No Hearts and Dead Flowers

I had no intentions of creating a Valentine table.  I was actually planning a black and white table, but then I saw this runner at Ross and realized it pulled together a bunch of stuff I already had tucked all over the house.  I pulled it all out and it looked better than I expected, so I invited friends over for a Valentine Dinner Party.  It went from nothing to a full blown entertaining extravaganza!

Cute cupids are from Ross.  Red votives from Target clearance. 

Dark red placemats from OTP.  Chargers are Pier 1 clearance.  Pfaltzgraff dinner plates are from a dear friend's MIL.  Etched red plates on clearance at an antique store in Ft Walton.  

Silver plate is Alvin Fashion Lane.  You can read the crazy store about how I aquired it for free HERE.

Candlesticks were 50% off at Hobby Lobby.  

Cake plate and wire cloche from Home Goods.  I had a hard time envisioning a centerpiece that worked with everything else.  Since we have a yard full of brown dead hydrangeas, I thought I would just spray them white, but Mr Creative thought  they should be red. To get them painted, I had a 10 minute window in the last 2 weeks between work and dark with no freezing rain, sleet, snow, and temps above freezing, no kidding. I tried the white, it didn't work, so as usual, Mr Creative was right!   I am planning to replace this with real roses for our dinner on Sat, but I kinda like this look too.  What do you think? 

 Napkin roses in my Fostoria Ballet crystal.  Another clearance find at a local consignment store. 

 The daffodils got too leggy and had to be replaced. 

 The painted hydrangea found a new home, next to the  new dish set I am fostering until I can decided if I should adopt them or not. 

 The new centerpiece of Freedom roses.  

 Valentine place cards for everyone. 

Fondue with fruit, cake, caramels and marshmallows for dessert.     

I will be joining the following: Tablescape Thursday,You're Going To Love It, Seasonal Sunday,Valentine Par-Tay

Fly Away

In September, Mr Creative, the outdoors man, went on a fishing trip in Colorado. He loves fly fishing and was a guide in Alaska for four summers while in collage.  He took some amazing photos that I thought you might enjoy. 

See the storm in the distance.  This happens often in the mountains. 

They were lucky, it rained all around them, but never on them.  The big worry is lightening.

 Catch and release policy.  Little stream, little fish.  

Now, I am not a fishing expert, but this looks a lot like napping to me!  

Hope you have a great weekend!  Joining Oh, The Places I Have Been!

Asian Influence

I watched the estate sale ads and stalked this Johnson Brothers Indian Tree china for weeks.  When I finally went to the sale, it was priced so high, I walked away, BUT on my way out, I spotted the bid box and I decided that a complete place setting for 8 with all the serving pieces was worth $75 to me.  I left thinking that was the end of it.  A day later, I received a call from the person running the sale telling me that they accepted my bid!  I was so excited.  

I just couldn't figure out what to do with it once I got it home, so I stuffed it in the old china cabinet, order the missing salad plate from Ebay, and just looked at it.  It was 4 months before I found my inspiration.

Don't you love the Johnson Brothers color application? 

 I started with a woven placemat that brought out the deep maroon.  I really struggled with the charger and for a hour or so, I thought I might not use a charger at all.  Once I picked up the centerpiece, I knew the rattan chargers would be perfect.  

 Several years ago Mr Creative and I took a Bonsai class and we were so proud of our creations, until a few months later when they died.  But it didn't matter, I was obsessed with Bonsai.  We toured Bonsai gardens in CA and at the National Arboretum and they always make me swoon. 

 Since I didn't do well with my first Bonsai, I decided to go a different route this time and I rented one!

 The Little Tree Shop in Nashville, with the most adorable shop dog, allowed me to rent this beautiful specimen for week.  

Sweet hubby brought the stones home. He just gets it!  The wispy dried cyprus needles were just piled up on the corner of my deck.  It started to look good, but I didn't like the seams showing.   

I tried some dried moss, but it wasn't enough. 

 

The night of our dinner party, sweet hubby ran in just after dark with a present from the woods. MOSS!  I quickly placed it on the rocks before the guest arrived.  I had to take the photos the next day so you could see the moss.  

We had chicken stew with homemade noodles and chocolate pie for dessert and I didn't even have to cook.  Our sweet friends Thom and Suzanne brought the yummies.  

The candlesticks are from friend Suzanne, the globes are from Home Goods.  

The napkins are also from Home Goods.  Never could figure out what to do with them

Forgive the B & B container, I forgot to put out butter and these friends are like family. 

Joining the following parties:  Tablescape Thursday, Seasonal Sunday