Blue Welcome

I was contemplating waiting to post this, but since I'm home with my two sick kiddos, I figure this is a good time as ever to do this (I'm sharing, so that's good, right? Right! lol)

Anyway, aside from the typical Blue Plate Special during birthdays and awards dinners (and I do a lot of awards dinners for the three resident brainiacs), I've never really ventured into any blue dishes until I saw these gorgeous cobalt ceramic bowls (and accessories) just after we got back from our snow day adventures in South Jordan, Utah with the in-laws! (Looooove them!)

Of course, these were meant to be Christmas decor, but who cares? I saw them, knew they'd go great with my new Christmas find (you'll see...) and the ol' noggin just flashed with neuron firings for a new idea! So, hubby, asking "what now?" got the gist and said , ok. (Of course, we justified with not being home for Christmas and how much $$$ I saved him from not having another authentic Filipino feast! That sold him on it; yeah, I'm that good... :-D)

THEME:
WINTER FLURRY SWIRLS

MY INSPIRATION:
Cobalt Serving Bowls and Square Snowflake Plates
Each of these were a steal! The bowls I found at Kroger (Fry's or Smith's) and the plates at Tom Thumb (Safeway).
I found the plates first, just before we graced the beautiful Utahns of the family tree, with our presence. I was scanning the TT ad and saw them in small print and pic. While filling up our cart with some awesome deals, I couldn't find them, but after seeing some cute red Christmas "kanick-knacks", the lightbulb turned on and I quickly asked dh to make a beeline for the dishes aisle. There, almost in disbelief, were two designs (see sample and setting pics), equally beautiful- and made more gorgeous with 60% off tag! What can dh say, but... "What now?"
After our White Christmas fun, I was itching to use the plates, so I looked for "coordinates" when we stumbled upon the "After" sales at Kroger. Actually, I ignored the goblets back in Nov until I saw the whole line on Dec 31! Wowie!!! We're talking instant "ding!"

I can't believe and I'm relieved that I ignored this little cutie the first few times I saw it! Can't beat 50 cents a goblet!(Ok, you can. 2 weeks later, 25 cents a pop!)
This place setting below came to me since we just enjoyed some super cool snow, it's still winter, and we are in the U.S. of A! Cool noggin, huh? Another use for the RW&B combo!!!


I love taking pictures of candlelight glows, hence the above picture. Plus, I wanted to have a mini-dinner before the big midnight party to welcome in 2009, so we dined on surf and turf. Yum!!! The drink I made, I called it "Grape Sierra Fizzy" and the dh and kiddos loved it! (I think I still have the imaginary crown they bestowed on me as "Queen of mixers" somewhere. lol)

The Nana Mac Bread is my own recipe too; I tweaked Emeril's banana nut concoction after scoping out Food Network. I used the chargers and the fun 'fetti poppers as additional bursts of color on this casual but definitely festive buffet scape.
The candle plate, my middle child chose from Ross after Thanksgiving while the blue holders were from an earlier purchase, so they're FREE to me! The tablecloth design reminded us of the snowstorm we had fun watching from the windows. I had a lot of fun. I think I sang the whole time (in my head of course, didn't want to bust any windows!)


TABLETOP GOODIES:
Square Red Plates- Lucerne/Snowflake, Tom Thumb;(2008)($2.40ea)
Serving Bowls- Holiday Home/Winter Flurry Swirls, Kroger;(2008)($7.00ea)
Goblets- Holliday Home/Winter Flurry Swirls, Kroger;(2008)($6/12)
Chargers- Clear blue glass- (FREE-Gift)
Utensils- Gibson/Chrome Bamboo, Ross; (2008)($18/20-pc box)
Napkins and Tablecloth- Holiday Home/Winter Flurry Swirls, Kroger;(2008)(8/$4 & $8.49; respectively)

MENU:
Dinner- 6pm
Shrimp Cocktail (not the prepped kind)
Pork chops
Steamed Veggies
Steamed Jasmine rice
Grape juice with Sierra Mist

New Year's Eve Feast- 11pm
Milano cookies (for wishes of sweet life)
Nana Mac Bread- I baked it
Brie cheese & crackers (dh's choice)
Skyflakes crackers- Filipino treat
Caramel popcorn (VT gift)
Fruits (for wishes of prosperity)
Creamy Angel Hair with Shrimp & Parsley (for wishes of longevity)
Sierra Mist

Poppers- Albertson's; $5

Hope you like this one, too! Remember, I love comments!

Ok, gotta finish my game of UNO with the kiddos, bye!

Two birds with One stone

I already posted about this on my family blog, but for the purposes of this one, I'm including it here, too! Sometimes, things happen for a reason and you just have to "go with the flow..." Like this accidental double celebration with one tablescape. You be the judge... (No life sentences, please! :D)


THEME:
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO A NEW YEAR"

MY INSPIRATION:
Asian Serveware and Red solid plates

I was almost leary to look up the tags since I didn't want to go home without them, but was pleasantly shocked when I saw how low they were plus the pitcher tag was further reduced! Admittedly, I didn't want any dinnerware, so most of these pieces are serving pieces.

This inexpensive red plate is by Canopy (Walmart). I've looked and looked for suitable red plates for Valentine's Day, but most are out of my range that I would hear my wallet screaming "YIKES!" for me because I would be so shocked. (You would think with this economy, stores would really slash their prices to gain customers, but I guess that bandwagon hasn't hit every store yet... Oh well!)

The Asian dinnerware, a Ross find back in 2008. I've only owned one yellow (with blue) dishes before and ended up throwing them away due to fissure cracks, but when I saw these, I knew I had to have 'em!
The colors red and rust were present on the blossoms and the green rim of my Corelle "Shadow Iris" bowls complemented the bamboo trim on the serveware pieces. I chose lemonade to spread out the yellow from the middle of the table, completing the look. The runners and placemats (Walmart) lent a more natural look to the whole setting and the candle color was a perfect match. Awesome accident!!!

It was my dh Charlie's birthday and it also happened to be Chinese New Year, but it was totally accidental that I picked this set- I only had 1.5 hours to get everything done before he dashes off to work!
My placement ended up looking like a mighty dragon (pitcher is the head)- again accidental, didn't notice until I looked at the pictures. I only wanted a fairly simple but beautiful table to honor my beloved. It worked because he loooooved everything! Even my children were impressed. Love that!

TABLETOP GOODIES:

Asian Serveware- Ross;(2008)(under $20)
Red plates- Canopy/Walmart;(2008)($2.99 each)
Goblets- Luigi Bormioli Michelangelo;(1996)(FREE-Gift)
White salad plates- Corelle (MINE)
Bowl- Corelle Shadow Iris (MINE)
Runner and placemats- Walmart(MINE)
Tablecloth- Walmart; Rust-colored fabric (2008)($1/yard)
Candles and holders- Kohl's;(2008)(50% off each & MINE; respectively)

MENU:
Seafood noodle soup
Steamed Jasmine rice
Fried Chicken
White Cake
Lemonade

Hope you enjoyed looking! Thank you!