I've been working on.  A tablescape is sort of like staging a scene for your dining room, kitchen or outdoor dining area - setting the table as if you were expecting guests at any time.  You'll find entire blogs dedicated to tablescaping with the decor ranging from formal / elaborate to casual / simple.

Last year I lucked up and found twelve 5-piece place settings of Copeland Spode (old mark) Buttercup pattern at our local flea market.  I paid $50 for 60 pieces of this china and it's in excellent condition.  Each place setting is worth what I paid for the entire set - like I said, it was my lucky day.  With the right setting, this china can be used for Fall, Spring or Summer by just changing the tablecloth, napkins and accessories to match the season.   When I saw it, I knew I wanted it for my Thanksgiving table.  I always go all out for Christmas, but never do much Fall decorating.

I have a mixture of old and new in my dining room.  My table and buffet are new and made from cherry wood, the small little tables are probably walnut, and the main pieces are late 19th century oak.  The mantle in my dining room is original to the house and is oak also.

This tablescape was done on a shoestring budget - most of the things I already had - a few things I've picked up over the years from flea markets, auctions or yard sales.  I like old things and love to give them a second chance.  I did make a few seasonal purchase from our local Home Goods Store - I find that I can find just about anything I want there.  The only thing I didn't find that was on my list was seasonal napkin rings - but I found those on Ebay - a vintage set of 8 for a total of $4 including shipping.  I spent a total of about $50 for my Fall themed decor to supplement what I already had.

One thing I regret is not getting a new camera when I ruined mine this summer - my little "point & click" just doesn't capture how warm and inviting my little room really is.

 But, here goes - I'll give you a little tour surrounding my tablescape.

This is my buffet with an antique brass oil lamp that has been converted to Electric.  The conversion was many years ago.  I love this lamp - It has a fabulous glass shade.  It's a leaf design so perfect for my Fall theme.

Close-up of lamp

Notice these great old metal curtain tie-backs. I picked them up at an auction years ago in a box lot of stuff.  I think I paid $5 for the whole box.

Even my Fleur de Paris picture is of a Fall decorated storefront.

My little antique marble top washstand holds my International Stainless serving pieces.  I don't remember the pattern but they are silver with an outline of gold. A vintage iridescent vase that I bought for 50 cents holds some eucalyptus leaves.

 My pictures are all out of order - our power went off three times as I was trying to load them this morning - finally staying off for about five hours.  It's a miracle I got them loaded at all.  Below, we are finally getting around to the table.  My glassware is vintage amber Indiana Glass.  I found those also at a flea market for $5 for all six glasses.

See the cute little funky napkin rings.  They are made of wood an I think probably from the 1970's.

Real gourds add such a nice color to the table.  The silverplate candlesticks are part of a pair that I picked up at a consignment shop at the beach this past weekend for $5 for the pair.

I picked five beautiful needlework pictures made in the 1950's framed under glass this summer for $1 each at the Barnyard Flea market in Fort Mill, SC.  I fell in love with them - so sweet and homey.  It's sitting on the table on the marble buffet in the next picture below.  There are two more hanging on the wall over it.

 Below, you will see my old oak buffet with a marble top.  The orange Royal Doulton teapot you see also came from a yard seller this past weekend.  It's in perfect condition and I paid a big old $1 bill for it.  The bowl underneath the table holding baby pumpkins is Lenox - Butler's Pantry pattern - and I paid $3 for it at a yard sale this past weekend.  See why I love yard sales and flea markets?

A vintage Hyalyn white vase holds grapevine pumpkins and a small gourd.  The pretty mosaic glass candleholder has a lid that holds scented oils.  It was a gift last year from my daughter.  They are sitting atop an antique oak linen chest.  Tall and slender and one of my favorite pieces. 

I don't know how I got this photo so off-center!

 As I mentioned, I got the pictures all out of order - so some more of the tablescape photos are below.  I bought the tablecloth & napkins at TJ Maxx and the table runner at Home Goods.  Some of these pictures were made at night and some during the day.  The night ones have a warmer glow. I may have a few duplicates - I'm sorry to bombard you with so many photos, but I wanted all angles.

This is a very large antique brown pottery jug that I picked up in Pennsylvania on an antiquing trip about 15 years ago.  I love it.  It's perfect for holding arrangements.

.   Here's the pattern:

An antique oak hutch holds a matte green McCoy cornucopia vase, a plaque of The Lord's prayer that belonged to my mother.

...and this great metallic candle holder that lets the light shine through the leaf design.  It came from the Home Goods Store and puts out such a warm glow!

 And finally - one last look at the tablescape.  I hope you enjoyed your tour.