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A Positano Inspired Table Setting – Dining Room Decor

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It seems this Summer everyone is in vacationing in Positano. I came up with this little table setting to transport me there — minus the crowds and saving a few dollars.

I used my oil table cloth from Williams Sonoma from last year. I paired it with faux lemon trees and a majolica centerpiece. The lemon blossom napkin rings are new, from the “Positano Collection” at Pottery barn but have sold out. I also used my new tumblers from Juliska – they are melamine and are kid and outdoor friendly! I love them!

A closer look at my little napkin rings! To give the entire “Positano” feeling, I recommend burning a citron candle as well.


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Fall Pumpkin Table with Purples and Greens

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Happy September!!

I’ve pulled my velvet pumpkins out and have them on display!

Fall Halloween Velvet Pumpkin Table Setting Decor with Purple and green

The centerpiece of this table are dried hydrangeas from my garden! Planned ahead in July and started drying them. It took about two weeks to dry.

Fall Halloween Velvet Pumpkin Table Setting Decor with Purple and green
Fall Halloween Velvet Pumpkin Table Setting Decor with Purple and green

Aren’t the pumpkins so pretty?!

Fall Halloween Velvet Pumpkin Table Setting Decor with Purple and green
Fall Halloween Velvet Pumpkin Table Setting Decor with Purple and green

This color scheme can easily be converted to Halloween with a few spooky elements.

Fall Halloween Velvet Pumpkin Table Setting Decor with Purple and green

A look at my mantel in the dining room. I ran out of deep purple pumpkins for this display. I made the chinoiserie toile pumpkins myself a few years back.

Chinoiserie blue and white Fall pumpkins with pink velvet pumpkins


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Easy Decor Trick: Transitioning a Spring Table to an Easter Table

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I have an easy decor trick for you today. I set my Spring table up recently and then decided hmm… maybe I should make this my Easter table. Want to know my secret? (you’ll have to keep reading).

Let’s first take a look at my Spring table. Freshly cut flowers are from my garden. That took some planning… from last Fall. I make a reminder on my calendar to plant bulbs!

Aren’t the daffodils so pretty? They almost look like faux flowers!

And now here is my Easter table…

Ready for my easy trick? I ADDED BUNNIES. TA DAAAAA! I told you it was easy. I’ve been collecting these little Steiff bunnies for years. My mom would give me one in my Easter basket for many years and I’ve purchased a few here and there too.

I also put a little Lindt chocolate bunny on each place setting.

A picture of my mantel with a few added Spring touches on it.

By the way, this room smells AMAZING because I am burning my Diptyque Tuberose and Orange Blossom candles. SIIIIIGH. I only burn these when I want to feel extra special. Today felt like one of those days with the pretty daffodils!

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Pink & Green Fall Table Decor with Velvet Pumpkins

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In this post: Fall table decor ideas with nontraditional Fall colors of pink and green!

This is a sponsored post featuring Hot Skwash Pumpkins from LoveFeast Shop. All images and opinions are completely mine.

I am very excited to share with you my Fall tablescape for this year! This year I am partnering with LoveFeast shop to feature Hot Skwash velvet pumpkins. I received these beautiful pink pumpkins to feature in a post. Keep reading – I have a special discount code for you at the end of the post!

For years (seriously – search the blog… you will see!) I have slowly been purchasing and building my velvet pumpkin collection. Needless to say, I was thrilled when LoveFeast shop approached me with an opportunity to collaborate! Now that I think of it, I think I bought my first velvet pumpkin in 2008. So I REALLY like these pumpkins!

This year I was inspired by the pinks and greens of Fall colors. PINK?! Yes. I know. It is not a traditional Fall color. BUT if you look at a tree turning colors there is a myriad of colors: green, yellow, orange, dark pink, red, brown!

The velvet pumpkins come in tons of colors. On my table there is a combination of blush, guava, rose, magenta, lipstick, chartreuse and moss.

They also come in many sizes. They look best when you mix and match several colors with several sizes. If you have no idea what sizes and colors you would choose, LoveFeast Shop has some curated sets to choose from.

Decorating tip: Pair your pumpkins with some natural greenery or flowers to make them look their best, like I did for the centerpiece. The big pumpkin in the center is guava and is 8″ for size reference.

