Tablescape Thursday: Thanksgiving Table

I've been working my little, ok - not so little, fingers to the bone it feels like - trying to get the house ready for Christmas. The Living Room and Foyer are almost finished, with just a few tweeks to be made. The Dining Room will be taken care of tonight, and then we only have a few days before we start the December posts of Casa de la Vanderdogan. I really appreciate all of the votes that you have cast so far on the sidebar to let me know what you'd like to see more of. If you haven't had the chance to vote yet, please do. You can choose as many as you'd like.

Ok, so back to tablescapes! Firstly, thank you to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting this fabulous event! Secondly, the table for Thanksgiving is pretty simple. We're having 3 friends for dinner at 2pm, and the menu, though delicious really won't include any fancy gourmet recipes. So, simple was best ... and this is what I came up with ...

A festive sort of color palette, rusts, reds, deep ambers, and copper mixed with the rough textures of linen and burlap, ironstone and metal. I made the table runner for the table out of a yard of burlap and scrap pieces of the Kravet fabric that Pottery Barn used for their very popular Simone collection this fall.

Of course, I used our ironstone plates. Scott decided not to do a salad this year and appetizers will be served in the living room, so just a charger and a plate ... how simple is that? Copper handled silverware is a nice color compliment to the rusty brown tones in the tablerunner banding and in the flower arrangement.


A mix of alstromeria, mums, roses, filler, and pomegranates in one of the ironstone tureens gave the real color story here, or at least the beginning of it. The picking of flowers was very slim for some reason, so with some thought I decided that this was Fall and Holiday all in one.

A great arrangement to look at for all of 2 seconds before focus turns to the food, and everyone settles in for a wonderful afternoon of laughter and good food - thankful all the while.

Thank you to everyone of you who read this blog! Your constant support is an inspiration, and I appreciate you all more than I could ever express. Enjoy your holiday, and make sure to take the time to run back over to Susan's blog to see all of the other fabulous Thanksgiving Tablescapes.

December to Remember Poll

What would make you enjoy reading Color Outside the Lines even more in December? Take the poll on the side bar, and if you'd like - leave a comment. As I work through projects and decorating in the hopes of having daily posts filled with information - I wanted to make sure that everything you want is there and more!


Don't forget to VOTE FOR GARY P. in Velvet & Linen's Drawing. Info below, and links on the sidebar!

A Table for three?

Some of you might have been privy to the giveaway that the delightful Brooke from Velvet & Linen was hosting on her blog. Three (3) Brick Makers tables from the ever inspiring BoBo's Intriguing Objects and Mark Sage.

The top 10 are posted, and although I didn't make the ranking, I am asking each of you reading to do to click on this LINK and vote for my good friend Gary P. The voting reel is on the right side bar! Many of you know Gary from the blog as GinCT. We were lucky enough to take a tour of his Connecticut Farmhouse HERE.

Gary has amazing taste, and uses interesting objects to jazz up interiors completely throughout his beautiful home. Remember the bathroom he remodeled with the stone sink and table base?


Yes, Gary is a visionary, and I for one am excited beyond measure to see what he'll do with the BoBo table.

Outside CdlV ...

Growing up, my mom would decorate the big picture window in the front of our house. It was probably a 5'x5' solid sheet of glass that sat between two smaller windows which opened up to let breeze and West Texas dust into the house. Her theme changed slightly every year, but it always included small, colorful lights outlining the window frame, and then some sparkling foil garland draped along the top of the window in perfect half-circles. One year, she and her friend Dotty made glass Christmas trees from baby food jars, by gluing them together in the shape of a Christmas tree, then punching a hole thru the metal lid and shoving a light through it. At the time (1989) they were very cute. I remember the Christmas they lined up in the windows and along tabletops ... she must have made 50 of them! Where she got all of those jars, I'll never know! But, I digress.

***** EDITED TO ADD *****
Thank you so much Kathy, for emailing me the directions on how to make the Baby Food Christmas Trees. These are exactly what my mother made more than 15 years ago. I'm shocked to see instructions for them. If you're interested in seeing or making these jar trees, click here.

There were sometimes lights on the house, and sometimes not, heavily depending on whether or not my fathers favorite football team was playing, but that window was always decorated to let Santa know - we're here, and we've been good! Since I moved into my own home, and then now at CdlV, (Casa de la Vanderdogan) I stopped a few things that we did as children, and decorating the windows with a trimming of lights is one of them. Now, we use simple electrified candles. I skip the baby food jar Christmas trees, and go for natural green wreaths on the front door.

