Happy New Year 2023!

Wishing you all a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year!

Happy new year 2023!
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Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and yours the loveliest Christmas!

Merry Christmas 2022
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Christmas decor home tour 2022

It’s almost Christmas already and… while it’s definitely going to be a white Christmas, it’s also going to be a ridiculously COLD one. We’ve been in below-zero temperatures and below-zero double-digit windchills for a week now. I hope you are staying safe and warm!

My decorating style is definitely evolving (more and more “What’s in the Downton attic?” creeping in!) but thrifted, secondhand, handed down “Vintage Floral Cottage” is still very much at the heart of it! I thought I would share a few pictures of my tiny mobile home all decorated for Christmas!

Christmas home tour 2022
The view as you walk in through the front door. That gorgeous hutch was hand-build by my sweetie, and the blue washstand is the first furniture project we re-finished together.
Christmas home tour 2022
Hutch shelf detail with a framed Christmas card atop antique books with Christmas-colored covers!
Christmas home tour 2022
Santa’s boot, painted pink and filled with silk flowers and a bauble.
Christmas home tour 2022
Kitchen view.
Christmas home tour 2022
Built-in sideboard.
Christmas home tour 2022
Sideboard display detail. Before a whole-house flood in 2008, I collected snowmen. These days I have gravitated toward Santa figures. That tall gold one is a favorite! All thrift-store finds, of course!
Christmas home tour 2022
The pink flocked Shiny Brite tree – we all have a vintage dresser and a fancy chair in our kitchens, right?
Christmas home tour 2022
Nostalgia corner. The garland over the window is for a single window, but these are doubles. I need to re-make them but haven’t got around to it yet.
Christmas home tour 2022
A Debbie Mumm-illustrated pillow (won in a contest!) and vintage Velveteen Rabbit toy, perched on an antique chair refinished by my grandparents.
Christmas home tour 2022
Vintage Christmas postcards, one of my painted goblets that were a Christmas craft this year… and my own vintage Santa photos plus a sweet little picture of my daughter from a past Christmas morning.
Christmas home tour 2022
My gold tinsel tree, found in a consignment store, with its thrifted skirt. I actually found and tried out a second thrifted skirt on this tree as well, but turned out I liked the original one better.
Christmas home tour 2022
Hallway Christmas art: framed gift bags from Dollar Tree, with frames hand-made by my sweetie!
Christmas home tour 2022
Bedroom corner view. Somehow I ended up with rather a collection of acorn and pinecone ornaments, so I gathered them onto one tree to add a woodland touch to the bedroom. The little stuffed toy dog is from a barn sale a few years ago, and the peppermint woodcut ornaments are a memento from an antique store visit with my sweetie.
Christmas home tour 2022
Details of the woodland tree – love those tiny pear ornaments!

Hope you have a lovely, merry Christmas!

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Winter Solstice tablescape to welcome back the light

Here we are at the shortest day of the year already – I’m so glad to share a Winter Solstice tablescape and for the days to start getting longer!

Back in… hmmm I think it was November… I went into Dollar Tree and saw the prettiest Winter dinnerware: bright white, with metallic silver snowflakes in a big, bold pattern. They had dinner plates, soup bowls, and coffee mugs, plus two styles of coordinating glassware where the snowflakes were kind of silvery blue-gray. I bought four dinner plates and four ice tea tumblers, plus 4 silver chargers because I didn’t have any in that color yet. Now as it turns out, it’s really hard to photograph a table that is mostly silver and white – at least for me since I use my phone for photography – but I promise you, even if you can’t see it very well, it’s gorgeous!

Here’s my Winter Solstice tablescape!

Winter Solstice Tablescape 2022
Winter Solstice Tablescape 2022
Winter Solstice Tablescape 2022

See what I mean – especially below – really hard to photograph all that silver and white, especially in daylight. Hopefully the candle-lit shots give you a better view. Chargers are silver plastic, napkins are ivory with silver and gold metallic threads, the napkin rings are little jewel-studded crowns. And the plates are white ceramic with metallic silver snowflakes.

Winter Solstice Tablescape 2022
Winter Solstice Tablescape 2022
Winter Solstice Tablescape 2022

Glassware is comprised of the Dollar Tree iced tea tumblers, plus thrifted Cristal d’Arques “Longchamps” wine glasses, and more Longchamps for the dessert compotes.

Winter Solstice Tablescape 2022
Winter Solstice Tablescape 2022

Silverware is my handed-down “Flair” by 1847 Rogers Brothers, inherited from my grandmother. I don’t think you can tell but the tablecloth is shimmery with silver threads.

Winter Solstice Tablescape 2022

The centerpiece is a crystal taper holder surrounded by a silvery blue beaded wreath and flanked by additional crystal candle holders plus blue-gray pip berry stems.

