Saturday, October 24, 2015

20 Fall and Thanksgiving Tablescapes

Oh how I love fall!
It just brings the crispness of life to view.

I love to pull out my sweaters, gloves, and drink hot chocolate.
Relax by the window, and watch the leaves turn colors,
and fall from the trees.

Just yesterday as I walked past the window in the hall,
I stopped and watched for a while, all of this taking place,
the color of the trees in orange, crimson, and brown,
it took my breath way.

Today I want to share with you 20 tablescapes for your fall and 
Thanksgiving tables.  I love to set the bar in the kitchen
with seasonal dishes, and really actually eat on them,
not just have them look pretty.

I am a dish connoisseur, but I have learned over time,
that I cannot have every dish I love.
So I will share with you tablescapes that I have found on the internet
that others are sharing. 


Thanksgiving Tablescape by dining delight:

This is so beautiful, and reminds me of all the colors I see outside my
windows.  The pumpkin is the treat of the display!


Thanksgiving place setting. I love the colors and the plaid napkin!:

This setting is so simple, but elegant at the same time.

Shabby French Cottage: English Transferware:

Transfer ware is so beautiful in these colors.
I saw a set while we were in California this year,
wanted to buy it so bad!
I know Dana every time I see such things, just wants to say
Robin, just where are you going to put this!
So Alas, It did not come home with me.

Table-setting-antique-chic-:

This setting is shown for weddings, but the simple elegance of it
brings a smile to my face!  I love the colors of the flowers!!!

3 Tiered Presentation Stand from Z Gallerie $249.95:

Z Gallerie brings such fun elegance to this table!
Our daughter took us to one of their stores a few weeks ago
and I fell in love with the glitter sprinkled pumpkins.
Gold, silver, white, grey so classy for fall.

fall table:

This farmhouse style of setting makes me want to change my
kitchen!  Love how fall feels so good here.

..:

These colors are so perfect for fall, and yet you can use
them for every single day during the fall season.
Soup tastes so much better in a pretty bowl!

As beautiful and important as they are in nature, acorns deserve to be celebrated with special materials and artistic consideration. Pier 1's assortment is made from beautifully marbled amber, verdigris and java glass, as well as crackled amber glass. Place your collection in a centerpiece or on a mantel or countertop.:

Aren't these acorns just amazing?  I can see them at the center of the table 
or one on each plate.  Love blown glass.

elegant fall table:

Don't you want to be invited to this home for Thanksgiving?
I love how they brought blue into the tablescape with
all the orange colors, and pumpkins and wreaths on each setting.

Autumn table:

Pheasants are so perfect for a fall table.  I love the extra dish for
the spoon. What a treasure of a tablescape.

Fall Tablescape:

Each of us have our personal favorites, I do love acorns!
So perfect for the fall or Thanksgiving table.

fall dining:

No table cloth, just dishes right on that beautiful wood table.
This is so simple for fall.  Everyday!

Fall Fixer Upper Workshop:

I would have loved to be able to attend this fall fixer upper workshop.
This is so beautiful!

fall table setting:

Isn't that the cutest bowl ever?  I love how they used a square plate with 
the leaf plate and round plates.  Great fall place setting.

green gourd & lettuce centerpiece:

White and Gray are the colors right now, and this just says it all.
What a great centerpiece with all things natural.

Fall tablescape- Beautiful, cozy, inviting.:

How fun is this?  Wicker and dishes.  Beautiful flower arrangement too.

Thanksgiving:

Pheasants again, and teamed up with silver!

Understated Spode... Thanksgiving Tables:

Did you know there were so many pheasant dishes?
Love the silverware!

table setting:

Oh how I love these goblets.  I have several types of goblets in
these colors!  Beautiful elegance!

Metallic candle holders, frosted pinecones, and white pumpkins stand out against a dark stained wood table runner.:

I love how simple this tablescape is.
Just find what is in your cupboards and use it!

Here are my picks for 20 tablescapes for fall.

I hope you have enjoyed them,
drop me a note and tell me which are your favorites!

Happy Fall!

Robin

Monday, September 28, 2015

Harvesting Acorns

Hello out there.

A few years ago, our grand daughters were playing in our 
yard and brought me a handful of acorns.

