Formal Living Tabletops

This is Barb's second week of Tabletops Tuesday. To see a lot gorgeous vignettes, you need to go to her site at http://gritsglamour.blogspot.com/. I am certain that you will enjoy everyone's creativity.

Last week, I showed you our family room mantel top. Today, I would like to show you the tops of our coffee table and a French server in the formal living room.
What I have on top of the coffee table is a Sevres compote held by 3 cherubs, a Viennese vase, a pair of Meissen figures, a Napoleon porcelain tray with 3 expresso cups on top of a gold mirrored tray and a crystal finial. All of these were either won from an antique estate sale or bought from an antique store.

I think the pictures on the cups are as follows: Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife, Josephine and his dad, Carlo. The tray also has Napoleon's picture on it.
We bought the mirrored tray from an antique store downtown and it included 5 different shapes of crystal finials. One of them is on this table behind Napoleon's cup and the other 4 are on the mantel of this room's fireplace.
Can you spot the crystal finial here?

Here's another view of the table, which shows the bottom shelf. On the bottom shelf, you will see a big Sevres egg compote held by 2 nymphs, a pot with faux flowers, a bejeweled bunny, a Meissen bird, a mini amber tree and a twin ballerina figurine. The latter 2 are not showing in this picture.

Do you see the large painting above the sofa? It's oil and I painted it.

Here is a close up of the cherub Sevres compote.

and a close up of the tray with cups

You get a little glimpse of the dining room from here.

Now, let's go see what is on top of the French server.

An antique clock, an old lampshade, 2 marble busts, a vase with faux flowers and another vase with faux ferns.

I love the ornate design of the lamp shade. I am not sure what you call this lamp style but I love the shade and its bronze figural base.

The clock was given to us by my sister in Illinois. We visited her one winter and after we got home and talked to her on the phone, I told her how much I like the clock in the guest room. The next time we met, she brought it and gave it to me. Isn't she nice?

The mirror is from either Indonesia or Malaysia.

Under the server is a wooden box of magazines, a chess set I bought from Greece and a bowl of natural crystals and stones, which is another one of my collections:-) I am just fascinated by the different colors, shapes and patterns.

Thank you Barb for hosting. This is really a fun party. I hope you all enjoyed how I decorated our table tops. We hardly ever use this room that's why I keep a lot of our breakables and collectibles here. Thank you all for coming by.

Shopping and Reorganizing

Monday is a triple post day for me. Three awesome ladies are hosting 3 wonderful memes.

To see some pretty blues, go see Sally for Blue Monday at http://smilingsally.blogspot.com/

To see some great transformations, go see Susan for Metamorphosis Monday at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

To see some creative mosaics, go see Mary for Mosaic Monday at http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/

My friends and I went to Baton Rouge to go shopping. And did I really go shopping! LOL! This was how our kitchen counter looked like after I brought in everything I bought. We went early so the first store we went to, which was TJ Maxx, was fully stocked. You should have seen all the Polish Pottery there. My friend, who also collects them, and I hit the jackpot. Just look at all what I unpacked. Aside from dishes, I bought a set of 12 crystal ice beverage goblets and a few jewelry. I also bought some baby clothes for my grandson who is coming out in a few weeks and just a few for me but I don't think you would be interested in seeing those. We also bought groceries from the Vietnamese store.

A friend of mine, knowing that I am running out of storage space, challenged me if I will be able to put everything away.

So, the following morning, I got up early excited about reorganizing. Do you ever get excited about more work to do? LOL!

I decided to move my Johnson Brothers "Friendly Village" set somewhere else so I can make room for my ever growing Polish pottery collection in the kitchen china cabinet. I took some of the dishes out already before I began taking pictures but this is pretty much how it used to be.

Of course, it was more full before I moved some plates out.
And here is "Now" with the Polish pottery inside and under the hutch. Sorry, the light bulb on the left is burnt out. I need to buy a replacement. Here is a close up.
More details of what is inside the glass.

And here is what I put in the drawers under the buffet. Aren't those little vases cute? I also really like the fish dish which I got from Ebay.

I always get inquiries as to where I store all my dishes. One of these days, I will show you. But in this particular cabinet, I am able to store more than 3 sets, the Polish pottery on top, Princess House Pavillion on the left 2 shelves of the bottom cabinet (more are stored under the kitchen counter) and a set of 12 Cameo Florals (71 pieces) in the right bottom cabinet with some other miscellaneous salad plates and bowls on the shelf above them. Some of the Cameo Florals coffee cups are in the right and left drawers below the hutch. I also keep a lot of salt cellars in the middle drawer.

Here is a close up of the dishes in the bottom cabinet.

If you are wondering where I moved the Johnson Bros. Friendly Village set, they are now in the cabinet under my coffee nook.

