A Simple Valentine's Day

Hello, lovely ones in the bloggersphere and beyond!  I hope you are well.  This evening, I wanted to share a few simple tips that helped my Valentine's Day go off without a hitch.  I hope you enjoy the post!

For my Valentine's Day decorations this year, I kept the tree up that I used this past Christmas.  You may see this tree featured here in my post archives.

I removed the tree skirt, hot cocoa cups, and hot cocoa topper.  I found these cute foam hearts at The Dollar Tree.

I used a standard hole punch

to make holes in the tops of the foam hearts,

then I tied them with this pretty velvet ribbon Mr. Parsimonious found at Hobby Lobby.

I adorned the tree with the hearts in the places where the cocoa cups had been.  Super simple!

Setting the Table with Flair

The centerpiece for this simple setting consisted of fresh bougainvillea right from my garden and store-bought white roses.

I added one white rose to each of the place settings.

Each place setting included a beaded red charger, white hemstitched plate, ruby cup and saucer, and a demitasse fork and spoon.

A white cake stand was used for sweet pre-dinner noshes. 

You cannot go wrong with chocolates, strawberries and cheese (in this case, it was Babybel)!

A romantic setting for two.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Until next we meet,

--Y

From my collection:

Red chargers, Generic

White hemstitched plates, Ralph Lauren Whipstitch Collection

Ruby red cups and saucers, Anchor Hocking Royal Ruby Red Collection

Demitasse forks and spoons, Wallace Silversmiths Antique Baroque Collection

Cake stand, Ralph Lauren Pavillion Collection

Linen, Generic, from HomeGoods

If you enjoy this post, please visit the archives!  You may also visit my full profile to view my other blogs. Connect with me on my Facebook Page, Parsimonious Décor Darling.   You might like to visit my other blog hubs,

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A Subtle, Upscale Mardi Gras Tablescape

Bon jour, mes amis beaux!  Thank you so much for taking the time to pop in!

Do you celebrate Mardi Gras?  To be honest, even though my husband is Catholic, and though we usually observe lent, we really don’t make a big to-do on Mardi Gras.  

This year, I attempted to set a table for the holiday (this will be my first, frankly), with a toned-down, more elegant vibe that I prefer when setting a table.  I hope you enjoy the post!

Color scheme:  I utilized the traditional colors of Mardi Gras, which are purple, green, and gold; I chose though to use a more muted version of the color palette.  

Setting the scene:

To set the foundation of my Mardi Gras tablescape, I began with a couple of beautiful remnants of fabric I purchased online, just in time and just right for this occasion.

Isn’t this gorgeous!!?  The beautiful deep plum and fabulous foliage…ahh sigh!  It is vintage, and from Ralph Lauren’s Brittany collection.

I used the remnants to create a runner, just perfect as a basis for my table.

For a centerpiece, I used a wonderful vintage-inspired hobnail vase in emerald mercury glass.

I LOVE the detail on this vase!

A combination of florals from the local grocer and buds from my trees

perfectly compliment the pattern on the runner.

I love these trees that grow on my property.  During the summer, they practically burst with fragrant blooms, and when the weather is cold and they are dormant, they are abundant with beautiful purplish-blue pods that almost look like grapes.

At either side of the table,

simple gold candle holders

with purple tapers play nicely with the aforementioned colors in the runner and florals.

Velvet green placemats with a diamond pattern indicative of a harlequin motif were the base for the plate stack.

For the plate stack, gold chargers were followed with transparent plates, topped with purple napkins adorned with green gold-trimmed velvet ribbon.

Green goblets serve as stemware for spirits, and gold flatware complete the setting.

A closer look.

Completed tablescape.

A few more shots.

Happy Mardi Gras, all!


From my collection:

Runner, as mentioned, made by yours truly from Ralph Lauren Brittany Collection fabric

Velvet placemats, Tahari Home, HomeGoods

Green Hobnail Vase, HomeGoods

Gold flatware, Wallace Silversmiths Grand Duchess Collection, Horchow/Neiman Marcus

Gold chargers, clear plates, green goblets, gold candleholders (spray painted by me), purple napkins, green velvet ribbon, all, generic

Purple candles, Amazon

If you enjoy this post, please visit the archives!  You may also visit my full profile to view my other blogs. Connect with me on my Facebook Page, Parsimonious Décor Darling.   You might like to visit my other blog hubs,

The Marvelous Maison, a lifestyle blog hub and 

Frugal Fab Fashionista, my fashion blog hub. 

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Set Your Table With Flair--A Rustic, Traditional Christmas

Welcome!  Come on in!  

Hello, dear friends!  Thank you so much for stopping by!

This time of year is so incredibly busy, isn't it?  Shopping, cooking, planning, and most importantly, giving!  It all seems worth it though, and I am always in such a euphoric state.  :)   I just love it!

A few weeks ago, I decided to try to transform my home into a sort of quasi-lodge this season.  What that meant to me is I wanted to keep things pared down with simple, rustic elements.  In today's post, I am sharing my final Christmas tablescape for this season.  I am a traditionalist in my heart-of-hearts, so this setting will fuse rustic elements along with the traditional themes I love this time of year.  I hope you enjoy the post.


What does tradition mean to you?  Personally for Christmas, I just adore tartan, so I began this table in a dramatic dark tartan of green, black, with red and gold elements.

Vibrant red chargers, clear plates, and cream saucers complete the plate stack.  Gold flatware to capture and reflect the gold metallic of the tartan cloth was set as a compliment.

 

Rustic to me means lots of greenery on the table, so I wove a pine garland down the length of the table....placed ornaments, pinecones, and poinsettias.

 

Tall red taper candles in clear candle holders and different-sized cream pillar candles were placed along with the greenery.

Red napkins, held by tiny grapevine twiggy napkin holders were set at each setting along with mini pinecones as place settings, and tartan place cards.

At each setting, a premade topiary tree dressed handsomely in McQueen Tartan was added along with green-footed stemware.  Along with Blackwatch tartan, McQueen is likely one of my favorites!

If you would like to view the tutorial to make these mini topiary trees, you may do so by visiting the post on my blog The Crafting Table here.

On the back of each chair, grapevine twiggy wreaths with more tartan.

 

Closer look.

Santa keeps a watchful eye on the festivities from the closeby ballerina table.  Hello, there!  Ho, Ho, Ho!

Completed tablescape.

Here are a couple shots with the candles lighted.  There's nothing like a candlelit dinner!  So warm and intimate!

Have a lovely, lovely holiday season!

From my collection:
Red chargers and clear plates, generic
Cream saucers, Ralph Lauren Whipstitch Collection
Flatware, Wallace Grand Duchess Collection, Horchow/Neiman Marcus
Garland, Large ornaments, and mini pinecones 3/$1, The Dollar Tree
Pillar candles, Ross
Mini ornaments, Hobby Lobby
All other items, thrifted, including tartan, twiggy wreaths, and stemware, which is Luminarc France Emerald Green

If you enjoy this post, please visit the archives!  You may also visit my full profile to view my other blogs. Connect with me on my Facebook Page, Parsimonious Décor Darling.   You might like to visit my other blog hubs,

The Marvelous Maison, a lifestyle blog hub and 

Frugal Fab Fashionista, my fashion blog hub. 

Follow me on Pinterest!!  Please be sure to kindly follow the board guidelines, as it takes time and effort to find fabulous pins across the Internet and Pinterest!  Thank you!  

Thank you for stopping by! ❤