I love using velvet pumpkins in my Fall decor because they are so versatile! I like to use them on my mantel, as well as little vignettes throughout the house.

Decorating Tip: Place a small pumpkin on each place setting. Below is a 3″ Rose pumpkin on the plate.

Here is a slightly different look. I placed a blush colored pumpkin in the centerpiece. It’s so easy to just mix and match them!

What I love about these pumpkins is that they are made of a silk velvet which make them luxurious and give them a really nice color. I also adore the real dried pumpkin stems that are used. The real pumpkin stem is what makes them so charming! I love the whimsical curls of the dried stem.

They are also nice because they never go rotten! To store them in the off season, I carefully place them in plastic storage bins.

Coupon Code

Get 15% off an order through LoveFeast Shop now through October 2020 using the code 20PH15.

You can also check out LoveFeast shop and their social media links here:

LoveFeast Velvet Decor page:  http://www.lovefeastshop.com/hot-skwash/

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/LoveFeastShop

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/lovefeastshop 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lovefeastshop

Pinterest:https://www.pinterest.com/lovefeastshop

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Fall Table Ideas

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Can you believe that September has creeped up on us already? I’m looking back at the past Fall tables that I’ve created as inspiration for this year! I thought I’d walk down memory lane with you.

Soft and Casual Fall table from last year.

The year of the nontraditional Fall colors… green, white and blue!

Rounded up a few Fall plates that I like from this year. I’m thinking instead of styling a Fall tiered tray, I’m going to style a hutch. So obviously I need some new plates, riiiight?

This was another green and white table from the same year, with homemade pumpkin cake!

Cozy and Romantic Fall table setting. This was honestly my favorite one I did.

I also encourage you to check out my shop where I’ve added some Fall home decor for the year.

Also check out my previous Fall posts here.

And of course, I still LOVE PINTEREST so check out my Fall Board!

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A Tulip Table Setting

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A pretty in pink tulip table setting!

The tulipiere really lets the tulips shine!

Each table setting has a tulip as well. I use my antique linen, plates and china to set this table.

The macarons I made myself. You can get the raspberry macaron recipe here.

Have a wonderful week!

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French Strawberry Naked Layer Cake

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Doesn’t a French strawberry naked layer cake sound good? Well, let me tell you… it IS good. I made this recipe with the spirit of Le Fraisier in mind. I tried to simplify Le Fraisier and came up with this combination of a cake.

A cake as fancy as this requires a fancy table setting! Antique embroidered hankies were are as napkins.

I highly suggest eating this cake off of a fancy antique plate – just don’t use your knife (not that you would when eating a cake! – side note: If you are using antique china, don’t use metal knives on it as it will scratch the plate!)

I picked the daffodils from my garden. Aren’t they pretty?

Now for the recipe:

I used Sally’s Baking Addition Vanilla Naked Cake recipe which you can get here. Note, I made a 6″ cake, so I actually baked my cake as a sheet cake in quarter size pans – this recipe actually made enough for two 6″ cakes. I also baked mine at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes in these pans.

I made the filling with creme mousseline, recipe below.

Cut fresh strawberries, halved.

Crème Mousseline

350g whole milk

100g granulated sugar

1/2 a vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped for inside beans/seeds

4 egg yolks

35g plain flour

200g unsalted butter, softened

Making the creme

  1. Place milk, vanilla bean and scraped seeds into a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Then remove from heat and set aside.
  2. In another bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until mixture is pale yellow.  Mix int the flour until well combined.
  3. Remove vanilla bean pod from milk mixture.  Then pour the hot milk into the egg mixture, constantly whisking to combine.
  4. Then pour the whole mixture back into the saucepan and place over high heat.  Whisk constantly until it is thickened, smooth, and glossy.  Then remove from heat and transfer pastry cream to a plate. Immediately cover with plastic cling wrap and place into the freezer to cool but only for 10 minutes.  Do not allow it to freeze (If you don’t put the cling wrap on immediately, the pastry cream will get a film on it that’s lumpy and gross and you will have to strain it out later, so don’t miss this step)
  5. While the cream is in the freezer, beat your butter until creamy.  Then when the pastry cream is about room temperature, add the cream to the butter and mix until while combined.   

Assembly

Using a 6″ cake ring, stamp out the ring into your sheet cake two times, one for each layer.