Winter Solstice Tablescape 2022
Winter Solstice Tablescape 2022

A few more views, including some in candlelight…

Winter Solstice Tablescape 2022
Winter Solstice Tablescape 2022
Winter Solstice Tablescape 2022
Winter Solstice Tablescape 2022

A birdseye view…

Winter Solstice Tablescape 2022

And a put-away shot, illustrating how pretty everything looks just waiting to go back into the cupboards.

Winter Solstice Tablescape 2022

I’d love to know how you get along during this time of year. Do you do anything to commemorate the Solstice? This is the first year I’ve done so with a tablescape. What are your thoughts about shorter daylight hours and the Winter Solstice? As always feel free to leave me a comment with anything you’d like to share!

Here’s an image to Pin in case you would like to save the Winter Solstice tablescape for future inspiration. This one could easily be a Christmas or New Year’s tablescape, too!

Winter Solstice Tablescape with Dollar Tree Dishes

I will be linking to Tablescape Thursday over at Susan’s lovely blog, Between Naps on the Porch – be sure to click through for more tablescape inspiration!

For even MORE inspiration in setting lovely tables on a budget, join my Facebook group, Thrifty Tablescapers! Lots of friendly folks over there sharing their amazing thrifty tablescaping ideas!

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2022 Christmas tablescape with Old Country Roses

All through the year I set pretty tables with a lot of different vintage dinnerware patterns. But for a Christmas tablescape, I always seem to gravitate back to my all-time favorite, Old Country Roses by Royal Albert of England. Although my collection of this pattern is indeed secondhand, I don’t collect it in thrift stores because I never see it in those shops – it just doesn’t get donated, at least in my area! Over the past 20 years, I’ve collected dinner and bread plates from Ebay, always looking for the oldest possible backstamp. (This pattern was introduced in my birth year, so I like to think that my set is at least almost as old as I am!)

Christmas tablescape with Old Country Roses

Now if you have read much on my blog, you might recall from my Tablescaping 101 series (which is still not finished yet, by the way!) that one of my “rules” is that the centerpiece should not block guests’ view of each other from any angle. For that reason, I keep my centerpieces shorter in height.

But… guys…

seriously

Christmas tablescape with Old Country Roses

So here’s the thing: I found a metal base for pillar candles over the summer, and in Fall I found the most beautiful fully-assembled bridal bouquet. Both in thrift stores, less than $10 total for both items!

For my Christmas table this year I wanted to do an epergne-style centerpiece using that candle base with a pineapple on top – I had read that pineapples at one time represented the epitome of wealth and status – if you had one in your centerpiece, you had made it! And so I tried perching various bowls or other dishes on top of the candle base to hold a pineapple, but nothing looked quite right. At that point I began shopping the house, and my eye fell upon the bridal bouquet which was in a vase in my office and… well, I ditched the pineapple and suddenly my centerpiece was fabulous!

Christmas tablescape with Old Country Roses

I know it’s too tall. I know it breaks a rule. But it is so worth it! (I feel like such a rebel) Now in my defense, I would leave the centerpiece in place until guests are seated, and then remove it to the sideboard during the meal. It’s just too beautiful to leave it off completely.

Christmas tablescape with Old Country Roses

Okay enough gushing, let’s take a quick tour around the table! Dinnerware as I mentioned is vintage Old Country Roses, and the salad plates are not marked – I found dinner and salad plates in this pattern at my favorite consignment store last year. Of course I bought four of each – less than $10 for all!

Christmas tablescape with Old Country Roses

Flatware is Americana Golden Heritage by International Silver, an antique store find several years ago – also a bargain at $12 for service for four plus a few serving pieces!

Christmas tablescape with Old Country Roses

Glassware is Longchamps crystal by Cristal D’Arques and antique King’s Crown “Thumbprint” by Indiana Glass. LOVE that wide gold border!

Napkins and napkin rings were thrift store finds many years ago. I use these deer almost every year for Winter and Christmas.

Christmas tablescape with Old Country Roses

There are candles included in the centerpiece as well, because I do believe that candlelight creates a special kind of magic in any tablescape – especially at Christmas! There are thrifted votive holders and a pair of brass sticks, but also these amazing thrifted figural taper holders – the character is like a mer-creature… a cherub, but with tentacles!

Christmas tablescape with Old Country Roses

Here are a few more views around the table…

Christmas tablescape with Old Country Roses
Christmas tablescape with Old Country Roses
2022 Christmas tablescape with Old Country Roses
2022 Christmas tablescape with Old Country Roses

… a few pictures of candlelight magic…

Christmas tablescape with Old Country Roses
Christmas tablescape with Old Country Roses
Christmas tablescape with Old Country Roses

… and finally, one more centerpiece view plus the put-away shot!

Christmas tablescape with Old Country Roses
Christmas tablescape with Old Country Roses

I’ll be sharing my Christmas table over at Tablescape Thursday on Susan’s amazing blog, Between Naps on the Porch.

And, here’s an image to Pin in case you’d like to save this post for future inspiration:

Christmas tablescape with Old Country Roses
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