JBigg: Life in Kentucky: 2021

A Christmas Tablescape Featuring Cardinals, Reindeer & Tartan

Our Christmas table was set for our family of six. The centerpiece featured gold reindeer standing on an embroidery enhanced table runner.

The two reindeer stood beside two Fitz and Floyd candleholders tied with red and gold bows.

The tartan tablecloth brings the Christmas spirit to the table with its fun and festive colors.

Whether tartan is worn as clothing or used on the table, it has a rich history and I love seeing it at Christmas.

Topping the tartan tablecloth were place settings with gold glass chargers, gold rimmed china and Lenox Winter Greetings salad plates.

The Lenox Eternal Gold flatware and gold rimmed stemware add to the sense of regal on the tartan tablecloth.

It's always exciting to set our tables for Christmas and as our guests sit down for a delicious meal the joyful conversations turn into wonderful memories.

This year, our largest Christmas tree is in the dining room. We had ceiling water damage in our living room a few days before Thanksgiving and I wasn't sure if the living room would even be useable for Christmas. It looked like we might need to open presents in the dining room!

Water damage is the pitts! We are thankful the ceiling has been repaired (what a big mess) and I barely got my mantel decorated in time for our family dinner. None of my Fitz and Floyd Christmas pieces came out of their boxes this year.

I'll tell you more about the water damage and the fireplace facelift later. Now back to the table?

The Lenox Winter Greetings china pattern is a beautiful setting of cardinals perched in a ring of pinecone, holly and mistletoe. If you look closely, you can also see a sweet chickadee at about 11 o'clock on the ring of pinecones, holly, mistletoe and red ribbon. The chickadee seems to be holding a piece of the ribbon in his beak.

The server next to the table mimicked the table centerpiece with another embroidery enhanced table runner and a larger gold deer.

The apothecary jar is filled with shiny ornaments of green, red, and gold. The wreath is enhanced with a few ornaments and red berry branches.

That's it for my Christmas table, thanks for stopping in for a visit - Judy.

Linking to:

Love Your Creativity Link Party @ Life and Linda on Sunday at 2pm

Busy Monday @ A Pinch of Joy on Sundays at 5pm

Mosaic Monday @ Letting Go of the Bay Leaf on Sunday

Sundays on Silverado @ The House on Silverado

Celebrate Your Story @ Zucchini Sisters on Monday

Inspire Me Monday @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

All About Home Link Party @ Common Ground on Monday at 6pm

Party in Your PJ'd @ Apple Street Cottage

Beautifully Made @ Across the Blvd. on Tuesday

Turnabout Tuesday at My Wee Abode

Keep in Touch @ Let's Add Sprinkles

Wonderful Wednesday at LeCultivateur

Centerpiece Wednesdays at Karins Kottage on Tuesday evening

Vintage Charm Party @ Our Hopeful Home on Wednesday

Share Your Style Link Party @ French Ethereal on Wednesday at 6pm

Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Thursday Favorite Things at Follow the Yellow Brick Home

Thankful Thursday @ It's a Small Town Life

Grace at Home @ Imparting Grace on Thursday

Friday Favorites Link Party @ Penny's Passion on Thursday

Farmhouse Friday @ The Painted Hinge

Home Matters Link Party @ Modern on Monticello on Friday

Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound on Friday

Saturday Sparks Link Party @ Pieced Pastimes on Saturday

Friendsgiving and A Story

Are you familiar with Friendsgiving? It is a mashup of "friends" and "Thanksgiving", and it refers to a large meal eaten with friends either on or near Thanksgiving.

We had the pleasure of joining some longtime dear friends for a Friendsgiving meal.

This new holiday gathering can be celebrated in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. No holiday family drama on this occasion, just celebrating our friendship. We forgot to get a pic with our husbands included but here are the women.

Adrienne, Joy and Judy (myself) have had a long friendship that got interrupted by time and relocating but somehow we are all now living very near each other. Joy and I knew each other in grade school and high school in Illinois (I'm a little older than her). Then we taught together a couple of years. Adrienne met Joy and I in the late 70's and we all became friends. A few years later Adrienne and her husband moved 10 or more hours away followed by Joy and husband moving, then my husband and I moved. Our friendship was on hold!

Fast forward 30 plus years and we are all now living in Murray, Kentucky. Somehow, fate brought us all together again and we love to celebrate.

Joy was the hostess for our Friendsgiving celebration and her house and table were decorated to the nine's. Take a look at her table and sideboard:

I forgot to take pics of the fabulous food Joy prepared. (I'll do better next year). Our menu included:

Drinks and appetizers of mixed nuts and shrimp cocktail gave us some time to relax and visit. We always have so much to talk about and be thankful for!

Our meal started with turkey and wild rice soup followed by the main course of pork roast with apples and onions. For side dishes, Joy made asparagus casserole, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, ginger carrots, nine layer salad and the cutest turkey rolls. For dessert, Joy, made a delicious Pumpkin Cheesecake. I think she spent the whole day cooking!

Friendsgiving can be a casual event but why not make it a little formal when you have a host like Joy. She is a great cook and loves to decorate! Take a look at her giant turkey in the entryway.

We love celebrating our friendship so Friendsgiving is the perfect holiday for us to get together and be thankful.

Our group of friends plan to make Friendsgiving an annual tradition. How about you, do you celebrate Friendsgiving? If you haven't, it's the perfect time to invite your best friends over for a Friendsgiving celebration.

Here's a pic with the husbands included when we were, again, celebrating our friendship on a different night. No one is sitting by their spouse so it is hard to tell who is married to who. Can you guess?