Then, place your cake ring on a stand. Next, line the cake ring with acetate.

Starting with the sheet cake you stamped out, place it in the center of the ring. Next, arrange the strawberries on the edge of the cake so the insides face the outside of the cake. Then fill the insides of the cake with strawberries.

Next, pour a layer of creme mousseline over the strawberries until they are all covered and the layer appears even.

Take the second sheet cake ring you cut out and place it over the creme layer.

On top of your second layer, spread more creme mousseline.

Top the creme with strawberries in any pattern you desire.

Place the cake in the fridge for 2 hours so that it may harden and will make it easier to take the acetate and cake ring off.

Final Thoughts… How does this compare to a Le Fraisier?

The Fraisier I felt displayed more of the strawberries’ flavor whereas this cake displays more of the white vanilla cake flavor. That said, I felt that this cake was easier as it did not include two steps that the Fraisier does: the kirsch syrup and marzipan layer. I do feel Le Fraisier is a little bit better in my opinion, however this still tastes GREAT and way better than any layer cake that I’ve had from the grocery store and even some bakeries.

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Soft and Casual Fall Table

Soft and Casual Fall TableWe use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.

Sticking to the softer side of Fall this year.

Light blue and orange pumpkins decorate the table.

We have homemade pumpkin soup (recipe here) ready to eat on this Fall evening!

I used this beautiful tartan blanket (get it here) as the table cloth this year.

Lanterns cast their soft glow in the evening.

When we aren’t eating soup, the pumpkin cocottes are set out on display!

I hope you enjoyed this table – only a feast for your eyes and not for your stomach!

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Elegant Easter Table Setting to Hop into Easter

Elegant Easter Table Setting to Hop into EasterWe use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.

Hop into Easter with us as many talented bloggers share our Easter decor this year!  Amber from Follow the Yellow Brick Home organized this fun blog hop, thank you!

If are hopping on over from Rosemary and Thyme, welcome!

This year I was inspired by the chocolate bunnies, birdies, and the papier mâché candy eggs that I have.


I believe the papier mâché eggs started in Germany and become popular in the late 1800s.  The ones I have are new, but I love the vintage look of them!

The idea is for each place setting to have an egg full of candy to take home!  I need to grow my collection!

I love the foiled chocolates too!  These ones I have are faux, but you could easily use real ones too!  I love this little guy nested in the reindeer moss.

Do you like the pink goblets? They are iced tea glasses from Pottery Barn and I just got them.  I love them! They are the perfect size for iced drinks!!

Easter table setting with moss and chocolate bunniesNext up on this hop is Shannon at Belle Bleu Interiors! Hop on over there next!

Follow The Yellow Brick Home | Common Ground | A Stroll Thru Life | Our Southern Home | Decor To Adore

County Road 407 | The Painted Hinge | Let’s Add Sprinkles |  Art and Sand | Itsy Bits and Pieces

Have A Daily Cup of Mrs. | OlsonMy Thrift Store Addiction |Botanic Bleu | Rosemary and Thyme | Petite Haus

Belle Bleu Interiors | Calypso In the Country | Virginia Sweet Pea | Blue Sky At Home | Debbee’s Buzz

The Red Painted Cottage |The Crowned Goat||The Tattered Pew |Thistle Key Lane |Joy In Our Home

Lora Bloomquist | Celebrate and Decorate | White Arrows Home | Le Cultivateur | Welch House 1900 | Decorate and More with Tip

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Click here to enter

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Swan Valentine’s Table for Two

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This year for my Valentine’s Day tablescape, I used a beautiful swan as the centerpiece.

valentine's day table for two with swan and hearts

The swan was purchased for Christmas, actually.  I had planned to have him sit under the tree.  Then I saw the feathers.  We have a cat.  Cats love feathers.  So I perched him high above the refrigerator for Winter.   I thought he would be perfect for Valentine’s Day, since swans are so romantic (except in real life, they are pretty much mean divas).

This year I set the table for two!  We never go out for Valentine’s Day.  We always stay at home for a night in.  We prefer to cook and ignore the crowds, over priced specials, etc. Plus, I think my husband can cook better than many restaurants!  Married a keeper!