Here they are with other miscellaneous stuff. Do you like my new Tirschenreuth coffee pot with the creamer and sugar server? It's the one with olive green flowers. I just got the set from Ebay and I could not believe the price (something like $13.99) and it looks new. Tirschenreuth is a company in Germany but it does not exist anymore.

I use a lot of these wire organizers in kitchen cabinets because it doubles up my space.

Lastly, I want to show you my Polish pottery wall clock.

I hope you enjoyed my reorganization. I think these dishes look better in this china cabinet, don't you? Thanks for your visit. I always appreciate it, especially when you leave me a comment.

Thanks Sally, Susan and Mary for hosting these fun blog parties.

Th

Tea For Two & Strawberry Patch in Delray Beach, FL

I ordered a new teapot for 2 set from Annie's Tea Time. I thought it would be perfect when only one of my friends come to visit.

It's Pink Saturday, yipee! For more pretty pinks, visit Beverly and her other participants at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/
It's Sightseeing Sat. time also and today I will show you a different experience.
After we got back from our Oasis of the Seas cruise, we went to visit my stepdaughter Kerri and her family, in West Palm Beach area.
They took us to a Strawberry Patch to pick strawberries.
I had picked strawberries when we used to live in Illinois but this was more fun because the strawberry plants were elevated so you do not have to stoop down or bend your knees to pick. Aren't they just so red and beautiful? They were good too and these are grown organically. I kept eating while picking, lol.
It was a pretty neat place because they had other unusual fruit trees there too. On the left are sapodillas and on the top right ar star apples. I am sure you recognize the pineapples below.

They also had feathered friends and other pets. Meet Ozzie and Harriet! How about those huge turtles? They had peacocks roaming around too but I couldn't find them when I was ready to take their picture.
When we got back to Kerri's home, she made fresh whipped cream and we ate the yummy sweet strawberries with it. Hmmmm.....mmmmm.....good!

Hope you enjoyed this short tour. Thank you so much for coming by and thank you Beverly for hosting another fun Pink Saturday!

Coffee or Tea?

My favorite play day is here! Susan of http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ is again hosting a Tablescape Thursday, which means we get to play with our dishes and tea sets.
Brrrr! It's cold outside. Do you see that big glob of ice by the pool slide outside? Let's beat the cold and warm up with either hot tea or coffee.

I am using some of my Polish pottery. I just love playing with these cause you can mix and match the different patterns and I think they are so attractive with their vibrant colors. For a tray, I used a ceramic tray with a winter scene. And no, it's not a Polish pottery.

I's getting dark so soon. The days are shorter now. Aren't the napkins pretty with a dancing Dutch boy and girl? You wouldn't mind if they are not Polish, right? They match though, don't they?

They even match the pool water.

I just love taking tablescapes by candle light.

I'd like to thank Susan again for hosting this very fun event. And of course, I will never close without thanking you all for coming by.

Coffee or tea anyone?

Pool Slide's Big Ice Glob

It's Wednesday and I am excited to join Susan of http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/ because I want to show you the biggest icycle that I have ever seen. For more interesting outdoor pictures, don't forget to visit Susan and her participants.

I am also linking with Watery Wednesday at http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com/ for the first time. We came home last Sunday night and John went to the backyard and called me, told me to hurry and for me to bring my camera. Actually the picture below is the one I took the next day.
This is what dh saw when he went to check the pool, this big glob of ice at the bottom of the pool slide. I am surprised the water froze because it is running continuously. And doesn't it resemble Santa Claus with his long white beard?
The pictures below were taken without flash. We have turned the pool heater on and the sun has been shining during the day but as of today, the ice has not melted.

I hope you enjoyed seeing Santa's ice head, lol. Thanks for coming and thanks Susan, for hosting another week of Outdoor Wednesday.

Family Room Mantel Top

As per Janie of Blondie's Journal suggested, I am linking this post to Beth's Mantel Party. For more mantel decor, please visit Beth at http://bethcrabtreehunter.blogspot.com/ and her participants.

Barb is hosting an exciting new meme and it will be going on every Tuesday. Make sure you go visit her at http://gritsglamour.blogspot.com/ and view everybody else's tabletops, vignettes and favorite accessories.

This is how I dressed our family room fireplace mantel for Christmas. I was lazy so I omitted the garland which I was glad because it was easier for me to take the accessories away.
And this is now.

I took the 2 topiaries from the living room and moved them here. I also moved the little Meissen dish with 2 little girls from there into here. I bought the 2 Italian cherubim candle holders from Marshall's on clearance for $6.00 each in New Port Richey, FL last weekend and I really like them here.

I love the glow at night.

The urns with bronze ormolu are Sevres pieces.

Here is a close up of the cherubs. Aren't they handsome?

Thanks Barb, for starting and hosting this wonderful meme. And I also want to thank y'all for your visits and comments.