I'll draw some lines showing who goes with who. Did you guess any correctly?

Thanks for stopping by for our Friendsgiving celebration. Let me know about your plans to celebrate your friendships.

Linking to:

Love Your Creativity Link Party @ Life and Linda on Sunday at 2pm

Sundays on Silverado @ The House on Silverado

Busy Monday @ A Pinch of Joy on Sundays at 5pm

Mosaic Monday @ Letting Go of the Bay Leaf on Sunday

Celebrate Your Story @ Zucchini Sisters on Monday

Inspire Me Monday @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

All About Home Link Party @ Common Ground on Monday at 6pm

Party in Your PJ'd @ Apple Street Cottage

Beautifully Made @ Across the Blvd. on Tuesday

Turnabout Tuesday at My Wee Abode

Keep in Touch @ Let's Add Sprinkles

Wonderful Wednesday at LeCultivateur

Centerpiece Wednesdays at Karins Kottage on Tuesday evening

Vintage Charm Party @ Our Hopeful Home on Wednesday

Share Your Style Link Party @ French Ethereal on Wednesday at 6pm

Charming Gardens & Homes Link Party @ Shiplap and Shells on Wednesdays

Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Thursday Favorite Things Follow the Yellow Brick Home

Thursday Favorite Things @ Eclectic Red Barn

Thankful Thursday @ It's a Small Town Life

Grace at Home @ Imparting Grace on Thursday

Friday Favorites Link Party @ Penny's Passion on Thursday

Friday With Friends @ My Hubbard Home

Farmhouse Friday @ The Painted Hinge

Create, Bake, and Grow at Shabby Art Boutique

Home Matters Link Party @ Modern on Monticello on Friday

Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound on Friday

Saturday Sparks Link Party @ Pieced Pastimes on Saturday

Reviewing My Christmas Tables

Hello everyone, planning for my Christmas table is on my mind today. I'm looking back at some of my favorites over the years for some inspiration. Take a look with me!

Fitz and Floyd Santa's are always at the top of my list in planning. My "Finding Joy at Christmas" table featured Santa and reindeer on a Lenox tablecloth.

"Santa is Joining Us at the Table" featured another Fitz and Floyd Santa with a black and white checked buffalo plaid theme. The china is Spode Winter's Eve.

A change-up in themes was a gold and white table featuring ceramic houses and trees with gold doves at "Our Christmas Table" post. The tablecloth was bought in Germany.

"Christmas Table With Tartan and Santa" featured a tartan plaid tablecloth and ribbon, F&F Santa, Lenox china, red candles glowing, and red stemware.

A "Winterberry Christmas Table" was a casual table set for Christmas breakfast featuring Pfaltzgraff Winterberry stoneware. Green stemware and green napkins wrapped with Lenox napkin rings and a few special ornaments set this table off.

"Currier and Ives" blue antique china with lots of blue ornaments and candles for this Christmas table. Fresh greenery lined the center of the table with a crystal bowl filled with ornaments were added. White cloth napkins wrapped with friendship napkin rings were placed beside each place setting.

"Winter Holiday Santa" china, pink frosted ornaments, Snowy Woods Fitz and Floyd pieces made this tablescape soft and elegant,

A silver and chartreuse theme with glittered deer was a tablescape I designed for my daughter's "Christmas Dining" table. Lenox Holiday Nouveau china salad plates atop Lenox "Eternal Gold Rimmed dinner plates lined the table.

A Lenox tablecloth, frosted pink glass ornaments and Fitz and Floyd Santa salad plates were used for my "Holiday Dining for Four" tablescape.

"Sparkle and Spode" made this tablescape bright and shiny for Christmas. Spoke china was used for the place settings with silver chargers.

I hope you have enjoyed this glance back at my Christmas tablescapes as I plan for this year's table. Which one was your favorite?

Linking to:

Love Your Creativity Link Party @ Life and Linda on Sunday at 2pm

Busy Monday @ A Pinch of Joy on Sundays at 5pm

Mosaic Monday @ Letting Go of the Bay Leaf on Sunday

Celebrate Your Story @ Zucchini Sisters on Monday

All About Home Link Party @ Common Ground on Monday at 6 pm

Beautifully Made @ Across the Blvd. on Tuesday

Keep in Touch @ Let's Add Sprinkles

Centerpiece Wednesdays at Karins Kottage on Tuesday evening

Vintage Charm Party @ Our Hopeful Home on Wednesday

Share Your Style Link Party @ French Ethereal on Wednesday at 6pm

Charming Gardens & Homes Link Party @ Shiplap and Shells on Wednesdays

Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Thursday Favorite Things at Follow the Yellow Brick Home

Thankful Thursday @ It's a Small Town Life

Grace at Home @ Imparting Grace on Thursday

Friday Favorites Link Party @ Penny's Passion on Thursday

Farmhouse Friday @ The Painted Hinge

Home Matters Link Party @ Modern on Monticello on Friday

Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound on Friday

Saturday Sparks Link Party @ Pieced Pastimes on Saturday

Halloween Tablescape and A Party

It's always fun to decorate for a party and what could be more exciting than a Halloween Party.

Let's go to the party!

It's orange and black overload!

The centerpieces are this cute witches hat, a black and white checked pumpkin and a girlie orange jack-o-lantern with a big bow.

These cuties and sitting on a table runner I made from some Halloween fabric The black and white stripe fabric is my new favorite binding to use.

The place settings were a snap to put together for this special Halloween tablescape. The placemats were part of a fabric panel called "Raven's Claw".