Company and Weather to be Thankful for...

One of the many blessings of living in rural Florida is the weather in November is just perfect to enjoy a Thanksgiving feast under the oak tree...It was a lovely 80 degrees with a soft breeze and of course the view did not hurt either :)

You may have noticed the table arrangement plans changed from my previous post...We still had the same tablescape, just changed location to eating outside to enjoy the lovely day...Also lil Sara decided to nap thru lunch, which I did not mind at all, allowed me to enjoy my meal lol

This week alone gave us so many things to be Thankful for...But mostly to be able to enjoy the company of David's family for a few days tops the list and we can't wait for the next visit...

We made the most of every minute they were here...David and his dad built a "horse swing" for little Sara and planted a huge gardenia by the house.

MIL and myself had time to squeeze in a wonderful shopping trip, including a mini antique mall where we both found treasures to take home...My treasure being 3 little teacups that inspired us to return home and have a lovely garden tea party with the girls which I will share photos of on Tuesday ;)

We then headed to Walmart to find lil Sara a dress for the upcoming family photoshoot...It was a delightful time with her being more than happy to try on and model each dress for not just us, but for several of the staff members also...Lots of lace, frills and princess spinning was had before the final decision to buy the lovely tulle layered gold dress.

Thanksgiving day David's oldest brother and his wife made the day trip from Orlando to enjoy a late lunch with us and then in the evening we all ate birthday cake to celebrate an early 75th Bday for FIL...We finished the day enjoying the view of the evening sky...Another blessing of rural life, once we turn off our house lights all you can see is the twinkling of millions of stars.

I hope everyone else's holiday was a blessed as ours.
Kelsie

Sharing My Thanksgiving Table

I hope the lovely hostess' of the Tuesday Tea Parties do not mind me sharing my Thanksgiving table instead of a tea today...Since both involve gathering around a table and sharing delicious treats from lovely china I hope it is ok.


On Thursday we will bring in a larger table so we can sit 8 more comfortably and this table will be moved to in front of the breakfast bar to be used as a buffet table for all the yummy food.

I know during the dry run not all the silverware was in place or the glasses, they happened to be in the dishwasher at the time lol.

Now for a break down of the elements that make up my Thanksgiving table:

The dinnerware I of course shared last week as my best thrift store find EVER..You can see the post HERE if you missed it. Napkins are from Bealls for 40% off. Table Cloth is a Shower Curtain form Dollar General because it was the only thing I could find in the color I wanted. Candle sticks I already had for a project I have not gotten to yet.


My center piece is functional with my thrift store oval serving platter holding the salt and pepper shakers (also thrift store). I found this sugar bowl and milk jug set at Target ages ago, but since they are both quite large, they will be functioning as a gravy jug and the cranberry sauce will go into the sugar bowl....The leaves and berries came with the pumpkins I purchased a few days ago and tie in nicely with the berries on the napkins.


This is my take on a "Music Sheet Wreath"...First thing you might notice is that I did not use music sheets but pages from an old law text book I picked up for $2 at the thrift store...I love the large blocked numbers on the top of each page...I also could not just leave it well enough alone and soaked half my pages in a red food coloring bath to turn them pink...I also just had to add some glitter (pixie dust) to the ends for some extra sparkle lol...I was going to share the original tutorial on another blog but now I can't find the link...Oops sorry.

And of course my painted pumpkins with the berries to just add a little whimsy to the event...

And lastly the pilgrim family that will grace our buffet table:

Thanksgiving Day Menu

Meat

Turkey Breast
Smoked Ham

Sides

Sweet Potato Casserole
Green Bean Casserole
Sautéed Squash
Corn on the Cob
Coli/Broc Cheese
Stuffing
Deviled Eggs

Bread Rolls
Gravy
Cranberry Sauce

Deserts

Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Log
Sugar Cookies

I hope the family enjoys our First Thanksgiving in the new house.


