Charlotte Blue Transferware Drink Dispenser, Tablescape and Winners!

Tonight, my table revolves around a fantastic piece of transferware, and a beautiful pattern; Charlotte. Named for Queen Charlotte, the pattern depicts a Victorian basket filled to overflow with a lush arrangement of flowers.  My centerpiece is  the star of the table, an unusual and hard to find beverage dispenser.

The beverage dispenser has a cork and wood spigot for serving.  

The lid is removable so you can pour your beverage in the top.

The matching tumblers are so cute!  Many of the Charlotte holloware pieces have a usually smaller version of the design on the back side, which is the case with these glasses.

I tend to double up on the napkins for a layered effect, mixing vintage lace, crochet and embroidery.  

Oh, and transferware napkin rings of course to hold the napkins.

I am liking blue and white, more and more.

This cute gingham flatware adds a fun touch of whimsy and  casual 'picnic' charm to the table!

I chose a dinner plate with a deeper blue border and layered with the Charlotte soup bowls on top.  I ate dinner with the kids at this table tonight.  Trevor helped me move some furniture around today so I made him his favorite Chicken Pot Pie for dinner.  It's not the ideal meal to eat when it's a sweltering 110°!  

These pretty goblets were a Hobby Lobby clearance find last year.  I love the etched look!  They bring a bit of light and sparkle to the table.

Candles, are from Zest Candle, who generously supply me with gorgeous candles for my tablescapes.  Tonight I used the Rose Taper Candles.  They are lovely.

 I also lit some of the 3 x 3 white pillar candles and placed them in blue transferware berry bowls. 

Now, my kids keep calling me as they're waiting for me to watch a scary movie with them.

Just one more thing before I go.....

The winners of the Zest Candle giveaway are:

Debra, from Common Ground

and Ceekay from Thinkin' of Home

Congratulations ladies!  I'll email you both for your addresses and forward them to Zest so you can make your decisions.    

Thank you Zest Candle!

A Stroll Thru Life
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Cloche Topped Cake on an Aesthetic Movement Transferware Platter

Reminder:  Enter my Candle Giveaway HERE

  Remember me telling you all that my family has gotten into the restaurant business?   This is one of the desserts we serve at the restaurant, and it is now being made by yours truly.  

Yummy Italian Cream Cake!

I made this one for a get together with Shawn's family but just had to play dress it up for Marty's cloche party!   Marty, at A Stroll Thru Life hosts several cloche parties a year and they are always such fun, so I had that in the back of my mind when I made the cake.  I wanted to try something a little different with a cloche and until now, I hadn't seen a cloche as a cake topper, so...here you go.

I baked the three layers in graduating sizes of cake pans, 8", 9" and 10" to give a pretty tiered look.  Because the cakes are round and I served them on an oval platter, I created an oval appearance by spreading pecans directly on each long end of the platter, mimicking its shape and 'extending' the cake.  I think it turned out nicely.

I had already decided I wanted to serve it on this rich brown, Aesthetic Movement platter with a bird motif'...and I didn't stop there.  (If you'd like to read more about  Aesthetic transferware and the movement itself, just click the link above...this is by far my most popular post).

  

I started thinking it needed something under the cloche, so I toasted some coconut and formed a birds nest using some of the cream cheese frosting as a glue to hold it together.   Three blue Robins eggs sit on the nest.

Then, back on went the cloche.  I tied a sheer, brown and blue ribbon around it to tie in the blues and browns.  I don't know about you all, but I find it very difficult to get good photos of any cloche.  It seems I can never get a really clear shot.

Of course, I had to continue on with the bird theme ( I like theme-y stuff!) by using these most adorable napkin rings!  

These are burlap wrapped wooden rings with hand sculpted bird nests filled with eggs.  Yes, each little nest and egg is individually hand sculpted.  Jennifer Arndt is the very talented artist who made these for me.  She to has an Etsy shop where she sells some of her sculpted miniatures along with many others, mostly of German and Italian origin.   Do visit her.

Even my flatware pockets have a hand stamped bird motif'

You know you want a piece, don't you?  

 You'll have to wait because I'm not giving out the recipe just yet...soon though, I promise...or you can pop into the restaurant and have a slice anytime you'd like.

And, since we're celebrating cloche's with Marty, I thought I'd show you some pics of my past posts with cloches.  

I made these bird nest topped, mini cloche on purple transferware for a tablescape HERE

I used the same bird cloche as on the cake in this table for two 

My Christmas cloche vignette HERE

My favorite cloche still, is the one that holds love notes Shawn and I wrote each other when we were dating.  Of course, it rests on an a transferware platter!

Thank you for hosting the cloche party Marty!

I'm joining:
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Somewhat Simple
The Shabby Chic Cottage
Beyond The Picket Fence
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