Marsha, who writes the blog, Marsha's Musings, recently hosted an ornament exchange for bloggers. I thought it might be fun to join the party ... and it was! I had the privilege of trading ornaments with Pat, owner of Pat Carlson Miniatures. I wanted to send Pat an ornament that had some link to East Tennessee where I live, so I decided her ornament would be made of carved wood, a popular craft in the Appalachians. Pat, who lives in sunny Florida, told me she likes snowmen. This is the ornament I gave her ... In exchange, Pat sent me this beautiful miniature book ornament ... handmade by her! She said she chose The Night Before Christmas because she has such wonderful memories of Christmas Eves spent listening to the ... Keep Reading...
Quick Change Tablescape: Autumn to Winter; Thanksgiving to Christmas
If it's your first time to visit My Place to Yours, WELCOME! If you're returning for another visit, WELCOME BACK! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I certainly enjoyed my time with family -- and seeing this bountiful centerpiece basket my Mother prepared for our table. Aren't the colors and textures beautiful? Such a great "final memory" of Fall before turning my decorating thoughts to the Winter season. But now I'm back home in Tennessee where the thermometer is dropping. It's time for my tablescapes to make some seasonal changes, too ... Today I'm giving you a sneak peek at some quick changes I made to this recent Soup & Silver tablescape. Besides the obvious lighting differences, the table ... Keep Reading...
Happy Thanksgiving – 2010
Happy Thanksgiving! This is my last tablescape of the Fall season ... and it highlights the one element of Fall decorating I haven't yet used in a tablescape: METAL. (If you missed my previous posts, I focused on POTTERY here, and WOOD here.) Today's is a very traditional Thanksgiving tablescape with a turkey and Pilgrims, oranges, golds and reds ... and I've included elements of tarnished brass and shiny gold. Casual and elegant. A mix not often attempted ... A quick look at the dishes A mix of metals ... * Brass tray * * Painted metal cache pot * * Brass hour glass * * Brass and copper pumpkin * * Gold flatware * * Gold-rimmed goblets and coasters * * 24-K gold-plated ... Keep Reading...
A Whimsy Christmas
A few days ago I posted A Gingerbread Christmas -- and added the ideas to my Ideas File tab at the top of this blog. Today, my thoughts have turned to whimsy ... so here are a few ideas I might draw from if I were doing a Whimsy Christmas theme. Some of these pics were taken by me, but most were my usual "tear 'em out of a magazine but forget to make note of which one..." So please remember -- As with ALL text and photos on this blog, you may not reproduce anything without permission -- and I cannot give permission for you to reproduce any of the ideas/pics that will be in this Idea Files section because it's not mine to give! You may use these solely for your own inspiration -- just as I do. (You can click the pics to enlarge them; some ... Keep Reading...
A Thanksgiving Remembered
It was Thanksgiving weekend two years ago while shopping in Home Depot. (Hmmm ... somehow that's very appropriate!) We got the call. My sweet husband and I were going to be grandparents! Oh, how our world changed ... A grandone was on the way! Fast forward several months. The big day finally arrived! Little Man made his grand entrance -- all 9 lbs. 9 oz. and 22" of him! Oh, how I wish I could show you pictures of his sweet face, but I have to respect his parents' wishes. (Yes, I know there are "crazies" out there in the world of the Internet...) I did get permission to give you a peek, though. Just a little one. How quickly he's gone from newborn to active toddler! These little feet have learned to walk, ... Keep Reading...
A Gingerbread Christmas
If you've ever looked at the Idea Files tab at the top of this blog, you know that (like many of you!) I've torn pictures out of magazines for years ... thinking "someday" I might use the ideas. Some of them I have; many I haven't -- yet. This blog is helping me get them organized. I'm excited about sharing them with you from time to time, but I have one BIG request ... Please -- remember that these were mostly torn from various magazines, and I am not always able to properly credit them to the appropriate source. I did NOT take these pics. (As with ALL text and photos on this blog, you may not reproduce anything without permission -- and I cannot give permission for you to reproduce any of the ideas/pics that will be in this ... Keep Reading...
Artsy-Craftsy
I don't consider myself to be a "craftsy" person although I could easily be. My daughters grew up hearing me say, "that would be sooooo easy to make ..." -- and often make it we did ... whatever "it" was. More often than not, though, they would just respond to my optimism with groans. (Imagine how I loved it not long ago when, while shopping with my young married daughter, I heard her say, "that would be sooooo easy to make." Yeah, I loved that!) Over the past few weeks, I've seen several things that caused me to say, "I could make that!" The truth is, I COULD, but I probably won't this year ... but the designer in me is just dying to show you ... in case you're inspired, too, and want to try! Some ... Keep Reading...
PINK Thanksgiving?
A few years ago, I found this tablecloth in an auction box of linens... I love the vibrant pinks and greens, but I'll admit that the design surprised me. Green oak leaves and pink acorns? Certainly NOT typical Autumn colors! I'll admit something else ... this tablecloth hung with my other linens, and -- until now -- I've never used it. I started to a couple of times, but I honestly didn't know what to "do" with it. How could I tie an Autumn tablescape in with hot pink and green? The other day I challenged myself to use this tablecloth. I tried a few things that made me laugh they were so bad. (No, I absolutely did NOT take pictures!) But finally, it started coming together ... and I love it! See ... Keep Reading...
Taper Candles 101
Do you avoid using taper candles? If so, is it because they wobble ... or melt all over your candlesticks ... or you're afraid you'll burn something -- besides the wick? Let's talk about it ... Sometimes a candlestick's opening is simply too large for the taper candle I want to use. That was the case recently when I did this tablescape. See the extra space? This candle is guaranteed to wobble! When that happens, I pull out my candle snuggers. Do you know about those? They're flexible foam discs that wrap around the base of your taper candle and fill the extra space. They usually come in packages of 8-10 discs -- and they're reuseable. Like I said ... reuseable! I wonder how many times this one's been used -- ... Keep Reading...
For the Beauty of the Earth
At this season of Thanksgiving, I often find myself looking to the heavens with gratitude... ... as my mind reflects on these words penned in 1864 by Englishman Folliot S. Pierpoint ... For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies, for the love which from our birth over and around us lies; Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise. Thank you for stopping by today. May you have a blessed weekend. Happy Pink Saturday to everyone joining me at How Sweet the Sound and ... Happy Blue Monday to my friends at Smiling Sally! ... Keep Reading...
Would YOU live like this — for Me?
Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them. – Ralph Waldo Emerson My son-in-law is a veteran of two wars ... One was fought in Iraq. The other in Afghanistan. He lived like this for ME. If you're an American, he did it for you, too. A cot ... in a tiny tent ... with no privacy He enlisted ... served my country and protected my freedoms. He got out of the military ... earned a college degree ... and returned - as an officer - to the United States Army. He'll report soon for even more extensive training ... doing the job so the rest of us don't have to. I couldn't be more proud of him. With my most heartfelt gratitude, thank you ... To ... Keep Reading...
Soup & Silver … So Simple
Remember these placemats and napkins I dyed the other day? (If not, you can see what you missed HERE.) I'm glad you checked back to see them used in today's tablescape. Thanks for stopping by! The reason I dyed them dark brown was because I wanted to use them with these dishes. Last year I found the salad plates and soup bowls on clearance at T.J. Maxx. They were made by Spode for Williams Sonoma Home. The soup bowls and this soup tureen (a thrifty find) were my inspiration for this table ... Since my table is dark, I decided I needed a lighter color for contrast, so I added some texture, too, with a loose-weave square in the center of the table ... and the placemats turned ... Keep Reading...
