A Merry Little Christmas dinner party

With my red dining room, Christmas decorating is easy! I like to set a simple table with neutral table linens and dinnerware so that the centerpieces on the table runner become a focal point. By keeping the arrangements low and using many candles, I’ve found that we can talk easily with everyone. For this table I gathered greenery from outside, focusing on aromatics like pine and lavender which is still green. I also gathered accents to spray gold. Here is my quick DIY:

Krylon metallic fast drying gold spray paint

leaves, pine cones, seed pods, dried flowers

Spray outside, wait 10 min, turn, spray backs. These accents can be used for many years. They also make a Yule/Christmas table transition into New Years with a few minor changes. Here are some I  made this year:

 

Here are the Lee Wolfe Pottery pieces I used. Click image to see details:

 

You can find my recipe for the Gingerbread Cookies here- they are gluten free and wonderful.

I also used my totem animals. I enjoy making these for fun. They take a bit of time but really let you return to that magical time when you were 4 years old and a wolf could have neon eyes or a penguin chevron green wings.

 

With simple greens , candles, and handmade accent pieces, I’m ready for a few dinner parties and Christmas guests.

Have a merry little Christmas, Happy Yule, and dream big for a New Year!

Thanksgivukah! Thanksgiving + Hanukkah

Thanksgiving and the first night of Hanukkah coincide for the first time in 125 years! Latkes and cranberry ginger relish, hey, what’s not to love about that? The food is easy since our Thanksgiving dinner is served early afternoon so we can waddle off for a hike afterwards. Hanukkah will be my homemade latkes, rustic applesauce, and an extra dollop of leftover cranberry relish on top, with the sour cream optional. I’ve always served gingerbread Hanukkah cookies for dessert. So the only problem left is how to set the table to morph easily from the riot of fall colors to the cool blue of Hanukkah. My solution is to go with showy white flowers, vases and candles, accent the rustic side of Thanksgiving décor, add gray as a transitional tone, and use blue for color pop. My husband made the new rustic menorah, which we will light fully for the afternoon meal, and reset for Hanukkah in the evening. Here are some style shots you can use to help style your own Thanksgivukah.

 

 

 

 

 

May we be forever grateful for the miracles of light that bless our lives with hope and abundance. Have fun setting your table! The pottery here is available at Lee Wolfe Pottery.

Happy Easter! Happy Pesach!

My home celebrates Passover and Easter, so my table is prepared to transition.

Passover bird plate

 

white bird plates

Blue bird plates

Wherever you are, and however you greet the spring, I hope that you set the table well!

by believing passionately

What drives me in pottery, after all these years, is not to give birth to stuff that merely decorates. I believe that if you are decorating, you are already dead. The places where we dwell, the room we awake into, the table we set are not reflections of who we are. These are the molds that shape who we are. They create us, and we are reflections of what surrounds us.

When I create pottery for the table, it is with the intention to nourish the soul, to open interesting discussions, to leave imprints of wild and organic shapes in the memories of those who gather.

In learning to style my photos I am reading techniques so that I might bring the possibility of beautiful, wild, organic living. The regimented geometry of where things must be placed is stifling. I love creating flow and movement and pushing the boundaries. Technically, I am still pretty basic. This will improve over time.

Pottery displayed available here
Do you believe passionately in something that still does not exist?