a vintage inspired blog about home keeping, family and friends.
Welcome to Dinner for the Dead at Hodgepodge!
(Okay—now that I have no time to go back and take new pictures, I’m noticing the bowl is off center. ARGH!)
This is the front window display at the shop.
We set the table with Mary Carol Collection dishes, vintage silver plated flatware in a sheer black bag on linen napkins from Comptoir de Famille.
We presented our dinner guests with a black rose, a Shipyard Pumpkin Head brew and a frothy concoction in our silver plated mint julep cups from Two’s Company. The glass bead spider webs are a wonderful accent—draped across the settings here and hanging on the mirror below.
Vintage look apothecary jars deck the mantel along with very convincing holographic “family photos.”
The mercury glass skull is one of my favorite items this year—elegantly spooky.
The haunted house (in the back) is on loan from The Roxy Regional Theatre.
While flea marketing, I keep an eye out for books with Halloween themed titles—references to murder and death are always available.
The torn umbrella is from a frightful display in last year’s window. I love the rat escaping it’s cage. The silhouette of the witch at the door was happenstance, as she’s actually facing the the display of the “outdoor room” in our window.
These hand beaded mini chandeliers will carry over from our sophisticated Halloween display into our Christmas display with ease! (Why didn’t I put votive candles in them? Why do I feel compelled to point out my short comings???)
I hope you enjoy our Dinner for the Dead!
Now I’ve got to look at all of the other fun tables at www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com
Thanks for your indulgence!
If you’re a home owner, you’ll be able to relate. Heck, you’ll be able to relate even if you’re not an “owner.” There’s always something that needs demands your attention—a leaking faucet (we have two), wasps in the attic, crabgrass, a crowded “catch-all” room and doors hung in haste—just to name a few around the King Kompound.
Then are the things you’d rather give your attention to—a new addition to the patio and walkway, a greenhouse/storage area and fall decorating.
This weekend we tackled a few items on the “rather” list and one on the “demand” list.
Saturday, while I was chasing around looking for fabric and other inspirations for some of my redesign clients (I love my job!), Darren was home aerating the lawn. We’re a little frustrated because we use a lawn service, but the crabgrass is winning the battle for our front yard. They offered to reseed, but it would cost—quite a bit—so we decided to try it ourselves. Darren aerated on Saturday and I seeded yesterday. Then began the chore of chasing the sprinkler all over the yard. It is a big chore regardless, but especially because our faucet that we use when water the front and side yard is broken (see item 1 on the “demands” list). It was leaking through the hose and into the yard—all summer long; Darren fixed it—now it leaks under the house in our crawl space. So I had to connect that hose to the hose for our backyard. It’s working, but it’s a bit cumbersome.
Now lest you think I’m just casting disparaging remarks about my husbands handyman abilities—let me throw some stones at my own glass-paned doors.
What you’re looking at are the two doors I just had to get hung about two months ago. They’ve been propped in the laundry room for nearly a year—intended to replace the hollow core doors which were hanging there before. My sister, Nikki, ad I came up with the idea when we were (as usual) discussing ideas for our homes. I’ve wanted to make our enclosed back porch (sounds prettier than it is) a more functional part of our home since we moved in. I’ll post about this project in it’s entirety later, but for now, I’ll focus on the doors. We decided that glass paned vintage doors would serve several purposes: they would allow more light into the kitchen; they would open-up this otherwise bleak looking corner of the kitchen; they would make the back porch and laundry room a little more inviting (not that laundry could ever be considered inviting, but the room could!). So, I found the doors at our local ReStore—a retail store for Habitat for Humanity. (Pause for sprinkler shifting . . .I’m back.)
They measured well, pretty close, to the size I needed.
I finally decided to attack the project while Darren was training in the desert of CA, therefore I had to enlist the help of my teenagers. While willing, they were a little less knowledgeable about this process than I was. We got them hung, but they don’t close. Could be the jams, could be the doors, could be the house. Not sure. Should have taken pause when I called my Dad—our own long distance handyman—he said, “Good luck!” It was the way he said it . . . more like “it’s not gonna happen” than, “you can do it!”
As I said, they’re up, but they don’t close. ARGH! I love the effect—the kitchen is brighter, so is the laundry room—but not being able to close them will be a problem. Especially as we move into the colder weather and the the back porch is not heated!
