These beauties are blooming in the garden. Their timing is perfect! Their colors make me think of my sister ... and her birthday is today. It's a big one. *Smile* I was actually with my sister about a year ago when we came upon this shop window. We had a good laugh. Seriously? ... Sister and I grew up in the '70s ... and lime green and orange were the colors we chose for our shared bedroom. They were the only ones we could agree upon. Just imagine ... floral bedspreads (with a touch of yellow and white thrown in for good measure) and window treatments of bright orange tied-back draperies with lime green sheers. It was the perfect room for two tween-turned-teen girls. ... Keep Reading...
Search Results for: very best tablescape
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Who Are You? … and What Do You Want?
When's the last time you were unsure how to proceed? When there were many doors from which to choose ... all seemingly good ... but you just couldn't get clarity about which one to approach. Doors of Campinas, Brazil My "last time" started a few years ago, and things still haven't gotten much clearer. Plan A: (2010) Open Etsy shop selling vintage linens and dishes. Start blog and do tablescapes featuring items for sale. (2012) Add My Place To Yours SHOPPING and feature more sale items. Reality: I was loving writing this blog and doing tablescapes, but the inventory overflowed and packing supplies cluttered my house ... and the whole thing was sucking my spirit dry. Besides, there ... Keep Reading...
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CELEBRATE LOVE: This One’s for the Girls
Everywhere I turn these days, I see hearts. You, too? Especially here in Blogland, where soft, sweet, girly creativity abounds, the message is loud and clear: Blogland ♥ Valentine's Day! Once again this year, I'll be sending Valentines to the girls of Hope Unlimited for Children, and I'd like to invite you Valentine's Day-loving blog friends to join me. Many of you joined me last year ... and some of you have already made plans to join me again! Thank you. For those of you who don't know about the Valentine Project for Hope Unlimited ... or want to refresh your memory ... When we think of LOVE, we often think of dating ... that human courtship ritual filled with social activities and relational assessment. That ... Keep Reading...
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Winter Memory Revisited …
Since I've been busy with a big DIY project this week, I haven't had time for playing in the dishes. Darn! I guess my Russian Winter tablescape will have to wait a little longer. Instead, I'm going to do a rare reprisal here at My Place to Yours. This Winter Memory tablescape was first posted here in January 2011 and is one of my ten most popular with you readers. For the second time ... or the first ... Enjoy! Many of us have snow at our houses this week -- some of you for the first time in a very long time! Are you enjoying it from inside ... where it's warm ... like I am? Hopefully this poem and tablescape will help you keep the memory of its beauty alive for a little longer. A Winter Memory Joan ... Keep Reading...
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A COLLISION … and Thanksgiving
It happened five years ago ... only two months before Thanksgiving. Renaissance Man and I experienced a collision from which we've never really recovered. I pray we never do. We made our first trip to Brazil. The comfortable life of a college administration career we'd been living for 17 years had recently been turned upside down, and we felt God leading us in a different direction ... but we were still reeling from the sudden changes. What we thought was a world of increased opportunity and hospitality had turned overnight into one of shock and searching. COLLISION What now? In Brazil, we saw poverty beyond anything either of us had seen in Mexico, our closest point of comparison. We heard story after story of ... Keep Reading...
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TAKE A MEAL: Day 18 of 31 Days of Creative Caring
This creative caring idea was originally posted September 14, 2011. ... A dear friend died of cancer. It was one of those "she did everything right" cases. Over the past few years she'd worked hard to move from slightly overweight to "fit and trim." She had regular checkups. But last January she was diagnosed with an invasive and aggressive cancer that managed to evade the best of tests for too long, and her efforts to find a cure weren't realized. She died at the very young age of 50 and left behind a husband of 38 years, a 20-something married son, and a daughter who just began her senior year in high school. So how does this post qualify as a "table" post? When Donna's family had their world turned ... Keep Reading...
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MENDING: How to Care for Vintage Linens & Lace
As we continue our series on caring for vintage linens and lace, it's time to cover the topic of mending... In the very first post of this series -- the one about washing -- I told you to set aside any of your linens that needed mending since repairs should always be made prior to washing. If you missed that post or any of the others on drying, ironing, stain removal, or storage, just click the Vintage Linens tab at the top of this blog to access them. I wish I could tell you that if you master one type of mending, it will suffice for every necessary repair ... but I can't. As you can see from these very few examples, vintage linens showcase a wide variety of needlework techniques, often incorporating several in ... Keep Reading...
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MYSTERY STAIN – A Story in Pictures: How to Care for Vintage Linens & Lace
Well, I started this Vintage Linen Care series, so I'm sticking with it. To those of you who are sticking with it, too ... and enjoying it ... I'm really glad. Thank you! It's a doozie to write! And for those of you who aren't into vintage linens, hang in there with us a little longer. There's a promised tablescape coming this week ... and a 31-day series I think we'll all enjoy coming in October. More about that soon. So far in this series, we've covered washing, drying, ironing, storage stain removal, and mystery stain removal (our term for any old, non-oxidation stains). If you've missed anything – or want to review – click the Vintage Linens tab above. In my last post about mystery stains, I told you that after years of ... Keep Reading...