Despite everything I just said above, this year we were walking in the mall as we passed a chocolate shop with its heart boxes and I told him, one day I hope you’ll get me a box of Valentine’s chocolates.  He said, nope, never.  OK. I’ll get my own. So I did.

So last week, I went to Ladurée, which if you’re not familiar with, is famous for its macarons. I wrote about my experience visiting the tea room in Paris here.  They have a few locations in the USA now.  Two are in Southern California – The Grove and Beverly Hills.

So I went and bough myself a pretty pretty box of macarons.  I adore the rose on top!

The box sits on top of a stack of antique and vintage plates.

The rest of the items on the table I already had and pulled out of various cabinets.  If you’ve noticed, there are a few Staffordshire swan spill vases in the center of the table as well. 

I hope you enjoyed our Valentine’s Day table for two and have been inspired to spend your Valentine’s day at home for a nice dinner in!

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Traditional Christmas Table Setting

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I finally have set my Christmas table! I love the color scheme with the pops of red and green!

My mom let me borrow her little white candle village this year. She bought it at Pottery Barn years ago and it is one of my favorite things for Christmas! 

I used my Juliska Country Estate Plates and the Williams Sonoma tartan chargers.

I love the little gingerbread house napkin ring holders.  I forget who makes them but I picked them up at an after Christmas sale several years ago. 





These red pinecone goblets are new to me this year.  I’ve been looking for cut to clear red goblets for years now.  All of the ones I have found have been the wrong shade of red.  This year Williams Sonoma had these red pinecone goblets and they were the perfect color!  So we snapped them up.  The only other perfect red was Baccarat, which I had only been dreaming about!

I love the tablecloth with the gingerbread house, christmas tree, reindeer and Santa which also came from Williams sonoma here.  I feel like this is a giant ad for Williams Sonoma – uhh, this came from there too!  I swear I wasn’t paid to write this. How I wish! 

I hope you enjoyed my Christmas table.  WE enjoy sitting here with the fire crackling.  Okay, so the fire doesn’t crackle because it burns propane and burns clean, but hey, a girl can dream… 

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Thanksgiving Tablescape with Pumpkin Cake

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A Thanksgiving Tablescape in nontraditional colors. I know I shared this table earlier this Fall, but I made a few tweaks and a cake!  Next week I’m sharing my traditional Thanksgiving table as part of a Thanksgiving table blog hop! It’s fun to compare and contrast the two looks.

Fall table

The cake I made was this pumpkin bundt cake (recipe here).green and white Fall table

If you remember, the table from a few weeks ago had white pumpkin cocottes on top of each place setting.  I removed those, added some candles and a cake. Fall Thanksgiving table #tabledecorations #tablescapes #tabledecor #tablecenterpieces #tablesettingideas #falltablesettings #farmhousetablesettings #autumntablescapes #casualtablesettings #beautifultablesettings #uniquetablescapes #neutraltablescapes #thanksgivingtablesettings #dinnertpartytablescapes

Now you can see what green plates were hiding below – these beautiful majolica plates!

Fall table with pumpkin spice cake

Yes, we eat off of our antique and vintage china, as pictured below.  I recommend not using any knives on it so they won’t scratch the dishes!

Fall table with pumpkin spice cake

I love dining by candlelight, especially in the Fall and Winter.  I pulled out my new candlesticks for this table!

Fall table #tabledecorations #tablescapes #tabledecor #tablecenterpieces #tablesettingideas #falltablesettings #farmhousetablesettings #autumntablescapes #casualtablesettings #beautifultablesettings #uniquetablescapes #neutraltablescapes #thanksgivingtablesettings #dinnertpartytablescapes

Now it took me a while to find a candle that actually fit these candlesticks.  These candlesticks are made in France, so of course the candles don’t come in standard US sizes.  I went to lots of different stores trying to find candles that would fit.  I ended up having to cut a larger candlestick to size in order to fit.    Fall table with green and white

To set your Thanksgiving tablescape, you can try some new things: maybe use non traditional colors.  Use your antique or vintage china.  Dine by candlelight.

Fall pumpkin spice cake

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Enchanted Castle Halloween Table with Floating Candles

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This year’s Halloween table with floating candles is inspired by an enchanted castle.  The castle, owned by an evil Queen, becomes enchanted at night.
Enchanted Castle Halloween table

However, during the day it exudes elegance. Enchanted Castle Halloween table

Fresh flowers spill out of a tulipiere.  Figures of angels decorate the table. Elegant Halloween Table

Soup bowls with lions heads are filled with pumpkins.

