Thanksgiving by Candlelight

November 9, 2023November 8, 2023 - Julie 13 Comments

If you have been following my blog for awhile, you know that I enjoy creating tablescapes — especially for the holidays.

I have to confess that I haven’t gone the simple route every Thanksgiving, but with each passing year, simplicity seems to be my mantra — go simple or go home!

This year, my “Thanksgiving by Candlelight” table reflects my desire for keeping things easy, yet pleasing to the eye. And, of course, it’s in keeping with my casually elegant style.

I just love the warm and cozy glow of candles burning in the center of the table as dinner time arrives and the sun sinks deeper under the horizon.

Normally, I love the layer plates upon plates, but this time I kept the layering to a minimum, using only a beaded gold charger and my beloved Spode Delamere dinner plates.

I topped it off with a small picture frame used as a place card for each seat and called it done.

I love this idea because you can also give the frame as a little gift to your guests as they leave! How fun is that?!

Although this table is simple, it subtly marries texture and color and gives a feeling of the fall harvest and the warmth of the season.

I always, always try to incorporate candles in to my tables, but have never photographed them lit before.

I guess I was afraid the warm glow wouldn’t come through. But today’s rainy weather provided the perfect opportunity to show you what my table actually looks like when I’m ready for my guests to arrive and dinner is about to be served.

There’s something about candle light that makes you want to linger at the table for conversation and camaraderie, doesn’t it?

You might notice that I didn’t place any napkins at this table. That’s because this year — in keeping with my simpicity mantra — I’m using paper napkins. And, no, I haven’t even bought them yet. When I do, I will place them under the picture frames, or maybe just keep them in the kitchen in the buffet line.

Today’s Thanksgiving table is part of the monthly tablescape series, “It’s All Set.”

I hope you’ll visit the links below to see more beautiful ideas from my friends!

StoneGable

Lilacs & Longhorns

Designthusiasm

The Enchanted Home

Shabbyfufu

Simplifying Thanksgiving and a Giveaway! {Thankful to bHome}

November 3, 2023November 3, 2023 - Julie 33 Comments

Now that Halloween has come and gone, it’s time to get serious about the upcoming holidays.

One of my favorite things about this time of year is getting together with my blogging friends to bring you inspiring ideas for holiday entertaining, decorating and more.

This week, I’m joining a very talented group of bloggers from bHome to bring you ideas, inspiration and thoughts about being thankful during the Thanksgiving season.

A complete list of the participating bloggers and links to their sites is at the end of this post. Read more

Creating a Fall Tablescape Without Breaking the Bank

October 12, 2023October 11, 2023 - Julie 13 Comments

One of my favorite things about fall is that it marks the beginning of the holiday cooking and entertaining season. Yes, it can be a lot of work, but I just love welcoming family and friends in to our home to sit around the table and break bread together. (Not to mention the fact that I love the food!)

Creating a beautiful fall tablescape is just one way I like to make my home feel cozy and welcoming. But, let’s be real…it can get expensive buying floral arrangements, cloth napkins and matching place settings for every single occasion — especially if you want each table you set to be unique and creative.

You’ll notice in my tablescape posts that I use a lot of the same things over and over again. There’s a reason for that. As much as I’d like to buy new for every table setting I create, it’s just too pricey and impractical so I try to create welcoming tables buying as little as possible. Read more

Simple Fall Decorating {Fall in Love with Texas Blog Tour}

October 7, 2023October 7, 2023 - Julie 20 Comments

You can barely tell it’s fall here in Texas because the heat made it’s way back here this week. (Insert sad face emoji and maybe even a few tears!)

Even so, there’s no stopping my fellow Texas bloggers and me from ushering in the season — even when Mother Nature refuses to cooperate.

Today, I’m so happy to be joining a group of talented Texas women who are sharing their fall decor with you! I want to extend a special thank you to Katie at Let’s Add Sprinkles who wrangled all of us together and organized this fun fall tour!

Today is the last day and I’m excited that it’s finally my turn to share! Read more

Decorating with Faux for Fall {bHome Fall Tour}

September 28, 2023October 7, 2023 - Julie 38 Comments

I love fall.

I love the change in temperatures, the cozy, spicy scents of the season, time spent baking in the kitchen, being able to throw a blanket on when I’m chilling in front of the TV…you get the idea. I really do adore it all!

And, what I love most of all is cozy-ing up my home with fall colors and textures. It’s especially fun when I get to join with friends to share our fall homes with you.

Today, I’m a part of a week-long inspiration tour with my bHome bloggers — bHome for Fall.

The tour began on Monday and continues today — you can see today’s links at the end of this post.

Plus, we have a $200 Amazon gift card giveaway from our sponsor, My Paint Saint. Details for entering are also at the end of the post.

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Mixing it up with Faux

When it comes to decorating for Fall, I love, love, love real flowers, berries and pumpkins. The trouble is, it’s so crazy hot here in Texas when the fall decorating season begins it can be hard to find the real thing when I’m ready to decorate.

The bigger problem, however, is getting real to last for several weeks. Things rot quickly here even inside my air-conditioned home, so I’ve officially thrown up my hands in surrender to decorating with faux this fall.