Part 1 Behind-the-Scenes: The Table

Part 1: The Table

Here's the promised Behind-the-Scenes Part 1 from my December 22 post APPLESandRUBIES: Pure Style Home Holiday Inspired Lunch. My inspiration for this lunch came from Lauren Liess's Better Homes & Gardens article "Christmas Present," click the link, as Lauren has just posted the full article on her fantastic blog Pure Style Home.

{My son's little wooden animals were the first things I knew I wanted on the table}

 I'm not claiming to have an amazing home like Lauren's, but it was fun to be inspired. For the table, to start, I dragged out all the items I could find in my house in shades of green, silver, copper, whites and warm woods. Now, note the bare windows, because...

{hanging to dry in the sun before they go up}

 Yes, I FINALLY hung curtains in the dining room! Why this took me almost three years astounds me.

{look at that face - so fun to help Mom!}

Son H and I foraged the back yard by the creek for evergreens and twigs, (wasn't it neat how Lauren had them shoved in her Christmas tree?) We even foraged the Christmas tree limbs neighbors had put out on the curb!

{I like both sides of this fabric!}

In advance I bought some ribbon and fabric. I've always been intimidated by the variety and sheer number of fabric bolts in the upholstery section, but with my mantra "green and vintage-looking" I had just a few choices, and quickly bought a half yard of this pretty sage green damask. No time to sew, I just cut a straight edge and used it as a runner.

{Warming by the Jotul wood stove...}

 I just loved the images of buckets of voluptuous white flowers when Lauren showed us the prep for the BH&G article back in February 2010, so I bought a dozen white roses. The florist told me they would open up with some heat, so I put them near the wood stove. You can see where this is heading...

{...ugh!}

Yes - I burnt the roses. So sad! Only a half dozen were usable when I peeled off the outer petals!

{long stems became short stems}

A bit of a mess working on the arrangement in a squat double-walled glass vase that I wrapped with a simple band of white paper to hide the stems.

{I cut the overgrown part right off - ruthless!}

 What else to add? On the lookout for bright green things in the house I spied this aloe plant.

{Just a little gooey!}

So green spikes were added. Here's the fabric runner down, with three candles and a silver mercury globe.

 I love a little unexpected touch to the table, and a vintage green spool of thread was perfect.

{Lots of little kids over for this lunch -and they played with the animals at the table!}

The spool of thread was so colorful keeping company with my wooden menagerie!

I officially have a serious crush on all colors of green now.

{a peek of our Christmas tree in the background}

Hope you enjoyed my behind-the-scenes of Part 1: The Table. Read my original December 22 post for this lunch at APPLESandRUBIES: Pure Style Home Inspired Lunch, and come back soon for Part 2: The Dessert!

Thank you again to Lauren Liess and her blog Pure Style Home for the inspiration!

Loretta 


sources: curtains: JCPenney, fabric:JoAnn's, vase and silver globe: Pottery Barn