We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.
It seems this Summer everyone is in vacationing in Positano. I came up with this little table setting to transport me there — minus the crowds and saving a few dollars.
I used my oil table cloth from Williams Sonoma from last year. I paired it with faux lemon trees and a majolica centerpiece. The lemon blossom napkin rings are new, from the “Positano Collection” at Pottery barn but have sold out. I also used my new tumblers from Juliska – they are melamine and are kid and outdoor friendly! I love them!
A closer look at my little napkin rings! To give the entire “Positano” feeling, I recommend burning a citron candle as well.
We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.
My little girl turned 3 this year and I am sharing her party decor!
I purchased this Meri Meri x Laduree Macaron cart a few years back as I knew I would use it some day!
She wanted a Minnie Mouse birthday so we also had some Minnie mouse cookies and balloons (not pictured, as she was running around with them).
The little cart held up well. I am saving it for future parties. It looks like it may be discontinued but there is one retailer I could find. There is a similar ice cream cart that I found by Meri Meri.
I picked roses from the garden. Below the roses are mostly “Queen of Sweden” rose.
If you’re curious though, here are the Minnie Mouse balloons we bought on Amazon. They have lasted ONE MONTH (inflated with helium!) – needless to say, we got our money out of them. I am still waiting for the balloon to come down from the ceiling… maybe next month??
We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.
This past month we celebrated Oktoberfest. We usually celebrate Oktoberfest every year. We put on our dirndls and lederhosen, listen to good oompah band music and eat!
What’s not to like about that? I purchased this banner on Amazon several years ago and it is still holding up!
We hand make all of the pretzels!
Various mustards, cheese and Paprika chips (from Germany!) are served – in addition to brats, sauerkraut and potatoes, and pumpkin soup.
We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.
Sponsored post. Easter is just around the corner! Sharing my Easter/Spring table today! I love these cute ornaments which I received from Old World Christmas. I paired them with my new cute appetizer plates (link here).
I attached the ornaments to an Easter basket (from Pottery Barn – no longer available). I filled the center with faux eggs. I like the ornaments with the clips as it made it easy to attach to the basket.
The napkins are home made by my Mom! I like how they are similar to the Easter basket!
Just a look at my Spring dining room! I’ll probably leave this up until the roses all bloom!
I may earn a small commission if you purchase with these links
We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.
I had fully intended to make a Halloween dessert this year but frankly time got away from me and then I saw a Halloween charcuterie board and thought OH! That is a GREAT idea!!!
We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.
Happy *almost* Easter! Today I’m joining my blogging friends for an Easter blog hop and sharing my Easter table with you all today, hoping to spread some cheer during these strange times.
This year the Easter bunnies hopped up onto the table. Last year they were busy in the garden and didn’t show up in my decorating.
A closer look at each place setting! The Easter bunny plate and blue charger are retired Juliska pieces. The scalloped white plate is retired Aerin for Williams Sonoma home.
I added pink candles to the table and I love it!!
You can spy my Easter mantle in the background as well. This mantle is difficult to photograph due to the angle in the room!
I also have vintage inspired Easter eggs sitting on the mantle that I have collected over the years.
We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.
When I was making my post for charcuterie boards, I stumbled across dessert boards and just HAD to share them with you!
There are a variety of ways you can do this. You can have only chocolate. You can have just cookies. You can mix and match. You can add fruits. You may add candy. Whatever you feel like!
I would make a mixture of milk and dark chocolates. I would have some really sweet items, and some less sweet such as shortbread. Berries are a good idea as well.
We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.
Entertaining season is coming up and I’ve rounded up some great looking charcuterie boards for inspiration for your next party.
First, you need a board to serve all of your food on. You can see some of my favorites here.
A beautiful Fall board by @ainttooproudtomeg – actually, just go check out her whole website here which is dedicated to making various boards. All the ingredients on this board came from Trader Joe’s – by Style your Senses.
Then you need… FOOD!
Cheese– Choose a variety of cheeses. Mix soft and hard cheeses, along with sharper and more mild cheese.
Meat– Again, choose a variety of cured meats with different flavors.
Bread and crackers – Mix a sliced baguette with a variety of different crackers.
Dips- Jelly, jams and honey are a good choice. You can also do a spinach dip, cheese dip, etc… whatever floats your boat!
Fruit- I like to include grapes, apples, mandarins, berries. Use what’s in season! Dried apricots are good too.
Nuts – I love to use the mixed nuts from Costco. But also, a special mention is Marcona Almonds… drooooool.
Veggies – A few veggies such as carrots, cherry tomatoes or cucumbers are a good option . Use what is in season!
Sweets – Now, if you want, you can add a few sweets to the board, such as dark chocolate bites or truffles.
We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.
This weekend is the kick-off for Oktoberfest in Germany and we celebrated a weekend early!
Over the past few years we have made it a tradition to throw our own Oktoberfest. This year was our biggest party yet!