Better get on it, eh?
Here’s Darren working on our walkway extension.
This is one of those “rather do” projects. As in, “I’d rather Darren do it” but also as in “I’d rather him do it the way I want it done.” Darren wanted to continue the pavers, I thought it should be a different materials. I’m happy to say he yielded, now I just hope it looks good! Completed project pictures promised for later! (He swears this is the “week of Darren.”) It’s back breaking work, but hey—dragging that hose around in hard work, too!
Last project I’ll mention today—the storage space. I want to be able to transform the back porch into a creative space for myself and anyone who wants to join me. This is the space now:
(Note the “new” old door on the left.)
You see Darren’s military gear—it can be stored upstairs. But the bikes are a big issue—we don’t have outdoor protected storage space and we can’t let these investment sit our in the weather.
That’s an exterior door used to access our backyard via a deck. (I love the linoleum!)
The rest of the space—love my extra large bench constructed from our old bed. Need to replace the room divider (big piece of furniture on the right) with something more practical.
Storage shelves, built by our friend Chuck, and disguised by some burlap curtains (love these, too).
The aforementioned back deck to backyard. We’re thinking we should enclose this space for the needed bicycle and lawn mower storage. The question is how do we do it attractively?
I had thought I could combine it with my needed greenhouse space by enclosing it with large vintage windows (also available at ReStore), but we’re afraid it would end-up looking junky (as opposed to its current oh-so-tidy appearance). I think I’ll just use the windows to construct a mini-greenhouse—kind of like a cold frame.
Suggestions regarding any of these projects are welcome. I’m hoping we’ll make headway on at least one of these projects this week. I’ll keep you posted.
Gotta go move the sprinkler again.
Thanks for your indulgence.
Okay, so the way I saw it, I could set a table with paper plates and a peanut butter sandwich and this would be the most beautiful table I’ve ever set!
We were visiting our dear friends, Ruta and George, as their gorgeous home in Ft. Walton Beach, FL. It was our last day . . .Ruta and I were enjoying yet another beautiful sunrise when I had this thought!
I explained to Ruta about Tablescape Thursdays—how she had missed it, I don’t know—and asked if I could set her table and take pics for this Thursday’s offering. She was game and we immediately started digging through her beautiful dishes, linens, crystal and silverware.
Here’s what we decided on:
This was one centerpiece that didn’t make the cut.
Another attempt at a center serving piece, but we didn’t like the three inverted hi-ball glasses.
Then we tried the shell plate, but it was too predictable and not stable enough to actually serve food. (I try to be practical with my table settings—even if they’re just for show!)
Then it came to me—invert the casserole dish from pic one, set the Deruta Pottery platter on top of IT! Viola!
We filled the platter with cheeses, sausages and fruit; added a couple bottles of wine and lamented that is was only 9 A.M. ( I doubt even Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett could justify that one! Okay, maybe Jimmy Buffett . . .)
Being a beach house, there was plenty of palm tree plates and dishes made of shells (which Ruta has purchased at Hodgepodge—should have thought of the self-promoting opportunity), but I wanted the set a fall table.
Ruta had those great leaf-shaped sandwich plates, the maize yellow quilted placemats and the gorgeous amber stemware—so it was easy to pull together.
But really, how wrong could I go with this view?!?
I’ll give the details of the setting below. One last beautiful shot . . .
Woven Placemats (the very first layer on the table) are from Pottery Barn.
The quilted placemats were purchased at Williams-Sonoma.
The napkins were purchased at the big box store which shall remain nameless. (Don’t worry, Ruta and I can work through this breach of friendship.)
The beautiful silverplate flatware once belonged to George’s mother.
The white dinner plates are from a discount store—she couldn’t remember which one.
The leaf plates were also found at the big box store which shall remain nameless.
The platter is from Deruta Pottery—a gift from our mutual friend, Trish.
The casserole is from Skyros Designs—Pure Imagination.
The tumblers (which I loved) were ALSO found at the big box store which shall remain nameless.
And finally—my favorite things on the table (aside from the bleu cheese brie) were the wine glasses which Ruta was fortunate to claim from George’s Mom.
There you have it—the “can’t fail” table setting.
Be sure to visit Between Naps on the Porch for all of this week’s offerings--
Hope you enjoyed!
Thanks for your indulgence,
