Luvs, I have become obsessed. I have looked at everything in my house in a totally new way. It's no longer good enought that something looks good on a dresser, I want it to look good on the table also. LOL I walk around stores looking for anything that will work in a tablesetting. I've been so desperate for eye-candy that I've been going over all of the old posts looking for anything I may have missed the last several times I looked at them. What have we done to each other???

Hi Sandi, You are so right! I have even checked out some of the items I have in the bedrooms too wondering if any of them could be worked into a tablescape or tablesetting. The good news is that I think some of them can be--maybe not so much for holidays--but for other days. ;o) I'm thinking maybe I should "set" the table with a different arrangement every week or so--probably just the centerpiece and maybe some placemats--DH will think I'm bonkers if I add the plates too and then we don't have a meal in there! Ha ha If I do that, I will take pics, but they won't be anything spectacular--just something to exercise my creativity! LOL I was just plopping something in the middle of the dining room table and it would sit there for months before I decided to move something else there. Now, I am looking at it more like a blank canvas waiting to be decorated! ;o) Luvs

Luvs, I feel the same way. I had decided also to dress the table special every week with different themes and then having a meal with special dinnerware one night a week. Nothing too fancy, but cutesy as I will be using the kitchen table. It will certainly make my food look better. And, I'm hoping DH will appreciate it enough that he might understand WHY I need so much. LOL

You ladies are very inspiring! I change the dining room table a few times a year, but that's it. Kitchen table doesn't get too much, DH is always pushing the centerpiece out of the way! I have been inspired to look for round placemats though, I have always had rect., and with a round table, I think the round will be better. I don't have a Kohl's nearby, but will make the effort as soon as I feel better!

Kathleen, I don't know exactly what you are looking for in round place mats, but I got some a while back at my local "everything is a dollar" store. It wasn't the Dollar Tree -- I think the name is just Dollar Store. They are natural woven straw-like placemats. They also had them in a couple of different colors. I think they look every bit as good as the ones I've seen that are way more expensive.

Kathleen_li, I can't keep much on my kitchen table either because my DH is the same way. He even pushes my pig bowl all the way across the table. LOL Kathleen, I hope you feel better soon.

Hi2all, Maybe Kathleen has better dollar stores than I do. We really don't have nice stuff very often in ours. In MS there a store "Everything is a Dollar" and I always like to shop there. My DH tells me they always get different stuff in so I don't think it is like my dollar stores where the stuff is usually kind of standard.

Ditto for me Girls. Hubby and Dad like to spread out morning paper on kitchen table to read, and anything on table gets pushed over. but I bravely put my stacked plates with St Pats decor there. Wish me luck. One of my cats,Ty, who I dubbed Brat Cat, keeps stealing one ornament off it but otherwise they've been pretty good at leaving it alone.
I've been eyeing my grandmother's diningroom table in the other room tho, with "new eyes". For years I've just had a centerpiece on it and occasionally change it a bit. I am now wondering if I can use it as a play ground, LOL. Just to make small settings and have some fun with it. We don't eat in there and never will probably for several reasons. So I could play dress up to my hearts content and not bother anyone. I dropped some clothes off at Goodwill today and it was their 50% off day, so I wandered thru knickknacks as this store has a lot always. I found two lovely purple goblets. Yayyy. Paid .75 cents each! Got a couple of plates to break for mosaics, and some other stuff. I'm so tickled with those purple goblets tho!

Karen

Karen, Congrats on the purple goblets especially at such a good price.

And where, may I ask, are the pics of your St Paddy's Day stacking plates? Have I missed them? That is just too funny about your kitty stealing an ornament.

I say "go for it" on decorating your grandmother's table. You will have fun and it will be pretty for everyone. And we want pics of that also. ;~)

I don't have ANY dollar stores near, and the one I have 45 min away has a lot of cleaning goods and alum pans! But I have to take my "new eyes" in and look. I can't believe some of the goodies you girls have found. Pier 1 had round, thick mats, in black, brown or natural for 8.00. too high for me.
Hi2all 99 cents sounds great! Like you said, at that price I can afford to get a few colors.
Karen, I laughed when you said you dropped things off at Good will, but left with a purchase. I have done the same thing. I always get the warning before I go to donate to the thrift shop, NOT to bring anything back!
Sandi, I guess we have to train our DH to appreciate our "decorations" and stop moving them!

