It’s still pretty warm outside and certainly warm enough for dining on the back porch. Welcome to the Blog today, Friends, as we have a pre-Thanksgiving dinner while enjoying the outdoors.
I started the table setting with a bright white cotton table cloth. You can see in the picture that it has a design element of overlapping squares throughout the cloth. It gives some texture and interest to the tablecloth.
I wanted to keep the colors in the table settings fairly neutral so I opted for browns and creams and golds.
The plate stack begins with this glass, gold and silver embossed, charger. I use these a lot around the holidays. The rims are in that burnished, old-gold color that shouts tradition to me.
Three different plates were used. The dinner plate is Johnson Bros. “Friendly Village”. I used plates to represent each of the four seasons to signify a full year of blessings. The salad/dessert plate was, appropriately, a pumpkin plate in cream and brown from Pottery Barn. What could be more fitting for Pumpkin Pie? Finally, a bread and butter plate from Lenox. This plate is rimmed in black and gold and works with almost any setting.
Silver-plated flatware in a simple pattern was paired with the plate stack.
Vera Wang’s “Duchesse” (a Thrift Store Find) was used for the crystal goblets. It’s one of my favorite patterns and goes with most settings.
I had all of the place settings at the table looking into the garden so everyone could see the greenery. A runner of rich chocolate brown with a multitude of colors from yellows to blues to greens and reds runs along the back of the table. My recently up-scaled turkeys are grouped together on one side holding a punch of color in the flowers. A gold candlestick holds a pillar candle in the center of the runner.
On the other side of the candle a birchbark cornucopia is bursting with pumpkins and other seasonal favorites.
Napkins held by gold napkin rings are pleated in a fan pattern and laid across the plate stack. The napkins are in a soft gold with a harvest pattern embroidered on the napkin.
This is the table runner from above.
A simple setting for a pre-Thanksgiving outdoor meal. Everything on the table was thrifted. It’s such fun to use found items in your home.