Plum Creek Place: March 2014

Sunday, March 30, 2014

A Bunny Breakfast Tablescape

Do you remember the flop eared bunnies from the nineties? I came across a set of them (they are marked Donna Little 1998) at Goodwill a couple of weeks ago and they just hopped in my cart and hitched a ride home with me. I guess they were lonely for some company. The truth is that they will have a lot of company once all of the other bunnies under my care are unpacked and placed around the house for Easter.

Easter Tablescape, Bunny tablescape, flop eared bunnies - Plum Creek

I invited the girls to breakfast today to see how they would fit in with the rest of the bunnies. They appeared to enjoy breakfast, and they really liked having fresh cut flowers on the table.

I didn't tell them that the tulips in the little bunny vases were made of wood and just painted to look like tulips. The little bunny vases and the wooden tulips were found at Goodwill at the same time as the flop eared little cuties. The egg cups and the Tropicana juice glasses were found at Goodwill near where I work several months back. The vase Came from the same Goodwill store. The vase looked so Spring like that I just had to use it for this first Spring Sunday Morning Brunch of this year.

Except for the chargers (Ebay) larger flower plates (Ebay), flatware (Marc's), Napkins (Marc's) everything else on this table was thrifted.

The napkin package is marked Raymond Waites Studio. I looked them up on Amazon and said to myself "oh my" I could never pay that much for a set of napkins. Thank Goodness for Marc's! The green flatware also came from Marc's for $2.99 for four place settings.

Easter Tablescape, Bunny tablescape, flop eared bunnies

The dinner plates were just marked "HOME" & Made in China - they came from the Salvation Army Family Thrift Store - I bought on half price day for about four dollars for eight plates.

The large flower salad plate is marked Certified International (is that code for not made in the USA)?

The small bead and butter plate is marked "A PERFECT OCCASION" also made in China. For fifty cents each I will buy them (plus I get a Senior discount).

The cute little egg cups came from the Goodwill store a while back.

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Kathleen (one my my cohorts in thrifting at work) brought in the pretty yard decor that she is making out of clear plates and small crystal candle holders. The pieces are all glued together to be mounted on fence posts and such for outside yard art. Aren't they pretty? (and they look even better in person). FYI the one in the middle sold since I first posted these pictures.

Thrift on ladies - thrift on!
Remember buying from your local charities like Goodwill, The Salvation Army, and The Volunteers of America helps provide jobs for our communities and it also keeps your money in your community working for you!

I will be linking to:

Alma's Seasonal Sundays

Nita's Mod Mix Monday

Kathryn's Make It Pretty Monday

Kathe's You're Gonna Love It Tuesday

Marty's Inspire Me Tuesday

Karin's Twirl And Take A Bow

Dawn's History and Home Link Party

The Scoop - Visiting from Debbie's Confessions of a Plate Addict

Sharon's Be Inspired Linky Party

Susan's Tablescape Thursday

Laura's Friday Favorites

Kate's Flaunt it Friday

Sue's Meet the Neighbors Party

Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove

Saturday, March 22, 2014

A Shamrock Spring Tablescape

Spring is here at last - kind of.

OK, I know there are shamrocks on my plates and I know it is now spring but there are three good reasons for me to be showing the green again this week for a spring tablescape. First: I found my missing shamrock plates, second: I won a beautiful set of shamrock green Fiesta plates at Missy Bowen's The Victorian Cottage that I really want to use, and third: I wanted to use my Belleek Daffodil vase that also has shamrocks on it.

These are the beautiful Fiesta Plates that Missy sent me.

Don't they look lovely with the Bordello Pinheiro shamrock plates? They are one of my all time favorite Goodwill finds at only a dollar each (or it could have been fifty cents each)

This is my Belleek Daffodil vase from Goodwill.

Looks like spring to me!

The shamrock wine glasses are all Goodwill finds.

Thrifty floral candle holders from Marc's (my favorite close out store) for only $2.99. Can you see the cute little bees on the echinacea flowers? The lovely crocheted scarf came from the VOA store.

Checkers anyone?

My post from last week "Dining With Leprechauns" is being featured at Laura's Friday Favorites linky party.
FridayFavorites

Bunnies have been invading my house all week. They are everywhere! There are white bunnies, pink bunnies, yellow bunnies, bunnies with floppy ears, bunnies the tall ears, bunnies with babies (oh my goodness all of the babies), bunnies in people clothes, bunnies that garden, golly you name it and I got those kind of bunnies.

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Sue at Housekaboodle is having a Getting to Know You Party at Her Meet the Neighbors Linky Party.
There is a list of questions to help you introduce yourself to people in the blogging community that may not already know a lot about you.

These are my responses:

1. Morning person or night owl.? Answer: Well that would depend on what you call morning. Does waking up at two O'clock AM to work on your blog constitute a very early morning person, or a very late night owl person? Let's call it a very early morning person (unless I lay back down and catch a few more hours sleep).

