Join us for tea...

Today was a rather cold and gloomy day here on the east coast. I was visiting my parents house - as I do most every day. After I put my little one down for his nap my mom and I decided to have ourselves a tea party. We both agreed we needed something springy and pretty to make us feel good. So here is what we came up with.

For my first official “tablescape” I wanted to showcase my mothers china. It is my favorite dish pattern of all time. Probably because I have known it my whole life. These dishes were my grandmothers, and were given to my mother long before I was born. Looking at them, I am reminded of all the wonderful holiday meals and special occasions that were celebrated at our family's table.

Growing up, these beautiful dishes sat in our dining room china cabinet. The dining room was always my favorite room in the house for two reasons. Number one: the huge china cabinet and Number two: the crystal chandelier that hung over the table (which now hangs in my foyer - thank you mom & dad : )

On the holidays it was always my job to set the table. I LOVED taking all the “special” dishes out of the cabinet and making the table look beautiful. There always had to be music playing for me to “set” by and my mom let me be as creative as I wanted to be. Thus began my love affair with dishes. Today, as mom I were setting our tea-party table, I was flooded with memories. I could almost smell a Thanksgiving turkey in the oven and I pictured myself in the dining room listening to Let It Snow on the record player as I set the table.(note: even on Thanksgiving I have to listen to Christmas songs) Funny how the slightest things take you back.

And I have to commend myself on that fact that in 36 years I never broke a dish - whew!

But I had to put Thanksgiving out of my mind for now, and focus on Springtime, which was our inspiration. The first thing to do was put the kettle on. As the water heated we got to work. We used a reversible quilt for our tablecloth, and then the fun began.

We mixed mom’s china with various other items of hers that we thought would look lovely on our table.

The name if this pattern is Amcona by Noritake.

 

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I love this sugar bowl.

Creamer.

We placed these cute little bunnies at each setting. Mom got them at the Christmas tree shop. The fan shaped placemats came from there as well.

More bunnies!

My Mom received this wheel barrel as a gift many years ago from my cousin Mary. Mom made all the wedding bouquets for Mary’s wedding, so on her honeymoon to Bermuda she brought this back as a thank you gift. It’s so pretty and I have always loved it. It was a perfect accent to our table.

 

I got this for Mom for Christmas last year to add to her ever growing tea pot collection. (Home goods…don’t worry, she knows)

Beautiful tea bag dish found at an Antique store. I love these. Why don’t people use these anymore?

Now, what’s a tea party without goodies? It just so happens that Mom had some of her famous walnut brownies on hand. YUM! The cute little polka dot dish is another Christmas Tree shop find. By the way, in case you couldn’t tell - we LOVE the Christmas Tree Shop!

The pink stemware you see is depression glass. It was a gift to my mother from her grandmother. Out of all the depression pieces my mother has, these are my favorite. I love the way the pink looks in the china cabinet.

For a centerpiece we used a tall, flowered, porcelain pitcher filled with dried hydrangeas. The small colored dishes filled with jellybeans came from Target.

I love the square dishes in the set.

This is a little trinket box that also came from the Christmas Tree Shop. My mother has a whole collection of these. They are so cute.

As an accent we put some candles on the table. This tea light burning is lilac. It was perfect to bring our spring setting to life. I love how candles can do that.

So what do you think?  Won't you please stop in for tea with us?  There is a spot waiting just for you...