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STILL Precious!
Hello all! I've never reprised an entire tablescape post before, but this seems like a good week to do it. In the spirit of the Olympics ... celebrating our world and its varied cultures. I hope you ENJOY! (Originally posted March 9, 2010) Last week when I did THIS "every place setting is different" tablescape ... ... I started thinking about the only other time I ever remember doing a tablescape with mismatched place settings. (Not mismatched DISHES, mind you, but every place setting different.) The event was the 2008 Festival of Tables at my church. (I posted about the 2010 event HERE.) Since I was also the speaker for the evening, sharing about Renaissance Man's and my involvement with ... Keep Reading...
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Das Dutchman Dishes
Welcome to My Place to Yours! While we're traveling this week, there's no tablescape ... but there are LOTS of dishes. Pick a favorite and tell me what it is! When Renaissance Man and I visit Northern Indiana, we very often stay at this quiet, Amish Country inn. The environment is clean, peaceful, wholesome ... and the food cooked from generations-old recipes is delicious. We've often been here when the ground was snow-covered, but we've never been here in oppressive heat ... until now. Year-round, the village environment draws in locals and travelers alike with its restaurant, bakery, quaint shopping, conference center, and overnight accommodations. As you might guess, I'm always drawn to the dishes. ... Keep Reading...
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MOTHERHOOD: The Mother of All Roller Coaster Rides
It's Mother's Day week, and I'm wishing a very Happy Mother's Day to every woman who brings a maternal love and influence to a child ... whether they're part of the child's family tree or not. Sometimes a child's best mother is not really their mother. Sadly, I see that a lot in Brazil in our work with Hope Unlimited for Children. Many of the children we serve have had their welfare sacrificed by their own mothers. They've been neglected, abandoned, abused, prostituted ... by their mothers. I don't get it. I don't get it at all. I thank God every day that wasn't my experience. Last week I did an early Mother's Day tablescape for my own Mom. She's a good one. No, she's a ... Keep Reading...
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Saying Bye-Bye to Google Friend Connect
"Follow me" statue at the National Infantry Museum (Fort Benning, GA) You know what? I'm just going to admit right here up front that this is a frustrating post to write. I'm conflicted about the topic and not even sure where to start ... but I think I have to address it. To you faithful visitors, this time it's not about poverty or neglected children. I know how I feel about those things, even if I am uncertain how to "make it all better." In some ways, this is petty and distracting, which is perhaps exactly why I have to write about it. I'm a firstborn. I have a natural, God-given gift of leadership ... and a sometimes not so blessed (but thankfully less prevalent as I get older) "gift" of Bossy. ... Keep Reading...
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2012: A Clean Slate
I always love the week between Christmas and New Years. If I'm home without company, I take down Christmas decorations and start the new year with not only the proverbial "clean slate," but a clean house as well. If, however, I am blessed to have after-Christmas company or am traveling, that just has to wait a little longer. This year, it has to wait. After a quiet "table for two" on Christmas Day, Renaissance Man and I drove to North Carolina to visit our youngest daughter and her family (aka Little Man and his parents). We're playing and working on some DIY projects they wanted to tackle, so today's post is a tablescape inspiration board -- because I've had no time to tablescape! (I hope to show you some DIYs ... Keep Reading...
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Owning Provenance …
One week and counting until Thanksgiving 2011. Do you have big plans or will yours be a quiet celebration this year? Whatever it is you're planning, I hope you'll choose to enjoy this week leading up to it. You know ... take time to smell the roses chrysanthemums. I thought I knew what I was going to share with you on this Tablescape Thursday, but sometimes a gal's just gotta change her mind. You'll be glad I did when I share with you the nice surprise I received yesterday. As best I recall, it began in October 2010. I hadn't been blogging very long, and my Etsy shop was pretty new when one of my blog readers saw these glasses in my shop. They're vintage, and they have the prettiest etched pinecone ... Keep Reading...
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The Sally List
What a fun weekend! My Place to Yours is the Pink Saturday feature blog at How Sweet the Sound, so let me say a big WELCOME to all of you Pink Saturday readers. If this is your first time here, I certainly hope it won't be your last! The visitors at My Place are some of the best around, and I think you'll feel very welcome here. So to visitors -- new and old faithful -- I'm really glad you've picked today to stop by. This post has been awhile in the making, and it's a topic near and dear to my heart. You regular readers will immediately notice the absence of pictures (very unusual at My Place), but this week it's about words ... and challenge ... and your quality of life ... your future. Seriously, it is. Read ... Keep Reading...
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20th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION: Hope Unlimited for Children
Whew! The big event that's been Waiting To Happen for over a year is now almost 48 hours in the past, and Renaissance Man and I are taking this week to drive cross-country from California's Bay Area back home to the mountains of East Tennessee. We feel the quickly-changing Fall leaves calling us home for a day of porch-sitting and cool temperatures... Before I share this photo-intensive post with you, I want to thank everyone who prayed for us as we planned, prepared for, and carried out our responsibilities. Some of you even left comments or sent private emails or texts that encouraged us more than you can possibly know. Let me assure you that your prayers were answered and that you participated in an important way in helping ... Keep Reading...