Elegant Halloween table party

The antique lace runner has  birds  dragons woven into it. antique lace

Elegant and Enchanted Halloween table decorations

As the sun starts to set, spooky things start to happen.

Enchanted Castle Halloween table

The evil Queen’s castle becomes enchanted with spells and ordinary items take flight. Harry Potter inspired Halloween table with floating candles

Floating candles are abound. Music plays in the background.Enchanted Castle Halloween tableTo create this table with floating candles, I thought about making my own Harry Potter inspired floating candles as I read various tutorials about it. Enchanted Castle Halloween table

But I was running short on time and supplies, so instead I purchased these remote controlled LED candles.   I then used fishing line and hung the candles from the chandelier. I strongly recommend remote controlled candles as when you hang the candles high it is hard to turn them off without a remote control! Enchanted Castle Halloween tableI had fun with this last image and photoshopped a few extra candles in! I hope you enjoyed my Halloween table with floating candles!Harry Potter inspired Halloween table with floating candles

enchanted castle halloween table with floating candles

Check out my Halloween mudroom this year too!Farmhouse Halloween Decorating in the Mudroom "The Witch is Home"

 

 

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Farmhouse Sunflower Table

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Nothing to me says Summer quite like sunflowers.  I love the yellow against the black and the white Mackenzie Child’s Courtly check!
black and white table with sunflowers

The drapes are pulled because it is HOT out. 100 degrees! Too hot for me.sunflower dining room

I’ve slowly been expanding my courtly check collection.  It all started with these candle sticks.  Then the placemats and napkin rings. The pitcher is new this year.
black and white table with sunflowers

A sunny table for a sunny day!

black and white table with sunflowers

I actually had a dream about creating this table.  I guess you could say I dreamt it up – literally! Sometimes some of my best design ideas come from my dreams in my sleep.   Does that happen to you? black and white table with sunflowers

It happens to my Mom too, in fact, we call it “Schlafkreativ” – meaning sleeping creativity in German.  We made up that word, btw, but in German you can make up words by adding words together, no, really! It’s called compound German words.    If you’re curious, you can read all about German compound words here.black and white table with sunflowers

Okay, back to the table.  I decided to leave the white tablecloth underneath the placemats to make a nice white base for the black and white check.

black and white table with sunflowers

Love this little pitcher I bought earlier this year!  You can totally use it for serving… but I have only used it as a vase so far!

black and white table with sunflowers

Sources in the post

Courtly Check Pitcher – Here at Neiman Marcus or Saks Fifth Avenue.

Placemats – Saks Fifth Avenue or Neiman Marcus.

Unfortunately the candlesticks were discontinued but they still have candlesticks for taper candles.

Salad Plates

Dinner Plates

oops I forgot to include glasses/goblets on the table, didn’t notice until just now! See, blogland isn’t always perfect!

Hope you have a lovely day! I’d love it if you’d pin the image below!

farmhouse sunflower table

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Blue and White Table Setting for Summer

Blue and White Table Setting for SummerWe use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.

I’m so excited to share this fun blue and white table setting for Summer!

I received my French bistro chairs last week and was so excited to show them off!

They are actually going to be used outside – but we are building a pool and there’s construction people and a mess back there and I didn’t want them getting ruined.

blue and white table setting with French bistro chairs and peonies

So they found a temporary home in the breakfast nook!

Then the next day, I was at Costco and found these gorgeous peonies.  I love the dark pink color!

I’ll never tire of peonies! My favorite flower.  If you’ve missed it, I wrote about everything you need to know about peony care here.

The plates are Spode “Blue Italian”.

Found them for a song at Home Goods and naturally couldn’t pass them up!

Pitcher is by Juliska and chargers are from Hobby Lobby.  The gold cutlery is plastic! See, you can mix cheap with expensive!  You wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t told you.

What are your Summer plans? Mine are to *hopefully* sit in my pool… but it’s not done. So maybe it will be next Summer!

blue and white table setting with French bistro chairs and peonies

Oh, and I made French strawberry pistachio macaron cakes!  Recipe up later this week, so stay tuned!

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From the Shop

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