Spode Continental Views Yellow Transferware Table (by Jonah!!!)

Last summer I purchased a rickety picnic table with benches at a yard sale for $10.  Shawn about croaked since he'd have trashed this thing in a heartbeat.  He could not believe I bought such junk, but I couldn't resist the price or the thought of how I'd use it for outdoor tablescapes.   That's the main reason I bought it!  It's so bloggable!   It's warped and wobbly as can be with badly chipped paint (which I happen to like).  Well, before we moved I packed up a box full of things just for this table knowing it would be the first one I'd do at our new house.   Then, when we moved to the new house, as you might have imagined, Shawn 'accidentally on purpose' forgot to load the picnic table and benches.  Needless to say, that didn't work out like he had planned.   Thank goodness for teenage boys that are willing to sneak over to the old house and load it up while Dad is gone, and a Mom most willing to drive the getaway van!  My rickety, rackety, chippy, about to fall to pieces picnic table is in the back yard now and soon will be premiered on my blog.  After that it might be firewood.  We'll see.

 So you are wondering why I'm telling you about the picnic table?  Because all week I've had the box of dishes and items for this table sitting by the door... but alas, I did not get it done in time for Tablescape Thursday, or even begin it.  That seems to be so like me these past few weeks.  I really do have a zillion ideas floating between my ears, but trying to execute them all, or any of them, has not been a strong point for me lately.   So instead, I'm going to share a table that my son Jonah helped put together as a display while we still had the shop.    If you know Jonah, you would know this is so not something he would ever do, but he really did the majority of it.  All I did was tell him what plates to use. 

 The plates are a rare yellow polychrome transferware (yellow is the rarest of all transferware colors) by Spode-Copeland.  The pattern is called Continental Views and was first produced in 1844-45.  These plates date to about the 1930's and have a Gadroon edge.  These are also polychrome, meaning they have hand painted touches of color over the transfer.    I have some for sale in my Etsy shop HERE.

 I love the elaborate detail of the border around the scene, the way the floral garland dips down onto the face of the plate.

Napkins were laid at an angle with one corner hanging over the edge of the table in place of placemats.  Green marbleized flatware by Barenthal was used to pick up the greens from the plate.  Jonah rolled up napkins and placed them in silver filigree rings above the plates at each setting.

I offered Jonah a little guidance along the way, but not much.   The centerpiece full of tulips (I think these are called Parrot tulips), hydrangeas, and apples.  The colors in the arrangement picked up the colors on the face of the plates. 

And, here's my JoJo at his Junior Prom last month:

And here he is when he found out I posted his tablescape for all the world to see.

I'm joining
Susan at Between Naps on the Porch
Beverly for Pink Saturday
Charm of Home hosted by Sherry

Photo Feature Friday  at A Rosy Note

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

One Room is Done!

 I have been one serious cleaning machine these past few weeks.  Clorox is my new bff.   This HOUSE has been scrubbed, rubbed, washed, rinsed, mopped and sanitized from ceiling to floor and is finally inhabitable.  There is much to do still but it's coming along.

I have not only been busy with getting this house ready to live in but with the actual move itself, closing the store and some personal issues. I guess I have had so much on my mind that I very stupidly left this 4.7 lb Dewalt drill on the top of the ladder and then went to move it.  

I got the drill bit planted right into my forehead and though I'm thankful it didn't actually penetrate my skull or hit me in the eye, I did get to take a trip to the emergency room for stitches.  I managed, at the same time, to slightly fracture my wrist too. I had just gotten over dropping a 3lb metal obelisk on my foot which left me unable to put a shoe on for a few days, along with a slew of other countless scrapes, cuts and bruises.   Today is the first day in a little over 3 weeks that I've not had a bad headache as a result of the run-in with the drill.

I have promised to show some photos of the house as I am able to work my way through it, repainting and decorating.  The first rooms I wanted to work on were the kids, so today I'm sharing the girls room with you.  Kalyn and Ashton both helped decorate and paint their room.   Shawn's Mom painted their entire closet for them, along with all of the other closets and pantry in the house.  Paint truly makes such a difference in how things look, doesn't it?

(You can click on the word house in the first paragraph above to see some of the before photos of this house)

Two walls were painted Spring Green Twig and the other two walls and ceiling were painted a soft aqua named Windy Sea Breeze.  I painted the trim and doors antique white.

The freshly painted room is now light, airy and serene.  Time to start moving in the furniture.

 The colors were chosen to compliment the Peony and Hydrangea themed floral comforter set that the girls purchased for their new room.  This is a Better Homes and Gardens bagged set, available at Walmart.  It was very inexpensive.  

Trevor did most of the work on putting the girls bed together for them.

 Ashton and I found the green animal print comforter and pillow cases on clearance at Steinmart for about $30, to use as accents on the bed.  I placed throw pillows inside the cases and tied them with pink ribbons.

Next came finding some type of curtain to use in the canopied area over the bed.   After a bit of looking I decided on shower curtains.  These were the very colors of blue and green needed to match the rest of the room and bedding.  I love the leafy vine print.

 I installed the curtains with a shower rod from the old house, behind the front of the canopy so you cannot see it at all.

After leaving this up for a few days I thought that the curtains needed to be joined at the top and something on the wall between them.  I'd love to find a pretty chandelier to hang there but the pink color is sort of a salmon/watermelon blend and it's going to be hard to find something to match.  I wound up doing a wall arrangement with pink and green hydrangeas in a chippy, white painted metal container.

And here it is all put together:

We bought two more shower curtains to use on the windows. To give the window treatment a unique, more custom feel I hung the rod from two hydrangea coat hooks from Pier 1 Imports.

Over the window treatment and between the two coat hooks hangs a matching wall piece.  It really made a pretty topper for the window.

The girls are loving their new bedroom, and I sure have missed blogging these past few weeks!  I am anxious to get back into the blogging swing and visit my favorite blogs.

Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.  Arnold Bennett

Joining:
Thrifty Decor Chick
Nita for Mod Mix Monday,
Kim at Savvy Southern Style
Susan at Metamorphosis Monday 
Sherry at No Minimalist Here
Kate at Chic on a Shoestring
Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chich Cottage
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Friday Inspiration At The Picket Fence
Stuff and Nonsense
Cindy at My Romantic Home
Miss Mustard Seed
Beverly at Pink Saturday
Freckled Laundry