In honor of romance and Valentine’s Day, I’m sharing the Love Boat theme engagement party we co-hosted with Sistah B and her husband at their home in Charleston.
Both my eldest son and nephew are getting married this year, and everyone couldn’t be more thrilled and happy!
Since we were already gathering for a week over Thanksgiving, it seemed the perfect opportunity to celebrate. Not only does our mother live in Charleston, but so do both my niece and spouse, and nephew and his sweet fiancé. Plus, eldest niece and her daughter traveled from Seattle for the holiday, and Sister A flew in from Florida.
Hubby and I rented a house with our sons and fiancé V, within walking distance to Sistah B’s waterfront home. She and her husband actually live on Folly Beach, the last barrier island across the water from Charleston. It was a wonderful setting for a joint Love Boat theme engagement party!
So now that you have a general idea of who, what and where, let’s raise anchor and set sail to party (warning, rocky seas with numerous corny puns ahead lol)!
Because my son’s now fiancé was joining us for the first time over the holidays, I wanted to pull out all the stops with my Christmas decorations and table settings. So I updated the nutcracker theme tablescape, adding the painted glasses and napkin rings. You can see the restyled tablescape at the end of this post.
When I went to Dollar Tree to pick up the clear goblets, I discovered they had a lot of nutcracker theme items for Christmas. That gave me the idea of using nutcracker tree ornaments to make simple napkin rings.
Inspired, I quickly got to work painting the images of three different color/styles of nutcracker faces on six goblets. Unfortunately, there wasn’t time to share how I painted the glasses or put together the napkin rings last year.
Both projects are very inexpensive to create, and the napkin rings are super fast and easy to make.
Today, I’m sharing the Christmas peacock theme tablescape I set in the dinning room. It compliments the peacock feathers and birds in the classic wallpaper.
Regular readers know I have a passion for peacocks! It all started when I traced hubby’s ancestry to a Revolutionary War militia officer named Peacock! Read about The Rebel Bird in Celebrating Patriots on Independence Day.
Although I’ve previously shown you many casual to formal Christmas season settings, somehow I missed the peacock theme tablescape. It includes a centerpiece with a pair of feather trees, napkins folded in a peacock tail feather fan, and sits beneath the show-stopping Peacock Ornament Decorated Chandelier.
It’s one of 18 festive tables in this year’s annual Christmas Tablescape Blog Hop, hosted by Rita of Panoply. You’re sure to find lots of ideas and inspiration for setting your own holiday table. And, if you’re a dish addict, there might be a thing or two to add to your Santa wish list!
I’ve conjured up a Halloween centerpiece replicating a witch’s collection of oddities for casting spells, hexes and curses.
It’s one of 21 seasonal settings included in this year’s Halloween Tablescape Hop hosted by my blogger friend, Rita of Panoply.
To set the tablescape scene, I’ve styled four theme elements; a spellbound Halloween centerpiece, place settings with holiday tableware, black napkins folded into the shape of a witch’s hat, and the chandelier decorated as an enchanted owl nest.
Most of the Halloween decor pieces — and all of the tableware —came out of attic, basement and kitchen cabinet storage. Additionally, I spent under $16 in total at Michaels and Dollar Tree for a few items to fill in the Halloween centerpiece and embellish the light fixture.
Creating the witch’s vignette was lots of fun, but time consuming! It took awhile (and many trips up and down the stairs) to gather everything together. Then I arranged and rearranged until styling the centerpiece into the finished look I envisioned. Join me for a spell!
For Labor Day weekend, I planned brunch for two, with a peacock table setting on the covered porch. The “goodbye to summer, hello fall” table is one of 20 included in this year’s Welcome Fall Tablescape Hop.
I always find this the most challenging to style, since it’s still so darn hot here in Pittsburgh! This year was no exception, as the 89 degree temperatures had me perspiring as I set and photographed the alfresco peacock table.
Because of the heat, I’m especially loath to head to the attic to retrieve fall decor items stored there. It’s also difficult to get in the mood to change up tableware and linens. Usually, I wait until the end of September. From Labor Day through then, I use non-seasonal, everyday and rooster theme dishware and decor.
So rather than acquire something new, I pulled peacock motif dishes from the kitchen cabinets — ones I haven’t shared here before. Although used pretty much year-round, the color palette works particularly well for a fall season setting. I hope you’ll agree! Styling a peacock table also provided the opportunity to use a new napkin fold I’ve been wanting to try.
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Hi! I'm Debbee, a maker of all manner of things, who likes to incorporate themes into craft projects, holiday and seasonal decor, table settings, and parties. My friends call me, the Queen of Theme lol!
Home is the suburbs of Pittsburgh, but I also enjoy exploring the world with my husband. We raised two wonderful sons and are now early retirees.
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Meet Glenfiddich "Whiskey," a brindle coat Scottie and full of vim and vigor!
