Giving Thanks Tablescape

Where did November go?  It always seems

like November is one of the shortest months

of the year, especially when we have an early

Thanksgiving like we do this year.

It is still warm and wonderful here, perfect days

for working in the yard, so I decided to bring

some greenery in from the yard to brighten

up our Thanksgiving table.

I bought these plates a couple of years ago,

with the coordinating salad plates from Home Goods.

They are stunning white plates with gold lettering

saying "Eat, drink and be thankful" and "Give Thanks".

What traditions do you have for Thanksgiving that

involve giving thanks?

I laid a snowy white fur runner down the center 

of the table and filled it with greenery,

gold pumpkin shaped candles and figurines,

and some of my last roses from the garden.

I used my gold twig flatware from Pier 1 again,

with woven gold placemats.

These beautiful cream and gold napkins

tuck under a bread plate that is white

and gold chevron.

Did you know an easy way to teach your family

which bread plate is theirs?  Make a letter b

with your left hand for bread and a letter d

with your right hand for drink.  They fit perfectly

on their right side of the plate if your hands

were the markers for the bread and the drink

and a plate sat between.

We have had these gold goblets for years

and years and they always feel right for 

the holidays.

I created this Caramel Pumpkin Spice Trifle

for a dinner party this week, and it makes

the perfect centerpiece for our Thanksgiving table.

I will be posting the recipe on my next blog post.

As the world gets browner outside, having a little

green on the table really adds a nice touch.

The ceramic pumpkins and pumkin

candles all came from Home Goods

this year too.

I have never been a fan of pumpkin pie - it is the

texture - but I love pumpkin desserts,

and this is a perfect Thanksgiving or fall

dessert.  It has all the flavors of wonderful fall.

There are so many things to be thankful for at

this time of year and year round.  I hope

you all are filled with joy and gratitude

this Thanksgiving.

I will be posting this with

Tablescapes Thursday

My Thanksgiving Mantel

It has been a busy week trying to

get all of Halloween put away and

decorate for Thanksgiving.

Even Thanksgiving can be done up

with a little sparkle.

I made the banner for the mantel using

this free download by 

The Deliberate Mom.

Then I added some glitter to the

letters and mounted them on metallic

silver papers and strung them with

jute.  I cut my papers 5 wide by

6 1/2 long, and that worked perfectly

for her letters.  

The French script pumpkins were from Home Goods

several years ago.  I looked everywhere for a metallic

garland that would go with my neutral look,

and just found this one the other day at our

new Home Goods.  Now I don't have to drive

40  minutes to a Home Goods

(kind of addicting!)

Actually, the mercury glass vases are from

Home Goods several years ago too.

I love the gold, silver and coppery tones

of the garland.

Gold candlesticks and a polka dot

gold pumpkin adorn the hearth.

The pumpkin sits on a champagne colored

cake pedestal.

Everything turned out better than I had

planned.

Give thanks daily, and it will come back

to you!  Thank you for coming to visit

our Thanksgiving home.

Posting this with

Wow Us Wednesday

Anything Goes Pink Saturday

Dressed Up Fall Table with Elegant Haagen-Dazs Pomegranate Swirl

It is time to set a dressier 

table for the season since we

have one of the new flavors of Haagen-Dazs

as a guest tonight!

Aren't these new containers so elegant?

I was lucky enough to have the

wonderful people at Haagen-Dazs

send me some of their new flavors

and their Pomegranate Swirl Gelato

just seemed to go with our fall

tablescape today.  It might be

a little early to find pomegranates

in the grocery section of your

store, but not in the freezer section.

Let's get the table set.

The table's inspiration came

from these inexpensive beauties

that I found at Home Goods 

this year.  I added the blingy

brooches 

(leftover from Amanda's wedding)

from Fabulous Brooch

and it took them to a whole new level.

They center the table along with a rich

beaded and fringed table topper.

We couldn't get too serious so I

added my home made grapevine

wreaths under a chocolate brown

plate to bring in more of the fall season.

I am loving this in the dining 

room so I moved two of my chairs

to the wall with the sideboard.

It is fun to leave tablescapes up

for the seasons and holidays

as part of your interior design.

I made eight of these grapevine wreaths

 two years

ago with the grapevines that grow

in the backyard just for tablescaping.

The plate stack consists of a chocolate

brown plate topped by a taupe textured

plate and finished off with the leafy

green and cream plate.

I just love the huge soup bowls.

Wouldn't they be great with a fall soup?

Don't you find that you change your

cooking once the weather changes.  My

first thing is I begin baking breads again

and then soups to go with the breads.

The rich wood of the napkin rings

brings some more rustic elegance

to the table.  

This tablescape is one that goes

beautifully with the uncovered wood

of the table so that it can be a star itself.

The green bubble goblets are my

favorite for fall.

I always find myself turning

to this green flatware year round.

These are just yummy all

dressed up in their finery.

This gives you a nice view of

the beaded topper.  I love to

scrunch up a topper for the center

of the table to give it texture and depth.

Are you craving candles with

the days shorter?  I know I am.  I

love soft candlelight as it gets cooler.

I can't wait for the candlelight

to shine through this hurricane.

Now that the table is set,

it is time to enjoy our dessert

inspired by one of nature's fall fruits

the beautiful pomegranate.

The Pomegranate Swirl Gelato

is another smooth and creamy dessert.

The flavor is really subtle and refreshing.

You wouldn't want to overpower

this flavor so I decided to just

accent it with some home made

pomegranate syrup and some

chocolate covered pomegranates.

Serve it up in a pretty dish

and squirt a little syrup over

the top and garnish with some more

chocolate covered pomegranates

and you have an elegant yet simple dessert.

Don't you just love their new packaging

for these flavors.  You know you are

serving up something elegant and

wonderful just with the packaging.

Pomegranate Syrup Recipe

1 C. pomegranate juice

2 C. sugar

2 T. cornstarch mixed in 1/4 C. cold water.

Red food coloring (optional)

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Bring the juice and sugar to a boil.  

Mix in the cornstarch mix slowly until

the desired thickness.  Add a little red

food coloring if desired.  Stir in the

lemon juice.  Let cool then refrigerate.

This shot shows you how pretty the swirls

are in the Gelato.

A big thank you to the people at

Haagen-Dazs who have given me

the opportunity to sample and then 

highlight three of their new flavors.

We have one more to go.  If you 

missed the first one

Pistachio Gelato,

click here.  It was by far the

best Pistachio I have had.  You

could actually taste the salty pistachios!

The final one is

Midnight Cookies and Cream Ice Cream!!

Did I save the best one for last?  Who

knows!!??  I haven't cheated, yet!

Thanks for visiting today!

I will be posting this with

Tablescapes Thursday

and

Pink Saturday