Thursday, October 2, 2014

Birthdays And Other Milestones - A Fiesta Tablescape


Every September we have our annual Virgo Birthday Celebration. Usually we combine this celebration with Labor Day and have a cookout.  This year one of my Virgo sons could not make it for Labor Day so we moved the party to my birthday weekend instead. This celebration was for more than celebrating our collective birthdays but a celebration of the week that I would retire,  the week that I would be earning my last paycheck and the week I would be receiving my first pension check.

I decided that a fiesta party would be a lot of fun and relatively easy to prepare for.  My husband prepared a pork loin on the rotisserie grill,  my DIL Zhenia made sweet potato pasta with a savory butter sage sauce with a touch of maple syrup.  I made corn and shrimp chowder, corn on the cob, home made sweet corn salsa and rolls with butter.  My son Richard was the photographer for the occasion.

Fall Fiesta Tablescape, fall decor
The table was set with figural vegetable bowls and corn plates. Red pepper garlands ran down the length of the table.
Fall Fiesta Tablescape, fall decor
We were serenaded by our little friend strumming the guitar (I think it's a guitar) on the table.
Cinco De Mayo,  Fiesta
We did not get any pictures after the soup was served.  The rest of the afternoon and evening flew by.

The shelves behind the dining table were starting to look like fall decorated with pumpkins and leaves of red, yellow, and orange.
Fall Fiesta Tablescape, fall decor
 The fall shelf elves have taken their place once again this year.
Fall Fiesta Tablescape, fall decor
 And a Fall pixie fairy has decided to reside on the shelves to keep the elves company.
Fall Fiesta Tablescape, fall decor, fall pixie fairy
I decided to reset the table (for four instead of eight) with the serving platters and a few tweaks.  I added the candle holders and the red bowls instead of the figural vegetable bowls. The gold bubble glass water glasses were replaced with gold bubble glass wine glasses.
Fall Fiesta Tablescape, fall decor
Fall Fiesta Tablescape, fall decor
Fall Fiesta Tablescape, fall decor
I have used the soup tureen as my centerpiece (bought at HG during my annual birthday shopping spree),   the soup tureen was also set in the middle of the table for our fiesta after removing the original centerpiece..
Fall Fiesta Tablescape, fall decor

Fall Fiesta Tablescape, fall decor
 The acorn bowl held our sweet potato pasta,  the maple leaf bowl was piled high with corn
Fall Fiesta Tablescape, fall decor
 Fall Fiesta Tablescape, fall decor
 The butter was served in a figural corn butter dish,  we used the Sunny Day Park design S&P's.
Fall Fiesta Tablescape, fall decor
I used my Vintage Franciscan October serving platter and my Susan Winget Patchwork Rooster serving platter.
Fall Fiesta Tablescape, fall decor

Fall Fiesta Tablescape, fall decor
 The napkins and the table runner are also from Park Designs.  A red pepper napkin ring was used for a casual look. Cinco De Mayo,  Fiesta
Fall Fiesta Tablescape, fall decor
 He's so cute!
Cinco De Mayo,  Fiesta
My new seat cushions from Goodwill (they tie in the back with satin ribbons).
 My friends at work had a nice birthday luncheon for me.  I wanted to share a few pictures of my cohorts. 
From left to right are Kathleen (avid thrifter and yard glass artist), Gloria (also an avid thrifter and a garage sale enthusiast),  I am sitting in the middle at the table,  Lynn (Lynn trained to do a lot of my duties in purchasing and processing steel) is standing behind me on the right, Sandy (my trainee for vendor claims), and Lorie (she is a thrifter too).    

Kathleen and Gloria- my shopping buddies!
All of the ladies got together and bought me a Goodwill gift card as a birthday present.  How great is that? And that brings me to the rest of the story.  I have been smitten with Tuscan decorating.  Not the wine bottle and grapes kind of Tuscan,  but the warmth of the colors and the style of the wood furniture and the wall art.  I took my gift card to three different Goodwill Stores and got all Tuscaned-up with wall art,  candle holders, lamps, and a whole crop of stuff.  You can see some of my birthday goodies on the shelves below.
 The horizontal plate rack and all of the candle holders you see here,  as well as the book stack and the red and gold sunflower plates.
 
 Autumn fairy
     I assure you that there is much more.  I went shopping armed with two 35% off coupons and got lucky with several 50% off  purchases.  Yep I used the whole card up.  As I progress through the living room and dining room I will be posting pictures of my thrifty decor items.

Have a great weekend and of course - Thrift on ladies, thrift on!

I will be sharing at:

Susan's Tablescape Thursday.

Nita's Mod Mix Monday

Marty's Inspire me Tuesday

Kathryn's Make It Pretty Monday

Maria Elena's Tuesdays @ Our Home

Kristin's Table It Link Party

Dawn's History and Home Link Party









8 comments:

  1. Oh wow !!! First - happy birthday - and second - happy retirement and third - I want friends like that. LOL What a lovely luncheon they had for you and what a thoughtful gift.

    Now to the table - I love love love love the leaf bowls - and the little strumming guy - he was perfect for the entertainment. The corn cup - so cute - and the pumpkin tureen - oh my - so many wonderful things to admire. I love how the tables were set - such bright fiesta colors. I love the acorn dish and the leaf and the butter dish - and and and everything. Your tables are always so creative and fun.

    The new look is wonderful - and lovely things you bought with your gift certificate. It is amazing how different your house looks with the new things - a complete change - very clever. I like it. Thanks for sharing - I've been waiting for this post!

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  2. Happy Birthday, Candy...and Congratulations on retiring! It looks like the girls had a nice party for you..and they look like fun, too.

    You have some beautiful pieces there. What I like best about this post is all the bright, warm colors of Fall. The fun table setting is just lovely and so warm and welcoming.

    I loved this post- you always have something fun to see! xo Diana

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  3. Happy, happy birthday, Candy...congratulations on retiring, you will love all the time you can devote to thrifting, tablescapes, anything you want to do, when you want to do it! What a fun fiesta table. Cool candle holders.
    Your shelves look so inviting with all the warm colors of autumn.
    Have a great weekend.

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  4. Oh Candy congrats on your retirement what a way to celebrate first with a lunch then a shopping spree. How lucky can a girl get? your tables are so bright and colorful. I did that too made two tablescapes at once .I had just purchased the apple table cloth and wanted to get some use out of it.Hope you enjoy the first week of retirement .What do you plan to do other than shop? LOL Susie

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  5. What a very happy table! While there is a lot of color here, it just all works together perfectly as a tribute to fall.

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  6. Sweet potato pasta??? Never heard of it, but it sounds really good, especially with the hint of maple added to it! The whole menu sounds terrific!!!

    Your dining room is set up so nice for fall, and the Mexican decor on the table fits right in. My mind always automatically goes to Mexican food when the weather turns cooler. It's so tummy-warming and fills you right up! And lest we forget...those margaritas aren't bad, either! :-)

    It's so neat that your co-workers were so incredibly thoughtful to give you a luncheon AND a great gift certificate that they have NO DOUBT you will use!!! It's fun, too, that so many of your work friends share your passion for thrifting!

    Happy birthday, Happy retirement, and Happy life!!! Have a great weekend!!!

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  7. I like the shiny pumpkin the best I think. Fall is such a favorite of mine with all the rich deep colors. Your fairy idea is cute too.

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  8. What a great celebration! You have such a lovely collection and put together such pretty tables. Thanks for sharing at History & Home - Dawn @ We Call It Junkin

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