I said,  "What!  Where did you get these?"
I think they thought they were in trouble, but I told them 
I always wanted some, and where did they find them.

They brought me to the front of our yard, where a scrub oak was
growing, and there on the ground they found acorns!

We checked all the scrub oak in our yard that year, but only the one
tree had acorns.  

This year as we came home from Georgia in September, as I 
was walking down the dirt road on our property, I saw more acorns,
this time on a different tree.

I certainly wasn't going to miss such a treasure,
and I spent a few minutes with a plastic bag in one
hand picking the acorns on the scrub oaks in our yard.


I was able to fill 3 silver bowls with this new found
treasure of mine,


Some had already changed to the beautiful brown color,
most are still in the green stage.
I knew if I waited longer they would drop to the 
ground and I would not be able to find them.


Remember in one of my last posts, I shared that I am on a 
silver hunt, finding silver pieces wherever we go.
Here is a tray and a candle holder I recently found.


Here are some fake glittered acorns,
that I have had in an arrangement in my bedroom for years,
so yes, I really do love acorns.


Such a fun fall find!
And I am able to use some of my silver treasures
along with these fun acorns.

Have a great fall day!
I so love the fall, it is my favorite season of all!
Pull out those sweaters, make a cup of hot chocolate,
and find a book to read, and watch the
fall leaves fall to the ground.

Happy Fall!

Ciao,

Robin

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Second House Flipped

Hello!

Finally back with the living in Utah again!

We have been in Georgia again working on houses.
We went back the middle of July and just got home a week ago.
Yes, flipping houses, you guessed it.

Our second house turned out so amazing.
So here are some photos of the house.


3221 Kevin Dr, Augusta, GA 30906

For some reason I cannot find the before pictures of this house.
We literally had to gut this kitchen.  It had never been updated from
the time it was originally built.  So all the cupboards,
which were not that many, were horrible.

The stove is in the same place, but to the left of the stove was the HVAC
so we moved it to the hall closet so the kitchen could have
a larger area for cupboard.
I chose cupboards to the ceiling so that there could be
as much storage space as you could possibly get.
3221 Kevin Dr, Augusta, GA 30906

We also opened the doorway to make it an open concept house.
There originally was only a regular door opening,
and the french doors, well sort of french doors,
really just a converted sliding glass door, we replaced with
these beautiful french doors to go out on the deck.
We added granite counter tops, and glass back splash.

3221 Kevin Dr, Augusta, GA 30906

I love the look of the floors, and how they flow from
the living space to the kitchen space,
This really makes the house look bigger by doing this.
Of course new appliances, as the old weren't even in the house.
And all new lighting fixtures throughout the house.

3221 Kevin Dr, Augusta, GA 30906

The living area, was small, and the garage had been converted into a room,
but both rooms were odd.  Dana and Jeremiah brought up the floor from
the garage to match the living room, and then
took out the wall between them, making this beautiful large
living space. and next to the kitchen a wonderful laundry room space,
which simply did not exist in the house.

3221 Kevin Dr, Augusta, GA 30906

We updated the bathrooms, new vanities and sinks,
and right here where the shower is, used to be a closet.  Just the
right size to make into a shower.

Love how this all turned out!

Just waiting for a sale of this house now.

We painted this house in Sherwin Williams Azure Grey.

What do you think?

Robin

Monday, September 7, 2015

Flipping Houses


There are certainly different seasons in our lives when
 we decide to do something different.
Right now this is what I have been doing.

Since August last year we have been discussing 
new plans with our son Jeremiah, of working on buying and selling 
houses.  So I started looking for cheap houses in our area to
purchase and flip.  It is a very difficult market where we live,
we even had several homes we put offers in on,
But things just were not working out for us in our home state.

Jeremiah started looking for houses in other areas of the U.S., 
and alas, our partnership formulated and we started buying 
Houses together.

Jer found 3 houses, that we all put money in on
in the south and our adventure began.

It took a little time to get there, trying to get our schedules together,
and April began the trek to our newly purchased houses.
As we were planning this, Jer was sent to Germany for 6 months with
his job, and thus we were able to work together for a week,
and then Dana and I were on our own to finish the houses.

The first day we were introduced to a contractor, whom we now
really like, and we have been working as a team to finish the 3 houses
we purchased.
It took about a month to finish this house, we will name as
the Woodsman house, and get it on the market.

