Holiday Table Topper

Want a simple, classic, holiday table topper?

Here you have it:
simple,
use what you have,
classic

Here are your ingredients:

1. All things glass-
grab all your glass cake plates, urns,
candy dishes... you get the point.

2. Fill with your fave ornaments-
Land on your color scheme.
I chose anything silver and starfish...easy.
Vary the size of the ornaments to
get even more dimension and variety.

3. Throw in a monogram and forget about it-
You know I love me a good monogram.
This is the "B" Aunt Heather
gave us years ago.
It usually hangs on a finial in the kitchen.
Not anymore...

4. Lastly, add some greenery-
I got mine at my local Trader Joe's,
$7.50 If you've got shrubs in your own yard,
don't forget to look there first.
It's cheaper.

How do YOU dress up your table for the holidays?

As always,


for visiting.

Thankgiving: Setting The Table

I am so corny.
I LOVE setting the table for company,
especially a grand daddy of a day like Thanksgiving.

I typically never do it the same.
Never.

I like to mix and match chargers, place mats, dishes and
even my grandmothers old monkey pod square plates from Hong Kong.

I'd like to think it sharpens my creative skills.
Not sure about that.
But I love to make a table pretty.

I also like to use things I already have and use greenery from outside.

Here is the table set for Thanksgiving 2007.
Can you tell I was into zebra at the time?

Rough cut strips of burlap with zebra strips of fabric underneath,
as table runners

Am I the only dork who actually likes to take pictures
of my table before all the fun starts?

Here is the table set for Thanksgiving 2008.


Same burlap rough edged fabric strips as table runners

Ditched the zebra, introduced mercury glass
Sprigs from the back yard

No, this next one is NOT Thanksgiving but
swap out the yellow daffodils and you've got a simple Thanksgiving Table
anyone could pull together

3 simple square glass vases
1 stem in each vase
(I did buy these guys at my local Trader Joe's)


My lovely sister in law got me these
timeless monogrammed napkins one Christmas.


I have used them countless ways.
Here I clipped some evergreen from the front,
tied it up with twine
and a mailing tag
with a hand drawn monogram for each guest.

I have yet to set our Thanksgiving table this year.
You know I'll be taking pictures, though.

Just priming the pump with this post.

Share with me ways you make your table setting extra special.

As always,


for visiting.

After Shots...Heritage Wall

I know, I know.

I hate when I do this.

Worked on a Family Heritage Wall and forgot the "before" shots.

Happy with the end results regardless.

Any thoughts?

Can you find the two Monograms we hid on the wall?
Not hard to find, really.

As always, thanks for visiting...

Fall Welcome!

It is the smell that tips me off before the sights...

Fall

You know that smell in the morning...that crisp, dewy fall smell.
That is usually the first thing I notice before any leaves turn,
any fall decor in store fronts, or even before Football season begins.

It's official.
It's my favorite season of all time.

I like to get out my favorite fall candle
(Yankee Harvest, in case anyone is interested)

I like to get out my fall recipes:
soups mostly and stuff with squash in it.

But that is really not what this post is about...

Sorry, I digress.

The Brookes fam is expecting another set of visitors today.

We are expecting these guys:

Yeah!

The house is clean.
Candle is burning.
Guestroom is ready.

I did make a few seasonal changes to help with the "welcome".

If you remember this porch post,
you'll appreciate the "new" look.

Had to throw a little fall in the picture...
Tell me what you think.



How do you dress up your house for fall?
As always, thanks for visiting.

New Twist on an Entertainer's Necessity

Goodbye Wine Tags...
Hello Numbers

What to do when having a dinner party with
stemless wine glasses?
How do you keep track of who's glass is whose?

Here is a new twist
on an old idea

Voila!

Now you can mix and match
Stemware, stemless
doesn't matter

Here is the easy peesy how to:

Get your favorite scrapbook number stickers
according to size, color or whatever you have on hand

(or you could personalize your soiree by monogramming
each individual glass per guests initials...)

How's that for personal touches?

Here are my "naked" wine glasses



Here is after I applied my first sticker
LOVE!

Final Product...

You could also be bold and go more permanent.
You could etch the number directly onto your stemware.
Materials can be found at your local craft store.

This is simply a temporary solution.
Oh, and don't put these bad boys in the dishwasher...
or bye bye sticker.

What do you think?
As always, thanks for visiting

Monogrammed Place Setting

So this is the final product Madison and I ended up with.
These are Aunt Leslie's monogrammed napkins
she gave me years ago (Love them...use them frequently)
with an additional monogram.
Each guests first initial was "tagged" onto the place setting
with Madison's fresh clippings and a twine tie.
Well done, honey.
The evening was a hoot.
We reminisced about old times with our like-family babysitters plus one (brave man).

The evening was bliss for us all:
home cooked food,
great company,
embarrassing stories from the past...
if only we could have played Quelf...next time!

We know this will be the first of many home
gatherings Simply Brookes.
Makes us appreciate the friends and family
we left and those future events yet to happen.
Bring it on!