First, some quick Oktoberfest FAQ:
What exactly is Oktoberfest? It is a celebration that has been held nearly every year since 1810 in Munich, Germany. It is a 16-day festival that runs from late September into the first weekend in October. It was started on October 12, 1810 to celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen on the Theresienwiese (Theresa’s Meadow). To this day, the celebrations are still held on the Theresienwiese! In Munich, an average of 6 million people visit during this festival.
Why is it called Oktoberfest when it starts in September? The festival was moved up to enjoy the nicer weather of September.
For the table, I used placemats that my mom made some years ago and some fresh sunflowers.
For party decorations, I simply took our nutcrackers out and put them on display. I only displayed the ones in traditional Bavarian/Tirolean costume.
I also purchased a Bavarian flag banner and hung it up high to evoke the feeling of being in a German beer hall. As you can see the banner goes into the kitchen too.
The banner was a happy mistake – I thought I was buying 10 foot banner and instead accidentally purchased a 100 foot banner. Oh well, it worked out in the end!
So, what food did we serve? Well, homemade Bavarian pretzels of course! I used my pasta drying rack to display the freshly baked pretzels.
I made chocolate cupcakes decorated in the style of the German gingerbread hearts that are found all over Oktoberfest.
I would have made the hearts, but frankly, they don’t taste good. These chocolate cupcakes were super moist. I just used a chocolate cake mix.
I also had marzipan, the chocolate hazelnut by Ritter Sport, chocolate hazelnut wafers, and black forest truffles.
Guests were encouraged to wear their traditional German wear – Dirndls and Lederhosen! (blurred faces for privacy). Here is a post I wrote about what to wear to the Oktoberfest.
The Menu
Bavarian Pretzels with selection of German mustards
Red Cabbage (Rotkohl) – purchased from a specialty grocery store
Bratwurst – purchased from a German speciality store
We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.
Mother’s Day is just around the corner so I’m joining many other bloggers to share with you Spring tea party inspiration! A big thanks to Amber at Follow the Yellow Brick Home for organizing this blog hop!
You don’t have to go all out for tea parties! For this party, I indulged and made one of my favorite iced teas, Tea Forte’s Iced Raspberry Nectar Tea. It is so refreshing on a hot day!
I am excited to use my brand new iced tea glasses! Yes, that’s what they are called! I found them at Pottery Barn! Aren’t they cute?? I also use these silicone straws – here in CA they love paper straws so we had to purchase reusable straws.
Also had fun taking photos of my dining room with the fresh lilacs!
We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.
Recently, my Mom hosted a Peter Rabbit Themed Party. It was for my cousin’s baby shower. She decorated the nursery in a Beatrix Potter theme, so the theme was carried out into this baby shower! Although this was a baby shower, this party theme works for birthdays as well!
There was a lovely two tiered cake complete with Mother Goose on top!
Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny were spotted nearby the “garden” floral arrangement.
The floral arrangements contained lettuce and mums! There are a few other plants but I don’t remember their names. We wanted it to feel like you were hopping into Mr. McGregor’s garden.
Except this time we won’t chase the animals out of the garden!
Since Beatrix Potter is from England, the food theme was a traditional English tea party.
The tea sandwiches were made from recipes from The Kitchen is my Playground… our favorite was the vegetable spread tea sandwiches! My mouth is watering thinking of them again. I’ll definitely make them for Easter.
Tea party was complete with homemade fresh scones and petit fours. The petit fours came from Harry and David. Petit fours as it turns out are hard to find!
Another shot of the party! The baby shower was for a girl… if it were a boy, I would have put blue underneath the lace table cloth!
We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.
Recently my Mom hosted a baby shower that was Woodland themed! I just had to share some pictures from the shower because it is so cute!
The woodland themed party doesn’t have to be for *just* babies – this would be so cute for birthdays or really any party!
Woodland critters sit on top of a moss runner.
We took the woodland deer from Christmas and put faux flowers around their Christmas collars to dress them up for the party!
Faux bois vases found at the local floral market were used for the floral arrangements.
Stalks, ferns, and I think they are Celosia were used in the floral arrangements.
Looking at the centerpiece on the other table.
I love all of these woodland creatures!
Moss is sprinkled around the base too. The woodland creatures were a collection from my mom, aunt, and myself!
A party idea which I thought was really cute… instead of bringing cards we brought children’s books. Then we signed a bookplate for the baby so she will have a library of books!
For parties, you don’t have to go fancy with the cake. This cake came from the grocery store (a fruit basket cake, yummm, delicious!!!) Then there are also mini bundt cake bites from Nothing Bundt Cakes.
The cake was displayed on my woodland cheese platter with cute vintage deer used for this adorable theme.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures from the party and took away some ideas for a woodland themed party!
We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.
A Thanksgiving Tablescape in nontraditional colors. I know I shared this table earlier this Fall, but I made a few tweaks and a cake! Next week I’m sharing my traditional Thanksgiving table as part of a Thanksgiving table blog hop! It’s fun to compare and contrast the two looks.
