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This will be one of those update as you go posts.  I just finished ironing the tablecloths.  I just ironed them right on the table.  I don’t know of a better or easier way to do it.  Unfortunately the cord doesn’t reach so I warm up the iron, unplug it, iron a section, plug it back in, rinse and repeat. 

Beauty products were used in the making of that arrangement.  My white pumpkins were looking a little sallow to me so I used some leftover shimmery white hair spray from Halloween.  It gives the pumpkins and goards a nice shimmery white look.

I’m still not sure about the funny, feathery white artichoke looking things.  I think I want the arrangement to look a little more organic (well as organic as spray painted pumpkins can look).  I may replace them with a couple of votives.  You can never have too many candles.

I spent yesterday afternoon ironing cloth napkins.  I’m about to go get the white party dishes out of storage.  My mother loved entertaining and purchased place settings for 60 (!).  There is a cupboard out in my dad’s garage where all the party dishes, extra wine glasses, chafing dishes are kept. 

Growing up with someone that entertained frequently has given me a really relaxed attitude about having a lot of people over.  Our family, up to 25 of us, get together for dinner every Sunday.  We, my sisters and I, take turns coordinating it.  So pulling together a dinner for 20 people, give or take a few, is nothing.  A walk in the park.

More pics to follow as the rest of the table get sets.  Looks like I’m on pie duty too (so much for not doing any of the cooking) so there may be a food pic or two as well.

Added Pics:

Melissa – look darling, just for you ~ store bought pie crusts.  Pie crust is an art and science that very few can master.  I’m all about the store bought.  Some day when I have scads of time on my hand I’ll work on my pie crust skills but for now – store bought.

And updated centerpiece – I’m thinking no artichoke feathery things.  I also swapped out the picture of the table above once I had it set.  For some reason we have silverware for 20 except six dessert forks are missing.  What is up with that?  I had to run over to Bed, Bath & Beyond and buy six forks that don’t match the rest of the silverware. 

Back to the pie crusts – I have an extra one and I’m thinking I should cut out some leaf shapes or something to cover the cracks in the pumpkin filling.  Or not.  Let’s see how busy I am tomorrow.

And finally:

And because it’s cute – the three graces:

Also known as Camille, Maddi & Emily.  Those girls can really put it away.

I am getting off easy this Thanksgiving – I’m in charge of table decor and clean up.  No turkey roasting for me.   I have some weird mental block when it comes to roasting poultry – I can never figure out the timing of how long it’s supposed to cook so we end up eating at 11:00pm. 

We are going to have dinner at my father’s house.  Various sisters are in charge of the food (I am blessed in that my sisters are all accomplished cooks – the food is in the proper hands).  He has a fabulous dining room table that my mother had commissioned for her ever expanding family.   We are going to have 20 (well, 21 if you count the bird) sitting around that table on Thursday.

I am thinking of pale green, silver and white look for the table.  I have two tableclothes (no one tablecloth has been found to fit the table) in a beautiful pale green.  I was thinking of white pumpkins, trailing ivy, small white flowers, crystal candlesticks and creamy white pillars. 

I wish I could find a job where all I had to do was create tablescapes.  Not a party planner because I don’t want the food, logistics piece of things, not a floral arranger (though that wouldn’t be bad) because there’s more to tablescaping.  All the lovely china, silver, candles.  What fun that would be. 

I know a woman that has about half a dozen full sets of china and matching linens.  She sets her dining room table, according to her whims and the seasons, and leaves it set up like that.  No one is actually allowed to eat at the table.  Just admire it.  We all say she is a tad eccentric but secretly I can kind of understand her hobby.

Of course I use my own dining room about once a year – the rest of the time we either eat at the kitchen counter or at the eating room table.  I’m thinking of repurposing the dining room into an office/craft room.  But that’s another post for another time.

I need to go find white pumpkins. 

Centerpiece photo courtesy of www.bhg.com

Do you think I’m in danger of totally being sick of Christmas by the end of November at the rate I’m going?  I placed an order with Bayberry Cove and received it lightening fast.  And I got a sweet little note from them saying they were so happy I found them and my items were on the way.  Now that’s what I love in an e-tailer. 

I bought a selection of items from Dee Foust and Bethany Lowe.  I find Dee’s work to be a bit more whimsical and Bethany’s to be especially sweet – look at that little face on that child.  I just need a big white Santa – and I have my eye on this one.  Why do you suppose Santa needs to carry switches though? 

I haven’t actually started decorating.  I’ll wait until 12:01am 11/23.  I think anything after Thanksgiving is permissible.

I am going to start wrapping presents though.  I’ve got a pretty good inventory of gifts already purchased and hidden away.   I am just loving the idea of Christmas this year.  Last year our house was a total disarray with remodeling so I didn’t even decorate.  This year I am going all out.

I keep meaning to post about the his and her hand towels I won from Madaspen|Home.  I never win anything.  Ever.  So winning something from them, when we know how much I am enamored with them, was really special.  The towels are exactly the color combination I love – white and flax. 

I cannot, however, for the life of me take a good picture of them in my bathroom.  I’m bedeviled by the light.  There was a brief moment this morning when the natural light was coming in through the small window in the bathroom but it was fleeting and I could only snap a picture or two before it flitted away. 

The picture above the towels, in the shadows, is an old favorite of mine.  Spirit of the Night by John Atkinson Grimshaw.  I bought an 8×11" print and then went over it with some gloppy stuff (I think I used decoupage goop with a heavy hand) to give the surface some texture.  It turned out a little glossier than I wanted but better than the flat print it was before. 

Here’s another trick I do with prints – remove the glass from the frame.  Makes the print much easier to  see (by getting rid of any glare) and I think it just looks nicer.  So until I can afford the real deal I’ll buy prints and put them in a fabulous frame.  It works for me. 

There is a print that I am dying to get my hands on.  I don’t know who the artist is but I’ve seen prints in antique shops – The name of piece is "Dreaming of Love" or "Dreams of Love" and it could be that the artist is French (since I’ve seen the name of the print in French).  The first time I saw the print it was hanging in a booth at a local Antique mall.  It has a gorgeously shaped frame but the frame was painted blue – not a color I decorate with much.  I passed it up and then a week later after thinking about it non-stop I went back and there was just a blank spot on the wall where it had hung. 

The subject is a woman sleeping in a very elaborate looking bed with a bear rug on the floor beside her.  You can see her dreams in the forms of cherubs flying around the room.  There is an incredible amount of detail in the painting.

I saw it at another shop but it was in a very cheap looking frame and about three times what I was willing to pay.

Well, I thought, I’ll just order a print online and frame it myself.  Not so easy – I searched for weeks, not quite having the name right and finally I stumbled across a small e-tailer that had the print.   They didn’t even have the name of the piece or the artist’s name but there it was.  Eureka!  Now let me say up front that I have always had fabulous luck ordering online.  Never once have I had a problem with someone taking my money and me never seeing the item.  Except this time.  I ordered it and they instantly took the money out of my PayPal account.  I got a confirmation email saying it would ship in 10 days.  After about three weeks I sent an inquiring email and nothing.  No response.  After another week I sent another email and the next day I sent another to a different email address on the website and still nothing.  So finally I had to dispute it through PayPal and after a week and half I got a refund and FINALLY an email saying they thought they had it in stock but turned out they didn’t.  Well fine – why didn’t you tell me that in the first place.  I’m a nice person – I would have understood.  Just don’t take my money and then ignore all my emails.

Anyway still looking for that print.  I think it would make a great guest room print.