2. The doorbell rings and it's your neighbor. Do you invite them in or pretend you are not home? Answer: Unless I had just stepped out of the shower and am attired only in a towel wrapped around my body, I would let them in. I am always in the middle of a project and eager to get feedback on what I am doing. My neighbor's are all sweethearts and I adore them and I place a high value on their opinions.

3. When out of sugar do you visit a neighbor or head to the market? Answer: I can't imagine borrowing food from a neighbor. Lawnmower yes, food no.

4. In home design, what is your go to color combination? I am very drawn to a warm neutral setting. I fell in love with kilim beige a few years ago when HGTV used that color in their Dream House giveaway. My favorite color to use with this beige is sage green or a warm red.

5. Where do you live now and given the choice where would your dream home be? Answer: I currently live in a lovely community in Medina County Ohio. In my alternate universe I would love to live in North Carolina, especially the Lake Lure area or near Henderson, NC.

6. What is your favorite social media and why? Answer: Pinterest is my favorite go to when I have a little time to spend on indulging myself with an overload of ideas. I have so many different interests and Pinterest takes me anywhere my whimsical interests want to go. Incidentally my current whimsy is fairy gardens - I am in love with fairy gardens.

7. What inspired you to start your blog? Answer: The internet inspired me. When my company closed it's Ohio operation and I lost my job several years ago I found out computers were not just for work anymore. I found a community of people with the same interests that I have. I kind of stumbled onto tablescaping while I was looking for something on the Garden Web, from there I saw a post where I found Susan's Between Naps On The Porch. I have always been crazy over pretty plates and table settings and blogging gives me a way to share my ideas.

8. Do your family or friends follow your blog? My sweet sister-in-law JoAnn checks my blog every week and my good friend Gloria at work checks my blog out every week too. My son's say they visit every week! Bless their little hearts! Every once and a while one of our friends from my husbands Navy days will visit too.

I think that is enough about me!

I hope you can get over to Laura's "I'm not a Trophy Wife" to visit, and to Sue's blog and visit some of the lovely homes that she features in her blog and to Missy's Blog - Missy has a gorgeous Chocolate Bunny Tablescape using a Fiestaware flamingo dinner plate, a chocolate lunch plate and a turquoise desert plate with a chocolate bunny on top this week....Really cute!!

Have a wonderful week. Thrift on ladies, thrift on.

Candy

Linking To:

Friday Favorites Linky Party

Meet the Neighbors Linky Party

Make it Pretty Monday

Seasonal Sundays

History and Home Link Party

You're Gonna Love It Tuesday

Tablescape Thursday

Share It One More Time Party

Thursday, March 13, 2014

St Patrick's Day Tablescape - Dining with the Leprechauns

March 13, 2014
Dining With The Leprechauns

I married into an Irish family. I have marched in the St Patrick's Day parade, I make corn beef and cabbage for St Patrick's Day. I decorate a tree for St Patrick's Day, and I set the dinner table on St Patrick's Day with shamrocks and leprechauns. That's as Irish as I am going to get.

What could be more Irish than a leprechaun? I do so adore the wee people.

Long before I met my husband I was fascinated by fairies and leprechauns. One summer when I was around six years old I remember going out into the yard and picking a three leaf clover and pinching two of the three little leaves off to make a tiny clover fairy doll. I took a tiny flower head from a clover plant and placed it onto my single leaf of clover with a tiny dab of my school paste, then I picked a morning glory blossom (for my fairies gown) from our next door neighbors yard and nipped the end off to leave a tiny opening to slip the clover stem into. This was my tiny fairy doll. I made a little shelter for her from whatever I could find outside, sticks, bits of wood, and small pieces of colored glass from around the schoolyard on the other side of our house. Needless to say my fairy doll wilted rather quickly and I would have to start the process all over again if I wanted to play fairy garden.

My fascination with fairies and all of the other wee people started when my parents took me to see Walt Disney's Peter Pan. Tinker Bell was my favorite character in this charming animated movie.

Enough about the fairies, the leprechauns are the main attraction on St Patrick's Day

The wee Irish Lass in the centerpiece was found at a thrift store.

She was placed on a candle holder to make her a bit taller than she really is.

The Orchid flower is the last bloom from this winter's flowering.

I used a green shot glass for a vase.

The lovely little shamrock covered plate on the top of the stack was bought at Marc's (my favorite close out store) the bottom of the plate is marked Shannon (and made in china).

The light green salad plate came from Goodwill (salad plates are fifty cents each and seniors get a 10% discount) it is marked GP Hospitality Collection.

The dinner plate came from the Goodwill Store near where I work. Dinner plates are one dollar each unless marked otherwise. The usual 10% discount brings the price per plate down to ninety cents each. I bought eight of them The were made by Syracuse China, they are marked 10-J USA.