Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Table Top Tuesday - What to do with carnations with no stems


Good Morning Sweet Friends,

Hope you had a lovely weekend
and a good Monday!

Ours was very good,  we got some much needed
yard work done,  watched a really cute and sweet
 movie called "Ramona and Beezus",  went to a 
going away get together for our Music Minister,
which was really neat..... but sad,  went to church, 
 as usual,  on Sunday, then spent the late afternoon
and evening visiting at Scott and Megan's place.
It was our kind of weekend.

Well,  told you last week I would show you what
I did with the non stemmed carntions I had left
over after DeeAnnna's birthday dinner.  
If you missed that post and would like to see it,


I am linking up to Marty over at a stroll thru life,
so if you would like to see other creative
table tops ideas just click here.

Color of the carnations was a  bit off here as you will see!! lol

Initially, I just decided to float them in this round bowl
and had them just sitting on the counter,  but it was
sort of in the way,  so thought............
really need to find something else to do with these
that would look nicer and not be in the way ......
but wasn't quite sure what I could put them in
so I did a lil scavenger hunt of the kitchen and 
came up with this...............


My french corning ware bowl,  but then it wasn't high
enough so I turned another one upside down and
place the one with the carnations on top,  that gave
it the height it needed,  so then continued to
make my vignette.


Used a teacup and pitcher, then I always love for things on
 the table to have a lil candlelight, so added some candles 
but needed more red so added some red fruit since there is
 fruit in the wallpaper. 


It certainly brightened up the kitchen.



Here it is with the candles lit!  Love to burn my candles
cause it just looks so pretty.










The middle carnation was looking sorta bad,  so took it out
and replaced it with a candle holder.









Here it is with the candleholder in the middle again,
Do not know how these pics got out of sequence.




Now only one carnation left,  so had to redo the
vignette a little!  So still enjoying it..........probably
will enjoy it until I redo things for the Fall.!


You know I  had to have at least one posterized pic in here!



Have to say I enjoyed the change of the red since
I have been using pastel colors all spring and summer.
I typically use red in the Winter Months,  So it was
a fun change.

Just 2 days left for you to sign up for my drawing,
if you are a follower and a U.S. resident.

I extended it until Thursday, Sept. 1, 20ll,  so.....
 make sure to stop over that evening to find out
 who the winner is......................
Cause it just might be you!!!  lol

Thanks for stopping in.... always glad 
to have you visit anytime.............

Have a Terrific Tuesday,

Love,  Hugs and 
Red Carnation Blessings to ya!!
Nellie

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Welcome to Thankful Thursday - August 25, 2011

(Pics compliments of Better Homes and Garden magazines) 

Praise the Lord, O my soul.
I will praise the Lord all my life,
I will sing praise to my God as
long as I live.
Psalm 46:2

Greetings Sweet Peas,

So how has your week been???
Bright and Cheery, I hope!

Here it is again.........Thursday,
Really can't get over how quickly
these weeks go..............

It has been a rather uneventful week around here
but it has been a good week.  The highlight of our
week was Dee's birthday celebration, cause as you
know by now, we always love getting the family together!

Which makes me think of a thankful for my list

#1
I am thankful
for the great birthday week she had...............
and the great time we had celebrating before and
after her birthday.  There is still one more tablescape
to come..................much more casual tho!
Will share it next week probably.


 #2
I am thankful
we were able to get a red throw for her, that she has on her
wedding registry,  but was discontinued.  She was disappointed
that they didn't carry it anymore,  but they had some left so
we were able to get it,  which wound up being a very nice
surprise for her.  

#3



I am thankful
for this lovely young lady at Bed, Bath and Beyond,
that was such a help to me, when I was shopping for Dee's gifts.
She was the one who clued me in about the throw and she had 
such a servant heart and just went above and beyond!
She really blessed my day!!





#4
I am thankful
I was finally able to get all my pics posted for 
Tablescape Thursday since I had already invested
a lot of time,  even if it was later than usual.



#5
I am thankful
we got some much need yard work done that
was beyond the norm.  Not as much as I would
have liked but it is a good start.............

#6
I am thankful
that it looks like hurricane Irene is going to
pass us by here in Florida,  will be even more
thankful once she has passed us,  but are sure
praying for those that have been in her path
already, and praying that she just goes out to
sea and doesn't strike anywhere else..

#7
I am thankful
it is so nice and breezy here today,  don't know
if that is because of hurricane Irene or not,
but it is most pleasant!
(update:  just heard on the news this breeziness
and wind gust are due to the hurricane,  sorta
thought so......................)

#8
I am thankful
for a full 8 hours of sleep last night,  cause that
is beginning to be a rare happening for me 
these days.




#9
I am thankful
that my hubby went to talk with our neighbor
about the dog incident I told you about earlier
in the week,  and even tho, the neighbor appeared 
to be rather inebriated, he was very sorry, apolgetic
 and nice about it all,  and even showed my husband
 where he had put in a zip line run in, so he can keep the
 dog tied up to keep the dog in, because he keeps jumping
 the fence which is a 6 ft. wood fence. He said the german
 shepherd only does it when the Rottweilers does so......  I
 haven't seen hide nor hair of them since.  The neighbor also
 said if this doesn't work he might have to get rid of the dog.
Felt bad to hear that,  so sure hope the zipline works

#10
I am thankful
to hear that a sweet lady that passed out in our worship
service Sunday morning, and who was taken to the
 hospital is fine and home resting.

