Christmas Tea with Grandma

It is time for a Christmas Tea Party 

at 

Grandma's house.  

Everything is decorated and magical

and the little ones really notice and 

appreciate it.

Of course, this is very girly girl decor

with fluffy feather placemats, and pink polka dots.

(Click here for the French Macaron tutorial.)

Pretty flower shaped pink plates sit atop the feathers.

A white holly berry plate tops the pink

and pink strips and polka dots finish off

our girls' tea party.

Pink and white macarons decorate the plate.

These lovely pink goblets are perfect,

and they are heavy enough for little ones.

This is all softness and fluff.

This party calls for sterling silver -

my Dubarry by International.

Our candy shop is under glass on

a pink and purple striped cake plate.

I am obsessed with cake plates!

This year I used fairy lights inside the

house, leaving the battery pack out the

back so I can turn it on and off without

removing the cloche.

The kitchen counter is filled with

glittering nutcrackers, and candy

themed items.

Naturally, there are real treats!

I adore the treat themed nutcrackers.

The Sweet Treats tree takes center stage on

the counter for our tea party.

It is surrounded by all kinds of goodies.

Little Christmas elves hide in the tree

to watch everyone during the season.

I got two of these adorable Christmas trees 

under a cloche, and they sit atop candleholders.

There are even nutcrackers with cupcake hats

on the Sweet Treats tree.

Little Jacquelyn who is only four, and she even

knows how to say "macarons" correctly

(like the French do.) 

I will be posting with

Tablescapes Thursday

Dishing It & Digging It

A Table for the Royal Birth

My feathered placemats were so magical

that I had to try them in another color

for this week's tablescape.

White clouds of Heavenly feathers

nest the plates fit for a king

celebrating Christmas.

Today I combined the white feathers

with royal crown plates and

glittering silver plates.  This is just

one of those tables that took my breath away.

I love plate stacked upon plate with crowns

topping them.  These were a wonderful 

collection of 24 each that I got from our

local company Tai Pan

complete with 24 bowls.

We have already had two dinner parties

on this table and guests were worried

about getting food on the feathers but

as a designer told me when I asked about

cow hide, "Well, the cows (or in this case birds)

are out in the rain and mud - it washes off easily!"

So that relaxed all of our guests.

I love this beautiful silverplated flatware

that I got for Christmas 2010,

but I always feel badly when people 

ask about them because they are discontinued.

They were Padova from Horchow.

They were on sale (duh!  they were being

discontinued) and I got them at the price

of stainless steel.  I wish they had more 

for you!!

The pewter goblets are fit for a king too.

I received 12 of these as a gift a few years

ago with a huge pewter punchbowl.

This glittery silver tablerunner centers the

table.  This was a new purchase this year

from Koyal Wholesale, another wonderful

source for tablecloths at great prices.  This is

so soft and elegant you could use it as a wrap!

Mercury glass creates the centerpiece.

I embellished one of the vases with

a kingly crown ornament.

This little white and silver

fairy just slipped her way onto

the table.  She thought she matched

perfectly!

It looks all wintery and white but we have had

the warmest December ever!  There is snow in 

the tops of the mountains right outside this

window but we haven't had any in the valley.

But it looks wintery in here.

What a wondrous time of year when we

celebrate the birth of the

King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

I saw this Christmas Tree napkin fold

demonstrated on the Hallmark Channel

morning show, Home and Family and

had to give it a try for one of our

dinner parties.  Isn't it fun.  You have to

turn the napkin inside out to get the 

design to show up, but it is easy to do.

Just look up a tutorial on youtube.

Well, just one week left to prepare

for Christmas.  I think a set of these

feathered placemats would be a 

perfect gift for anyone that loves

tablescaping.

I hope you are having a

wonderful time filled with joy and

love for this great time of year.

I would love to have you here to

celebrate with me - wouldn't that be

a fabulous party!

I will be posting this with

Tablescapes Thursday

Feathered Nest Friday

DIY Feathered Placemats

It is sooooooooo easy to create these

billowy, heavenly clouds to adorn 

your table with this year and I am 

going to show you how.

These are a DIY version of the feathered 

placemats featured at my favorite home

store ZGallerie, but I am not going to 

spend $30 for a placemat so I made a

version that cost me about $3-$6 each.

What You Will Need

Neutral colored round woven placemats

(I bought these at Wal Mart in a gold for about $2 each.)

Chandelle (turkey feather) boas

(You will use half a boa per placemat, but buy

one extra one for six placemats just in case you are a 

little short as you go around the placemat.)

Glue gun and glue

I tried these two different ways, one taking the feather

boas apart and gluing them down about 3 at a time

so they looked a little flatter like the ones I had

seen at the store.  That took me 40 minutes each and

I quit that idea after two of them.  Then I went for

the quick version and just glued the boa around the

edge.  That took 5 minutes each.  Yes, I do love to time

myself when doing craft project.  

The picture on the left is the 

placemat that I pulled the boas

apart.  The picture on the right is

where I just glued the whole boa

down.  I actually like the look better

of the one on the right - the five minute

version.  When you put a plate on the

middle you couldn't tell a difference in 

the look.  

The store version had feathers all the

way to the center, but I am never going

to have them on a table without plates

so I just did the outside of the placemat.

Here I show you a partially glued

placemat.  

Before beginning, cut the boa in half.

These white ones I got from Wal Mart on sale for $3

each.  The aqua ones I had to order online for $8

each.  It will use about half a boa, but the white

ones seemed a little shorter and I had to

piece in about 4-6 inches extra at the end so 

buy one extra boa to complete your project.

Use the hot glue gun and 

using a zigzag pattern apply glue to

the outside 1 1/2 inches of the placemat

in about a six to eight inch strip around

the edge.  Press the boa down on the glue.

I use the cool glue gun so I don't end up

with blisters!!  Continue around until you

have the entire edge of the placemat covered.

Piece a little in at the end if you

are short.  Don't worry about cutting

the boas, they are woven in tight to

the center string and you are gluing

them securely.  

When I was done I shook them upside

down to remove any stray feathers.  

They stack nicely for storage.

Here is the white one with the

same placesetting.  I can't decide

which one I love most!!!

Don't worry about eating with these, you

can wipe the feathers off with a damp cloth -

remember birds are out in the water and dirt

too, or if it really gets stained, just cut those

feathers off and glue a few back in their place.

I hope you love these easy placemats

and make some of your own.  You can

buy or order feathers in fabulous colors.

Here is the source for the aqua boas.

I will be posting this with 

Pink Saturday

Metamorphosis Monday

Wow Us Wednesday

Feathered Nest Friday

Home Sweet Home

Foodie Friday