My old dining room.

But, I will readily admit that when I saw this pattern recently my heart skipped a beat.  Does that make me old that I look at china patterns and get excited (or as my husband would say, “Clucky”) these days?

Marchesa by Lenox, “Palatial Garden”

Do you have a favorite China Pattern?

We are hosting this year and have two additional guests (I saved the ones I made last year).  So, I am off to the Paper Source to buy another kit so Maddie and I can whip up a couple more of these little guys.  What about you, any family friendly DIY projects being showcased in your Turkey Day decor?

The centerpiece is an Arthur Court pewter bowl with bunnies (I have this bowl too).  She embellished the flowers with wooden eggs for a simple but pretty centerpiece.

She also used bunny shaped chocolate molds to get creative with the butter.  The men had fun decapitating her handiwork…..

Finally, for dessert a delicious coconut cake was garnished with peeps and candy eggs.  The cake tasted as good as it looks!

In all, the day was wonderful.  The weather here in the DC area was spectacular and Maddie (almost 23 months) had a ball decorating eggs and then hunting for them in the yard.  We played Bocce ball, played Pac Man–which had been given to my mom as a birthday gift the night before and we were all addicted to this classic, and took a long walk after lunch.  Hope you had a wonderful Spring weekend as well!

Now, hop on over to Between Naps on the Porch to see many inspiring tablescapes.

When my husband proposed, I knew a small wedding in Lake Toxaway would be perfect.  We chose to have our reception at a great inn called The Greystone Inn.  Growing up, I remember when this was a boarded up old house, painted green.  We would imagine the ghosts living within and made up all sorts of stories as to why the home had fallen into disrepair.  As you can see….the place is far from disrepair now.

This spot is like heaven on earth to me….so many fond memories in Lake Toxaway.  I spent so many hours out on that lake skiing, sunbathing, hanging out with friends, etc.  We always had an endless stream of visitors and just enjoyed hanging out as a family, playing cards, evening walks on the golf course, etc.  I hope my daughter can form the same wonderful memories of this magical place as she grows.

Photo from The Greystone Inn website.

We had our wedding ceremony in a tiny historic church at Lake Toxaway.  For my husband and me, I could not think of a better place for such an important event.  The only thing that could have made the day better would have been more of his family in attendance.  Chris is Australian….and the trip is a long one….

Photo by Sage Photography.

Since the dining room at the Inn was already decorated for the holidays at the time of our wedding, we decided to keep the table settings simple.  Every table had a view of the lake and mountains beyond, so we wanted that to be the focus vs. anything too over the top on the tables.  I worked a lot at the time of our wedding (previous life working in fund management) but enjoyed finding the time to make all of our menus, table numbers, seating chart, programs, flower cones, etc.  It was one of the first times I had enjoyed a more creative pursuit.  It was fun.

And, here is our luncheon table setting.  The inn could not accommodate an evening event, as it had to serve dinner to its guests.  So, we did a luncheon with cocktails and dancing and then catered an event at a rented house that evening for everyone to kick back, relax and enjoy.

Photo by Sage Photography.

Notice the silver trees, the julep cups and the tea lights were reused in the holiday tablescape I shared last week.

Looking at these photos again brings back such fond memories of special times spent at the Lake and of our family and friends who were able to make the trip to share in our special day.

Now, please head on over to Between Naps on the Porch to see all of the tablescapes submitted to the “Tablescape Thursday” Blog Party.

Since we are expecting snow here in Northern Virginia this weekend, I am still in the winter mindset.  So, I thought I would share an image of our simple holiday setting.

The glitter tree, the tea lights and mint julep vases are left over from our December wedding just over 4 years ago.   (We had a Tiffany blue and silver scheme.)  The name cards were done on the computer, using green labels and red card stock from Paper Source.  The place mats were from Kmart Martha Stewart collection from several years ago.  (I have to thank my mom for bringing over the linens and polishing my silver….)  The grocery store was out of red roses so we improvised with a mix of red and pink.  We even had Maddie’s high chair decked out down to her own mini silver service.  It was a great night with family, not to soon be forgotten.  And, that is what is most important.

To see more inspiring tablescapes, hop on over to the “Tablescape Thursday” party.