October Roses

Just a quick post about our October roses- so beautiful as the nights are much cooler. Soon to be gone until next June, I love to have vases of them in the house. I love the contrast of the fresh roses against this awesome old rose oil painting that Lynda and I found at the flea market this weekend. Until next summer, I will just have to be content to gaze at it!

Fall Decorating Ideas - Our Special Velvet Pumpkins

It seems our customers cannot get enough of our velvet pumpkins, so very cute with their real pumpkin stems. They make a statement with just one sitting on a book or sitting in a compote. But I love a collection of them shown in a variety of containers with differing heights. Notice how they really show up in this collection of Italian creme ceramic baskets. We tucked in a little reindeer moss on the sides to pop the colors. A bittersweet wreath is placed over the display on the old mirror. As a final touch to this fall scene, we tucked in a little vintage orange vase filled with fresh flowers still growing in the garden. We just recieved a new shipment of this precious little pumpkins, with some new colors - a squash orange and a black with caramel undertones.

Antiques Inspire Creative Thoughts

On Fridays, I try to use the day to boost my creative thoughts. Antiquing certainly helps the process, as you never know what you will find. Last Friday, I came home from our local farmer's market a different way and happened upon a little Lake Bluff house sale! Treasures were abundant. I adore these little colored glasses and found many more to add to my collection. They are great for drinking wine or using as tea lights! The little pair of black satin slippers called my name and I could not resist them, even though they had been eaten by mice on the sides. I'll figure out a way to hide that spot, but I ponder how many parties those shoes had danced at?? The wonderful old tray with it's raised detail has a gorgeous floral fabric under the glass. A selection of old jewelry boxes with French inspired scenes was purchased to add to a collection. The boxes are detailed with gilded paint and little accents of a divine French blue. When I get all my finds of the day home, I realize how they all go together - it was a girly day of finds. Arranging my flowers from the farmer's market, I just stare at the new finds and start to plan how I will use them. I love all the colors together. My creative juices are flowing!

Ragdale Dinner Party

Last night was a dinner party at Jack and Bonney's to raise money for the Ragdale Foundation, a local organization that supports the Arts. Their gorgeous home is a historic 1920's home with an unbelievable dining room that has original pastoral oils in the wall panels. We had recently finished a minor renovation in the room, complete with new upholstery and the new table. Laurell had painted the panels a soft creme and glazed them to give an old world appearance. She treated the ceiling with a mixture of soft metallic luster stone that is beautiful in the candlelight. A stately fireplace creates a warm glow during candlelight dinners.
Candy and I were excited to stage the dinner table for this fun event. We were inspired by a half bushel of the most beautiful eggplants - just picked from Wisconsin fields with their green stems still attached! We decided to use a Jan Barboglio candelabra as the centerpiece and layer it's base with fresh kale, white pumpkins, gnarly gourds, eggplants, and little containers of white roses, purple mums, coleus, and fresh parsley. Six of the largest eggplants were hollowed out and used as the vase for little bouquets that went down the remainder of the long 16 foot table. We cradled them in large curly kale leaves to add stability and the beautiful green color. Bronze placemats studded with French nail heads held the Juliska dinnerware. While the room seems stately and serious, we wanted to introduce some playful elements to the table, such as our favorite leopard print napkins and tortoise wine glasses. Simple glass votives were scattered down the table for the romantic touch to the dining experience. We treated the fireplace mantel with six alabaster goblets, filled with white roses and reindeer moss, and added white votives. Please be sure to visit http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ for other beautiful tables on Tablescape Thursday.

Purple and Green - Fall Color Palette Inspirations

It's time to pull out the potato vine and impatiens from the front porch urns. Instead of the traditional orange, rust and yellow fall palette, I decided to give lavender, green and purple a whirl! After all, purple is very hot in home fashion decor. Every one of our major fabric vendors introduced many new purple fabric patterns for upholstery and drapery for this fall season.

While in Wisconsin on Friday, Katha and I found some wonderful gnarly silvery green pumpkins and beautiful kale plants to give us inspiration. The pale lavender mums are striking against the mossy verdigris of the cherub statues.

Royalty, Rhinestones and Red Velvet Cupcakes- The Three R's!

While promoting our cookbook this year, we have held several book signings around a Royal Tea and Royal Dinner party concept. Now we are heading to Tennessee for another book event and I am working on some new ideas to present with a royal theme. This past weekend, I found some fabulous vintage rhinestones and decided to use them with one of our new tablescapes for the event. A decadent Royal dinner is being planned complete with its own Queen Victoria menu. I love this gorgeous picture of Queen Victoria in all of her regal cape and crown glory and decided to use it as the menu cover. Using three of my favorite "R"s, rhinestones, red velvet cupcakes and red roses, we created this fun presentation for serving a red velvet cupcake. Vintage silver compotes serve as the serving dish, elevating the cupcake to a whole new level. Vintage rhinestone trim is secured to the cupcake with rhinestone florist pins, while one pin adds a touch of glamour to the top of the cupcake. A simple red rose is embellished with a vintage pin in another compote to add another touch of red to the table. I am looking forward to finishing the details for this table setting - maybe tartan, toile, and transferware- the three "T"s. Stay tuned for the final design!