If you remember, the table from a few weeks ago had white pumpkin cocottes on top of each place setting. I removed those, added some candles and a cake.
Now you can see what green plates were hiding below – these beautiful majolica plates!
Yes, we eat off of our antique and vintage china, as pictured below. I recommend not using any knives on it so they won’t scratch the dishes!
I love dining by candlelight, especially in the Fall and Winter. I pulled out my new candlesticks for this table!
Now it took me a while to find a candle that actually fit these candlesticks. These candlesticks are made in France, so of course the candles don’t come in standard US sizes. I went to lots of different stores trying to find candles that would fit. I ended up having to cut a larger candlestick to size in order to fit.
To set your Thanksgiving tablescape, you can try some new things: maybe use non traditional colors. Use your antique or vintage china. Dine by candlelight.
We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.
Thanksgiving is coming up later this month, but there are a few things you can do now that you can check off your list. That way when it’s crunch time… You’ve already done it!
This is so important, especially when hosting larger gatherings. Below is a picture of our Thanksgiving table last year set for our guests (there were actually two more tables that didn’t even fit in this room!)
Clean your china
Do you have seasonal or formal dinnerware that you use for this occasion? What about glassware? If you are like me, they have been sitting in storage all year and it’s time to wash the dust off of them.
Clean and Iron the Linens
What linens are you going to use? A tablecloth? Placemats? Napkins? Are they clean? Did you iron them? This is a huge time saving step you can do right now!
Polish the Silver
If you have silver or silver-plated cutlery, they may require polishing. Take them out of the cabinet and decide if they need to be polished.
Decide Your Meal Plan
Have you decided what exact recipes you are going to make? If you make the same thing every year and use the same recipes, great! We always try a new dish or two to see what is a hit or not. Below, we made these Parker House Bread rolls and they were delicious! I strongly recommend making them!
Make what you can ahead of time – and freeze it
Now that you’ve meal planned, is there something you can make ahead and freeze? Like maybe your pie dough, perhaps? We sometimes make a pumpkin soup that calls for pureed kuri squash. We will bake the squash in advance and freeze it so when it comes time all we have to do is actually just make the soup. Below, the best apple pie ever. Get the recipe here!
Early Grocery Shopping
Are there things you can get at the grocery store now to prepare? For instance, we started using Trader Joe’s puff pastry dough because it is made with real butter. We had previously used Pepperidge Farms, however that is made with oil – which that is totally fine, once you try to the TJ’s dough, you will realize, oh, that is better. We tried to buy some – but they sold out! I confess, I already bought mine for this year! Below, our #1 appetizer, the apple gruyere onion tart bites. Apple Gruyere tart recipe is here.
We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.
Every year I make a Halloween dessert and this year is no exception!
I made these little Jack O Lantern Chausson aux Pommes. Don’t know what a Chausson aux Pommes is? It is a French apple turnover. In fact in France, sometimes I eat a Chausson aux Pommes for breakfast instead of my usual croissant!
For the recipe – this made four but it could have made one or two more as these were pretty big.
1-2 sweet apples, such as honey crisp, gala, fuji but granny smith would probably work too Peeled, cored and think sliced.
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 heaping tbsp of granulated sugar (use more or less depending on how tart your apple is)
1 dash of nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 sheets of frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg
1. In a frying pan on medium heat, melt the butter. Then add the apples and cook until softened, about 5.
2. Sprinkle the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in the apples and stir, continue cooking for 1 more minute. Remove apple mixture from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
3. While the apples are cooling, preheat the oven to 400F.
4. Create an egg wash by mixing one egg with 1 tbsp water. Set aside.
5. Roll your puff pastry sheets a little thinner (optional step).
6. Using your pumpkin cookie cutter, cut out the shapes.
7. Now, spoon the cooled apple mixture into each shape. I did a few spoonfuls, but you have to judge based on how big your cookie cutter cutouts are. Don’t put the apples all the way to the edge- leave enough room to create a seal.
8. Using the egg wash, line the edge of each pumpkin cut out. Then press the top part of your cookie cut out on the bottom. Make sure you push down and seal all of the edges. Then brush the egg wash on top.
9. Place on parchment paper or silpat, and then on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm or cold.
I used Pepperidge Farm’s puff pastry dough, but Trader Joe’s is better and here’s why. The TJ’s dough is made from real butter, PF’s is made from oil.
I may earn a small commission if you purchase with these links
Please note that I use ShopSense, LIKETOKNOW.it, Shareasale and Amazon affiliate links on this site. This means using them for purchases won’t cost you extra but may earn me a small commission. Our full disclosure is available for viewing under About in the disclosure policy.
All rights reserved. Our graphics, images and text are all subject to copyright protection.
We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.
Woodland critters sit on top of a moss runner.
We took the woodland deer from Christmas and put faux flowers around their Christmas collars to dress them up for the party!
