Saturday, July 11, 2009

A Little CIJ, SS and Q&A

Hosted by "Playing With Dishes"

We all know that Christmas comes with its own symbolism and commercialism. But if you really want to see the magic of Christmas, even in the scorcher month of July, you have to see the colors... Not just any colors, the three main ones, "red, white, and green"... There is nothing so obvious and beautiful than these three colors when thinking of Christmas, so for this week's "CIJ" with Felecia, I present to you...

THEME:
"The Christmas Magic's in its Colors"

INSPIRATION:
Red, White & Green

To me, Christmas is a time of reverence and gratitude so when I was thinking of what to put together, I didn't think of the usual adornments, but rather, I focused on the colors and what they meant...
Christmas time is a gift or rather to reflect on the greatest gift man ever received so I made the kitchen towel/napkin look like a long red gift box with two festive bows "melting" into the bowl. Exactly how I feel, I melt with gratitude during Christmas time.
Everything is focused on the main colors of Christmas, true that we have expanded on that to include all colors for whimsy, but when we think of Christmas, these colors surface to the top...
I opted to use something dark to hold the tealights to highlight this time of year is when we should have hope for mankind and within our own hearts...
I think it communicated "Christmas" well enough without the obvious "hallmarks", don't you?
Ok, let's see what this holder is made of... It's got three leaves with a bird on top of the branch they share! Yes folks, in other parts of the country or the world for that matter, birds and trees of all kinds get to enjoy Christmas, too! LOL
And here's the whole table... "Merry July Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas in July to all, and to all, a good night!"


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Hosted by "Christine's Home & Travel Adventures"

We can't forget that this is also Sightseeing Saturday with Christine. Instead of taking you to an exotic place, I opted to show you one of the grocery store area we live close to. These are what gets my children walking to from time to time.
Strategically, there are cement statues of animals! Like this beautiful squatting horse... Perfect to ride on with great shades in the summer time!
At the very end is this big hippo, and... (don't my children look comfy) ;-)
This bowing elephant greets us at the other end! Look at my son, he's showing you how fun each one is! ;-)

Now for the Q&A:
I was asked two major questions last Thursday.

"Where do you store all these stuff"?

Answer: I live in an apartment so storage is very important for my tablescaping. I have two big trunks in the living room that hold my accessories and my wedding china. I have a 10-opening bookcase that holds 10 of my dinnerware sets that's next to our dining table also serving as my buffet. Above it are wall shelves that hold my more "can use daily nice china" and vases. I also have some dinnerware at the very top of my pantry shelves. The more overt seasonal patterns are in the storage and gets swapped according to my designs and inspiration. My stemware are held in two small cabinets lining up in our hallway, and again, more are in the storage. I've been collecting since the late 90s, so I had to be creative with storage, each year and with every move.

"Do you eat at these tables or do you just set them for fun?"

Answer: We eat on 99% percent of the tables I set. My children love playing, "restaurant" the best where I get to serve them and they just wait to have their plates filled. LOL I invested in stain-resistant white tablecloths and use blankets no one uses anymore and wash them as spills happen to avoid any stain setting in. If I can't imagine a menu to go with the setting, most likely it won't get done. Plus, most of the "fun" tablescapes I do, it's between meals, so I make sure to take a lot of angle shots to recreate it someday.

Thanks for peeking! And a big thank you to our lovely hosts, Christine and Felecia!

17 comments:

  1. What a pretty and festive table, Chandy! It's getting me excited about Christmas and it is so far away. I love that hippo! My stepdaughter would love ot for her collection too. Thanks for joining SS and Mr. Linky worked!.....Christine

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  2. Hello Christine, I love how it turned out, too! My poor head though thinking of what to come up with. LOL

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  3. Hi, Chandy. You did a fantastic job interpreting the theme and incorporating your color choices. It's a very crisp, clean presentation --- kudos!

    Have a wonderful weekend!
    Regards,
    Bill

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  4. Chandy,
    What a great reminder of the basics of Christmas. Your red, green and white table is very pretty and the simplicity is a reminder of what Christmas really means without all the commercialism.

    Thank you for participating in my week 2 of CIJ Talblescapes party.

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  5. What a creative and beautiful tablescape. I love all of the red and green. Your entire blog is just beautiful. You have me in the Christmas spirit now :>) I hope you have a wonderful day!

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  6. The red & green really does say "Christmas" without all the usual decorations. Love your symbolism!

    DD

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  7. So pretty! I'm getting my "Christmas in July" started (projects/gifts). I'm thinking it will take me that long to get everything finished... I still can't believe over half the year is already over! Thanx for stopping by my blog! Have a great day!

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  8. Hello to all! Thank you so much for liking my table!

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  9. Oh, those were questions that I had, too! You should do a FAQ post :-) - and to add to that...how many sets of dishes do you have? And I'd LOVE to see pictures of your storage system.

    And the Christmas setting - just beautiful. I love doing blue and silver...or nontraditional colors for Christmas. Of course...not with my tableware, because I just have the one set!

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  10. Chandy, your tables are always so gorgeous and I love this one. The red/white/green truly does say Christmas at our house. So pretty the way your wrapped the napkin. I love the pics of your children playing too, so cute. Great post. Love it all. Hugs, Marty

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  11. It is all so very pretty! Love the color scheme!

    Katherine

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  12. Hi Chandy, Great tablescape today happy CIJ. It's giving me the urge to shop - LOL! ~ Robyn

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  13. You got a good eye for putting things together-not too cluttered.

    You kids are cute with their glasses on. I've joined Christine's Sightseing Saturday. Come by my page and check it out.

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  14. That is a very pretty table! It looks very festive, yet not overdone!

    I went from making ice cream for a blog meme, to Christmas!!

    I guess it is never too soon to start thinking..Like summer here, Christmas comes and goes quickly...

    It is always fun to remember the things we buy on sale after Christmas for use this year..Now if I could just remember where I hid , I mean put it!!

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  15. Very Pretty Chandy.. Very Merry and Christmasy..is that a word lol. Isn't it fun creating a Christmas table without the ""regular typical"" Christmas decor.
    Hugs,
    Debbie

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  16. Hello Debbie, Kathleen and MBW, thanks and welcome! I know what you mean! LOL

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Niceties first

HELLO AND WELCOME to this blog dedicated to my obsession of tablescapes, and ONLY TABLESCAPES!
That means that whatever I post will be redirected to tablescapes or you will see tablescapes or the dishes and glassware that I used AND wish to use.
I hope you like you what you see; but you can't do that unless you take the tour- the TABLESCAPE TOUR that's on the side bar! I'd also love to take you on my adventures on finding great dinnerwares to display and use while leaving some serious change in your pocket, so stay a while and see all of my great deals!
Wanna know the reason behind the madness, too? Then make sure to read, Why this blog for my philosophy.