#11
I am thankful
that my hubby is enjoying his new job so much.
He is really enjoying the work atmosphere and the
things he is working on and is having good success.
He had several trying weeks in the beginning! 



 #12
I am thankful
that all of you that got the "Sweetest blog" 
award seemed so tickled and happy with it.
and thanks to all of you for your very kind
comments back to me.

Well,  that's a wrap!!  lol

Thanks for the your visit, and
love your sweet comments

Hope you have a 
Wonderous Weekend!

Love, Hugs and
No Hurricane Blessings,
Nellie

Please.. if you are a follower and haven't been
by in awhile check out the Drawing I am
having on September 1st and let me know
if you want to participate!

Tablescape Thursday - Happy Birthday table for my daughter!


Greetings Sweet Friends,

Hope you are having a good day......
it is clear and beautiful here right now!

Told you I would share Dee's birthday
table this week,  so here it is..........

I was trying to incorporate some things
that we had included in her initial wedding 
reception so she could still enjoy them, since
 they have decided to just go away, and do a
destination wedding.


So here is the birthday girl.........I finally remembered to take
some pics once they got here,  I usually get to caught
up in the festivities!!  lol


Here is her special spot at the table!
She had her own personal lil bouquet,
and she was planning to have chocolate
covered strawberries at the reception.


and her colors were going to be red, black and
white and possibly some plum.


These pics are not in the order I wanted them to be,
 but was having some difficulty losing them once they were
 uploaded for some reason. 


It was going to be red roses tho,  but at the time I needed them,
  I could not find them, so decided the red carnations would have 
to work, cause I wasn't going to spend a fortune at the florist.


Notice the black and white print on the bottom of the
vases,  those are cupcake papers in a black and white
print my daughter just loves, I purchased them to put
the strawberries in and then decided to try it at the
bottom of the vases.......and liked how it looked.


I found the lil round vases on sale at walmart for $1.49 each
 cause I wanted them to look like lil bouquets like you would carry!
  So they were perfect!  


This is a look down the center of the table.
She was the only one with a placecard!
and this is the napkin fold she had chosen,
it is called the tuxedo fold I think.  I turned
it upside down tho.



Here is a look from the side, and of course, she would
have had candles as well.


This is another look from the side.  You might notice that
some of the pics don't have the carnations in the bowl yet.
That is because I pretty much just did her placesetting, when I 
started taking pics cause I didn't know how long the carnations
 would last out of water.  So I waited till when she got here to put
them in place, so this was taken once she arrived.

Just for you information,  the carnations last well,  out of the
water for about 3-4 hours,  in case, you might like to try
using them sometimes,  then later I just floated them in a
bowl,  since the stems were already cut off. 


Here is a picture without the carnations in the
separate bowls, make a big difference .



With my fav photoshop affect - posterized








Another posterized affect


This is done with a lens flare affect,
Love the soft romantic quality it gives the photo!


This is with a paint daubs simple affect!


This is with a gradient map noise affect.
Love the colors!!



This is with a paint daubs sparkle affect!




This is with a different lens flair affect.


This is with a paint daubs dark rough affect.



Another lens flair affect!
It was perfect for filling in that bare spot!




This is another gradient map affect!





Another gradient map affect, special affects,  I think it is!!



This is a photo filter affect -  warm with Luminoscity
I loved how it looks,  with the light seemingly coming
thru the napkin, how cool is that!!


She took the vases of carnations home afterwards
and put them on her black dining room set.
Haven't seen it but she says it was very pretty,
which I thought it would be..............



 Isn't this just the perfectly heart shaped strawberry??




After dipped in chocolate it was the perfect heart shaped
chocolate covered strawberry for the birthday girl!!  lol




And since I had chocoate leftover,  hmmm,
what else could I used it for...........so decided on these
wonder German made butter cookies I buy,  they are
wonderful,  and I do a number of things with them.
First time to try them with chocolate.........but have
to say they were delcious!! 
In fact, I  have already made more...........
just for me and hubby!!  lol   






Strawberries posterized!  So whimsical!






This was the main dish,  Tilapia,  baked potatoes,  nice tossed
salad and great wholegrain bread.  This Tilapia recipe is very
easy and very delcious...............I always let them pick their
 favorite and this was my daughter's choice.  What you see
on the potatoes that is white,  it is kosher salt.  My son puts
olive oil  on them,  and then rolls them in kosher salt,  after
the taters (lol) have been cleaned well.  He learned that
 working at "Outback" Steakhouse years ago,
 when he was in college.


Maybe I will post the recipe soon on one of  my 
Heart Tips Tuesday's.


I am linking up to Susan
over at between naps on the porch
Click Here
to see more lovely tablescapes.


*********
Decided to link up to Sue too,
over at it's a very cherry world 
for Rednesday
Click Here
to see more neat red things!


Hope you enjoyed your visit,  
love having you come by.


Want to see what I did with the carnations that were
 embellishing the bowls...........come back next
week for Tabletop Tuesday and I will show you!!


Have a Terrific Thursday, and I will
 be posting Thankful Thursday as well, 
 just later on tonight!!


Pretty Table Blessings, 
Nellie

Please.. if you are a follower and haven't been
by in awhile check out the Drawing I am
having on September 1st and let me know
if you want to participate!
Click Here!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

  Happy St. Patrick's Day Sweet Friends Have a Lovely Day, Hugs, Nellie