I've not gotten around to many of the exterior projects a CdlV, and not because my favorite football team is on television. Is football still on television? Anyway - it's because the inside of CdlV has been a chore. Thankfully though, I needed a respite from the Peacock decor, and I decided to work on the large urn near the front porch out for the winter season. I chose to fill it with lovely live greens, twigs, pine cones, and berry branches, and this morning, eyes a fog - I took a picture for you like I promised:





Beautiful, no? Yes, the decor of CdlV is a bit different than it was at my childhood home, but the love and joy still remains. After all, it isn't about the pine boughs or pretty ribbons, lights, ornaments, or fancy decor - it's about filling your home with joy, peace, and love.

EUREKA!

Last night, after hours (literally) of mentally racking my design/creative noggin' I finally figured out how I could attack the Peacock themed Christmas tree.

As a bit of back up, you should know that I started this tree in mid-October. I pulled the tree out of the garage and set it up in the basement to spray 4 cans of spray snow (the kind meant for use on windows) onto the tree. At the time, it was a fabulous idea, and a great way to get the look I wanted while saving well over $150. Then, I opened up the bin of ornaments I purchased at the end of year sales last year for 75%-90% off to see what my 2008 noggin' had dreamt up. Thankfully, there was some good stuff in there, and a lot of it. I'm not sure what I spent, but I know that it was well worth it, and at a huge discount. Now, of course, I did buy some things this year, and the snow idea was great, til' I started to move the tree. CdlV is now a litter of tree dandruff!

Still, last night, in a fifth or sixth "second" wind, I put together 3/4 of the tree, and I have to say - I am very happy with it. More happy when the lights were off, than on - but still happy none-the-less. I should finish it up tonight and start on the staircase, hopefully finishing before midnight, so I can be up early enough tomorrow morning to take a daylight picture of the beautiful greens arrangement at the front of CdlV.

Thanks to everyone for continuing to check in here even though pictures of the house have been few. A special few have been in the house in the past few days, and I am sure they would agree - it's just not picture worthy. But, since Scott invited people over Sunday for a test run on the fried turkey, I'll have everything spotless and back in CdlV's natural order and ready for a whole month of pictures next week!

Update: They're HERE!

I knew that the idea of 700 feathers would conjure up a little excitement ... but I had no idea that it would spark so much curiosity! Since they arrived (with the exception of 50 that were accidentally left out of the order) on Friday, I thought I'd share what we're doing here ... well, a "tease" anyway! :)


That's right. Peacock! Now, if you take the time to google "PEACOCK CHRISTMAS" you'll come up with no more than 8 trees. All of them beautiful, but not necessarily in keeping with the CdlV style. I couldn't understand why there wasn't inspiration to be had in the photo world, until I got the feathers and started to play with the idea.

It can go south quite quickly: from chic and sophisticated to cheap and tacky in a snap! So I've put it together, taken it apart, put it back together, and then taken it back apart - bought $40 worth of Moroccan lanterns ... then put it back together, well, you get the idea. Definitely the most difficult of the "themes" I've ever come up with ... and I've been tempted to toss the idea. But I think that I'm on track now, and I'll make sure to show you soon!

The good part is that in all of the frustration, I took a break to finish the live green arrangement outside. Wanna see?

Changes ...

There are so many wonderful things happening at Casa de la Vanderdogan, both in the interiors and in general. I received notice from the post office yesterday that the 700 feathers were waiting for my pick up, and once I get them on Saturday I'll start peeling back the layers of ideas in my head to create what should be a really magical Christmas display.

As I pull out more and more bins of Christmas ornaments and goodies, I am getting even more inspired. As soon as I finish up (hopefully in the next few days) I'll put away the bins and bags, give the house a good cleaning, and we'll start Christmas at Casa de la Vanderdogan, Friday November 27 with a giveaway, and a month of crafts, tablescapes, tree design, and more!

Of course, Scott told me that we'll be having Thanksgiving at the house this year - so I'll be posting that tablescape and the menu Thursday, November 19. The juxtaposition of the menu this year sounds incredible ... deep fried turkey (the first time we're trying it - so if you have tips PLEASE share!) and finishing up with pumpkin souffle with cinnamon anglaise!

More Updates soon ...