Thanksgiving Centerpiece 2016

I know this is not the most timely post considering it is after  Thanksgiving but, I hope you don't mind if I talk about my Thanksgiving table centerpiece. I am late because everything was busy before the holiday, as I was hosting the big dinner at my house.  Then, as soon as the meal was done the weekend took right over with Christmas decorating and finding the right tree and family dinners.  I'm sure you understand.  I'm sure you were out doing "stuff" as well.  And finally, to add to the chaos, on Sunday my husband and I headed to NY City with my son, Sam, and his family in tow.  We drove caravan style all the way to New York.   Both of the guys were traveling to New York on business so we wives decided to make a family trip of it.  I'm still here in New York and hope to share some of my NY experiences with you soon but, for now it is on to my Thanksgiving Tablescape.

I really loved my Thanksgiving table this year and wanted to share it with you, even if I am a little late.  It is somewhat of a transitional tablescape anyway.  You might be able to use some of the ideas for your Christmas holiday season.  Maybe this post will be more timely than I thought...maybe?

Well here goes:

I started with my rickety old dining table.  I had to put a brown tablecloth on it to hide its many imperfections.  I then added a white burlap table runner down the middle with my ol' faithful barn board piece on top of the runner, as well.  I then placed some white mini pumpkins and one gray/blue pumpkin on the barn board to anchor the design.

A Ladies Wreath Making Party in the Shed!

Last week I mentioned that I was going to host a wreath making party in my shed this week.  It was supposed to be a "kick-off" of sorts for the holiday season.  It was also a way to get a few friends and family together and to check out my new shed in a "workshop" kind of way.  I am trying to determine if it is really feasible to host floral workshops in the shed.  Since it is only a seasonal shed, I felt this was my last chance to test it out before the really cold weather set in. 

My daughter-in-law, Jessica, had mentioned having an interest in making a wreath a little while ago.  I was thankful for the suggestion and decided to "just go with it"!  The party was going to be an intimate affair, just the women in my immediate family, my sister-in-law and a close friend who had helped me with one of my weddings.  Unfortunately, my young friend, Nicole, was going away for the weekend and couldn't come so, my granddaughter joined us instead!  I'll make sure we do something else that Nicole can come to soon.

I did some research and determined that eucalyptus greens, seeded and otherwise, would be a good choice for the wreaths because, supposedly, it dries "beautifully".  I made the wreath below as a prototype and played around with decoration using ribbon and Christmas ornaments.

Wreaths from Mitchell & Company Designs and Events

Happy Veterans Day!  Thank You, Veterans!

I invited a few ladies to my house this weekend to make seeded eucalyptus wreaths.  It's a little get-together to kick off the holiday season.  I have been busy this week preparing for that.  I hope to be sharing the festivities with you in a post next week.  For this week I thought I could share some of the wreaths I have made in the past.  Some were purely seasonal and some were used for home decoration.  Wreaths are a fun way to dress up your home or business and they are also a great way to express your creativity!

The wreath below is the prototype wreath for my little workshop party this weekend, just to give you an idea of what we will be up to!  Seeded eucalyptus is an interesting fresh green to include in your holiday décor.  It can even be incorporated in a traditional evergreen wreath to give it a different look.  More on this next week :).

The Official Photos From Keri and John's Wedding!

Since we are in between Halloween and Thanksgiving and are in a bit of a lull holiday-wise, I thought I would brighten things up and share some of  the professional photos from the wedding I did back in August for Keri and John. You can read my previous posts about their wedding here and here if you would like. Keri shared the photos with me several weeks ago but, I haven't had a chance to write about them until now.  It was so nice of Keri to do that and allow me to share the wedding and the flowers by way of professional photography. Nothing really compares to professional photographs and I truly appreciate them.

All of the following photographs were created and provided by Benoit & McCarthy Photography. Thank you to them for this wonderful visual opportunity.

The bridal party bouquets as they were being delivered to The Commons 1854 in Topsfield, MA:

The wedding ceremony and reception both took place at The Commons.