Kathleen_li, I think my DH is beyond moving. He put his paper on top of my still wet painted leprechaun shoes a little while ago. Men! LOL

Karen--it's the dining room table for me--DH always "sorts" the mail and leaves most of it spread all over my kitchen table! Even bought a desk to put in there for that purpose, but can't get him to change his habits. I can usually have "something" in the middle--but it just doesn't look as good with all that paper scattered around it! LOL I can "play" with the dining room table to my hearts content--we only actually eat at it a couple times a year.

I went to meet some friends for lunch out of my local area--was a little early and saw a Big Lots, so I stopped in to see if they had things mine didn't have. Found some gold beaded roound placemats for $5.00 each, BUT they didn't all match in color and there were "spokes' of black thread showing very clearly on them--so I passed on them. There was a box with a three tiered white stacking plate that got me excited--it was chipped! Rats! They had the same plastic bunnies that my local store had--nothing different. None of those pretty candle lamps either--I kept checking the top shelves--just in case. LOL

Luvs

Luvs, Even if you didn't have any luck in BL, I'm sure you had a nice lunch with your friends. ;~)

And, in my earlier post here, I didn't mean DH was beyond moving although he is. I should have said beyond training! LOL

Hi ladies, I went to Big Lots today and searched all over for the candle lamps but no luck. They did have some smaller crystal bowls in various shapes that were pretty...I'm still debating on those. I went to Dollar Tree and looked at the chargers again. The size was good but after looking through the pile I only found three that were without imperfections so I didn't buy any but will keep checking in case they get more in. A few days ago I was in a "Dollar Daze" and was impressed with their merchandise. Some of it was craft show quality. They had dishes that was nice but not what I was looking for. I'm just not having a lot of luck lately! In BL they had some cute candle (votive) holders that looked like atulip in soft pastel colors. Would be really cute at Easter at each setting so I'm keeping them in mind. I'm looking at things differently after reading on this forum.

At Walmart, I got the last Lotus candle holder so I now have two. That made my day, they are so pretty.

sandi, I looked for the green checked napkins but didn't see any. I was going to offer to send them to you if I could have found them

I know what you all mean by inspiration, I am always looking at everything just to see what can be done. I love going into the stores, just to "play" with stuff, unfortunately I end up buying alot of it too. I often get mistaken for being one of the sales "people" why I am setting up my "in-store vignette" (blush) I just can't help my self.

I change alot of my stuff out from room to room too, otherwise I become "blind" to the object, becasue I get used to seeing it in that particular place, so when I move it around in a diffferent setting, I get to enjoy it all over again.

I really miss being able to move my furniture around, my home is so small that the large pieces pretty much have to stay where they are sigh.....

Less house to clean, though Judith! And what you lack in space you make up for with beautiful things!
Do you ever bring your camera to the store and take pics? I was telling Sandi about these BEAUTIFUL charger plates I saw in Villeroy and Boch. They were porcelain with a 3 in wide swirled gold around the edge and a white center. There wasn't a price, so I asked...49.95! Saleslady said she would take my name and let me know when they went on sale. HA! But I am going to see if I can snap a pic to post, they were just so pretty!

kathleen, thank you. My little house is not too bad, I miss having room for a china cabinet though, Id love to be able to have more decorating surfaces....

Sometimes I'll bring my camera to certain places, some stores do not like it (for what ever reason????) There are so many times that I see stuff/ideas for you all, that I know would work for others and it is so much better to put up a pic rather then a description. Plus my digi camera is sort of large, so maybe it just stands out too much, compaired to someone using their cameraphone, or one of the very tiny digi cameras.

I have to stay out of Villory and Boch, last time I was in there, I ended up spending part of my DD inheritance....I won't be doing that for a long long time again....

Mary, That was so sweet of you to think about offering to pick up the green check napkins for me. I went to Walmart tonight and they had a very low selection of napkins and no green check ones at all.

I looked at the candle holders there also and didn't see any of the lotus ones. Maybe next time.

I went to a DT tonight that I haven't been in since Monday and they had a LOT of the white chargers (oversize plates?). I really liked them, but didn't get any.

Luvs, how bad were those stacked plates chipped? You could have gotten them discounted too! Remember I said mine arrived damaged, thanks to UPS. Have a chip out of the bottom one and the top one. But decorated you can't even tell, and then Target told me to keep them free. Can't beat that deal.

I bought my very first charger at the 99 cent store the other day. They only had clear ones, but what the heck, for that price I decided to get one just to play with. My DD's mother-in-law uses chargers and trays to do wonderful Xmas vignettes on too. She gave me almost as many ideas as Judith, LOL.
The "list" just grows and grows.

Karen