I am sharing our table today with

Rose Chintz Cottage & Inspirations - Tea Time Tuesday

Lady Katherine Tea Parlor - Tea Time Tuesday

Wander Lee and Pam's - Tea Pot and Tea Things Tuesday

and party Co-hosts:

Martha's Favorites - Tea Cup Tuesday
&
Terri, Artful Afirmations - Tea Cup Tuesday

And lastly

Marty, A Stroll Thru Life - Table Top Tuesday

Quick Pumpkin Make-Over

The count down has definitely begun for T-Day...I did a dash to Dollar General this morning hoping they had a pilgrim or 2 left for me to make a center piece for the table...I know leaving it a little late most places have already sold out of all things Thanksgiving...

Fortunately for me DG still had a few things and yay already on the clearance rake...I did find my pilgrims but will share those another time...I want to show you the super quick make-over I gave these little fellows I found on the clearance rake for just 80 cents each...You can believe I grabbed the last 6 in a hurry...I have been coveting all the lovely white pumpkins I have been seeing the last few weeks and finally I have a chance to make my own...yay

Here is a before paint but with flowers, berries and leaves removed...and then with the first layer of paint added and rubbed back...I used Vintage White craft paint...

The finished pumpkins have 2 coats of paint rubbed back for a lovely shabby chic look...The berries were part of the original "garland" the pumpkins had on them, I simply used my hot glue gun to reattach them after the paint was dry.

I can't show you the rest of the table yet as I want it to be a surprise, but I am super happy with the results..Another thing on my Thankful list :)

Blessings Kelsie

More Homemade Fall Decor

The cooler weather has finally reached our patch of Florida and the leaves are now changing colors, though not as impressive as the states farther north, it is quite magical to watch it through the eyes of a 2 year old...


Her pure delight at chasing the leaves when they rain down from above as a gust of wind knocks them from trees...Her exploring the piles on the ground to see how many different colors and shapes she can find....So what do we do with all these lovely treasures she collected earlier in the week.

We glued some to a pieces of black card stock to make a lovely fall piece of artwork for Nanna and Poppa....

Alas she insisted on gluing some of the "sticky berries" to it so we could not easily mail it...But rest assured it will be here waiting for them when they arrive for the holidays...In the mean time I get to enjoy it on my fridge.

We also filled the little heart shaped birdcage with pretty yellow and red leaves...It was the finishing touch needed to complete our kitchen bar decorations.

I hope everyone else is having a wonderful Sunday...I am off to look for more indoor activities to keep lil Sara occupied during our first cold snap of the season...Too cold for her outdoors today.

Kelsie

Fall Decor - Homemade and Free

I am running a little behind this week for Show and Tell Friday, I had planned to share some great thrift store finds but they will just have to wait *wink* instead I am sharing what me and the girls put together this morning...


How pretty do these jars full of "prickly berries" look?...I was inspired yesterday by Olivia's Romantic Home blog (see my side bar for her link)...I do still intend to paint some pine cones...But Lil Sara and I got a little side tracked during our hunt for pine cones by these lovely spiky things (am sure someone will tell me what they are actually called lol) and came home with a red wagon full of both these and the pine cones.

If you look very closely they are different colors depending on how long since they fell from the tree...At first I thought we would be painting them also, but then once I noticed how pretty they are naturally.


I found some fall inspired fabric scraps in my sewing room add some green and brown ribbon, then suddenly 3 empty canning jars and some "prickly berries" are a fun start to my fall decor ...I grouped them all together on my kitchen bar with a birdhouse hand painted by lil Sara and a gorgeous black rooster I was supposed to send to my mum and recently found tucked away in a box...Oops sorry mum *grin*


A wider view of the kitchen bar...Notice I added some pine cones to my fruit basket that nests nicely under the heart shaped birdcage I found a few weeks back.


Close up of the pine cones and bird cage...On suggestion from Kari I am thinking I will be painting the birdcage hand rubbed bronze, which will match both my light fixtures and the kitchen hardware...I also want to add some wooden eggs to the cage....But that is a whole other project lol.


I balanced the other end of the kitchen bar with a wicker basket to "catch crap"... A dark wooden box for change and keys and hidden behind is the candle that is for now still decorated for spring lol...The candle is a must stay because of the frequency of power outages we have.

SO that's it, my fall decor...Oh I guess I should mention since I don't have a mantle the kitchen bar is my substitute.

Kelsie

Be sure to pop over to Cindy's for