We have finished our first house, put it on the market, 
And 2 weeks later accepted an offer and we are up and ready 
to finish our first flip, and let the new owner take over.

It has been a challenge but at the same time very enjoyable.
I love to decorate, but I also love to work.

Some days we work so hard I get back to the house and crash
Not even thinking there could be anything else to do but stop!
But as a whole we are enjoying this new chapter in our lives.

Here are picture of our first house.

2329 Woodsman Dr, Augusta, GA 30906


This house originally had green shudders and pink pillars!
We also added the arch over the front window.

2329 Woodsman Dr, Augusta, GA 30906

The living area didn't have the arch window or the open doorways,
even though there were doorways there, they were much smaller,
the floors were vinyl, and the kitchen and living area
had 2 separate types of vinyl.
This room turned out awesome, love the floors, and we also had
a contractor come in and scrape the popcorn ceilings and paint for us.
Where the 2 hanging lights over the island now are, there was a
shop light, and none of the lights in the house had boxes in the
wall or ceiling to attach the fixtures to,
so Dana needed to install these for code.

2329 Woodsman Dr, Augusta, GA 30906

This kitchen looks so awesome now!  It originally was completely wallpapered
in floral/fruit wall paper, as were both bathrooms, laundry room, and closets wallpapered too, but in
different wallpapers.  I spent 3 days just stripping wallpaper!

We used mindful grey from Sherwin Williams to paint the walls in the house,
We also had all new cupboard doors made for the kitchen and 
new drawer pulls and knobs for the entire kitchen.
New granite countertops, and a subway tile backsplash were added
to the kitchen as well.

The house flows really well with the laminate flooring that flows
from the front door through the living room to the kitchen and
all the way to the back door.

We also added the island to the kitchen with granite.
Both bathrooms got new vanity tops and fixtures.

I love how the house turned out.
I will see if I can find some original photos of the inside of the house.

Our first house is a great success!

Here are the before pictures of the house.






Enjoy!

Robin


Wednesday, April 15, 2015

On a Silver Search

Hello today!

I have been on a search for silver!
I keep seeing these cute ideas on pintrest with pieces of silver.
I grew up with silver in our home, polishing it every 
few months or so, as it became tarnished.

When it was time to pick out things for our wedding, I told my mom,
I don't want any silver!  I never want to polish silver again!
Seriously sounds like a youngster doesn't it?

I still over the years was thankful that the silver stayed at my moms,
I gave her a few pieces of silver that were gifts to us
at our wedding, never thinking once that I would ever want them 
back.  Mom passed away a few years ago, and I have 
polished her beautiful pieces for dad a few times.

Not regretting any minute of the time.  An act of love really.

I always thought that it was way out of my price range to even 
consider ever even purchasing a few pieces for myself,
even it they are showing silver tarnished and not polished
in the magazines.


I learned a few months ago, not true!
We came across a few pieces at a second hand store,
and the first one I bought was this silver plate.


I could not have looked any worse!  Someday I will
show how it looked originally,  it was $2.50.
So I looked up on the internet how to clean it, when it 
looked so back, lots of corrosion on it.

Not bad or too hard, just lemon, vinegar, and a lot of elbow grease!

The result was this beautiful platter.


I have since been on this vigil looking for old pieces of silver for my home.
I love how it looks, polished and unpolished.
And it just depends on where it is or what I want to do with it
as to weather I polish it or not.

Here is another piece, under $15 that I found for my kitchen
to put wooden spoons and silver kitchen tools.


These pieces are not silver, they are just metal,
but I still liked them.
The heart dish is silver.
But they make a fine addition to the corner of the counters
in the kitchen.


So over the last few months I have picked up some really fun pieces.
and continue to do so.  Here are some of my 
treasures







This old box was found in our shed,  I asked my husband if there
was an old box or fruit crate around and
he came up with this,  Not use what I am going to do
to it, but maybe a decal of some sort to look
Parisian.  I keep thinking on it.




I will keep looking,
I didn't realize that in a few months I had found so much!
Our youngest daughter loves silver too,
so there are even some pieces we have purchased for her 
too.  Some really nice pieces.

Til next time!

Drop a note on and off and let me know what you 
think!

Ciao,

Robin