First of all .. let me say this .. those dishes are out of this world gorgeous ! Where on Earth did you find them ? And I really like the centerpiece too. Okay, for the rest of the table.. I am not an expert at tablescaping by any stretch of the imagination, but I would like to see the dishes and centerpiece stand on their own. I think I would remove all the other items,like the votives,etc. and just have maybe a pair of taper candles at each end of the centerpiece. I like the red s&p shakers and would def leave them on the table. I just think your dishes,centerpiece and glassware have an elegant look to them and all the "extra" stuff takes away from how pretty they are. But.. as I said, I am NOT an expert ..lol ! Either way, your table is so pretty and festive .. nice job !

Susan

Susan,

Thank you so much for your help and I hope you will continue to help me. I redone the center piece and if you think I should put it back like it was I will. It was sitting on my Longaberger cake stand and I had some holly garland around the bottom.

I also separated and changed place mats so let me know if you like either one and if I should redo the center. I didn't have any more white tapers but could get them and add.

The dishes were from DD and the little pinecone candles and center piece were from DM. DD does not like to do pretty dish settings but lives in a beautiful home. My DM did alot of entertaining and had alot of dishes.

Looking forward to hearing from you again. Punk

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I agree Punk...I love those dishes. What are they?
Wait until the 'bird lovers' catch a glimpse of them.

I also feel your first centerpiece and extra 'fru fru' was not needed. Your dishes and glassware should be the stars..The second and third tables look so much better, with a toned down centerpiece, and the nice candlesticks.

Love what you did...

jane

WOW! What a difference that made! With just a few little changes, your table is now absolutely stunning! Your beautiful dishes are shown off to their best advantage. The whole thing looks warm and inviting. The simplified, and cleaned up centerpiece is perfect! Now, that is a beautiful table!

I like it both ways. Christmas colors look so good with wood don't they.

You know how some of y'all are acorn nuts, well I guess I'm a pinecone nut. I don't know, I like so many things but, looking back, I guess I will go out of my way for a pinecone. lol. Anywho~ those pinecone candles "blow me away" (sorry, it's the only expression I can think of). I find them extraordinarily beautiful. Are they old?

Oh, I see those little curlicue things on the candles in the first picture. Are they the same ones you used as napkin rings on your (I think it was) Thanksgiving table. It was a recent post. They are cute. Are they metal?

Jane,
The dishes are made by International Bazaar. I am going to be on the lookout for a nest that I could use as a centerpiece. Do you think that would be neat or take away from it? I was thinking one with soft moss on it, if that makes sense to you. Should I buy some more white candles? I have so many Princess House Candle holders so I could come up with alot more to add.

G2G, Thanks so much! I am going to be posting some pincones if I can find time to get out and paint them. The candles are old and I have two candle holders that look like bark that came with them. I didn't want to burn them up so didn't light them. I only have 4 of them.

Your so observant, those little curlicue things are napkin holders I used for my Thanksgiving table. Yes they are metal. I just went back and put them on and took a few more pictures then turned around and deleted the best one. But just wanted all of you to know what my table looks like now so if I need to do more tweaking I will.

Thanks so much for all your help. Punk

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Punk...that might be a nice look, using the bird's nest w/moss. I'd give it a try and see how that looks. Also, you can add some more candles - trying different heights.
You are really moving along with your tables and doing such a beautiful job...but then again, as I told Karen...you both have such beautiful things..all you have to do is
Play With Them!! LOL

Looking forward to seeing more..

jane

The Bird China is absolutely gorgeous! I love bird things and this takes the cake! I thought the first photo was really beautiful with the huge centerpiece.....then I read the posts and saw the table redone and immediately understood why the plates looked much better with it scaled down. The round red mats definitely are perfect,
even tho I'm the last one who should offer table opinions, LOL.
I've scrolled back and looked at your pictures several times just trying to post. So very beautiful...

hugs, Karen

I loved the first one and was about to say I wouldn't change a thing, but then I saw the second one and really saw a dramatic difference. Isn't it great to have all these talented people to bounce ideas off? Also, good job getting started with the table setting this early....I'm never that organized, lol.

Donna in Fla

Jane, thanks for all the advise and since it's so early I may play another weekend. If so I'll post pictures so all of you can help again. I need to buy more candles.

Karen, thanks, I'm so glad you like the dishes. I will try to build from them in years to come. I'm trying to not buy much this year too. It's so hard to take the time to put it all away. I love getting it out, however.

BTW, no one commented on the words. Should I take them off or leave them??? I wish I could take the little eye hooks off but they are pretty light wood and I figure I'll break them trying.

The way you decorate, you should comment.

Donna, thanks so much for your comments. I love it when all of you talented people will help with ideas. I love pretty but don't always have that insight.LOL

Thanks again, Punk

Oh my, I REALLY love your dishes with the birds too! I'm glad you got such good advice, the 2nd try really does show off the dishes much better. Sometimes it's hard to know how much is enough, isn't it? ;o)

My only thought was that it would be wonderful if you had a pretty ceramic bird, like a cardinal, to go in the center instead of the white figurine--that would tie in with the plates perfectly IMHO. ;o) Oh, and I think the round placemats set off the dishes perfectly too.

Luvs

Punk, I love your little words on the plates! That is what caught my eye--maybe because its something I think I could add to my own table? :)

I'd just leave the screw eyes on them... maybe thread a thin ribbon through it and let it swirl on the plate? Or maybe glue some little sparkly stone on the eye hook? Or just leave them be. I think they're fine just like they are.

Punk...sorry I didn't mention the 'words'. I do love them, but didn't mentiong them because I was focusing on
what to 'change'..!! lol
I wouldn't let the little screw eyes bother me. As melvalena said, a cute bow would work...
Another thought..would be to hot glue each to a little stand and place right behind the dish. .. jmo
Otherwise, they are really lovely.
Looking forward to seeing more.

jane

I think IÂm in the minority, but I absolutely loved the first photo. I thought the centerpiece and candles were simply gorgeous.

I LOVE Luvs' idea to remove the white figure and replace it with a bird. That would really pull the table together.

I LOVE my birds, so you know I fell HARD for these dishes. AWESOME!

After going -back and forth - back and forth- at least 10 times, I believe the smaller centerpiece really does let those dishes be the "Star" as they should. I like the round placemats better also. The words are good, too.

I am curious to see a nice bird nest with a little moss. Sounds elegant.

Great job!

Betty

OH, how the heck did I forget to mention the words too!
I think they are SO pretty. and a neat idea to put them on the plates. And I like Mel's idea of the thin ribbon thru the eyehook and swirled on the plate.

Lot of bird lovers here, along with a bunch of us being rooster lovers, and bunny lovers. Bunnies are for ALL seasons and holidays, LOL. Not just Easter! Karen's Rule #1. LOL.

hugs, Karen

Luvs, After reading your post I ran in to the closet and brought out this white bird cage and stuffed it with greenery to cover up the roses. Placed a bird in it, but the bird was to small and it needs repainted. I'll post a pic. to show you. I could repaint but I might work on something for next year with it.

Sooo, since I didn't have a ceramic bird, I had this larger one from an arrangement from DM service so I removed it and placed it on a wreath to take the place of a nest. See story below. I'm exhausted by now!haha

Mel and Jane for now I used a bling to cover the eye screw and thought the ribbon might be a neat idea for the place cards. Thanks for all your ideas.

Dream, we all love big and bold at times but it's nice to try other things. You probably like the first one the most beacause you don't want to remove your birdhouse and cardinals to send to me.LOL

Betty, I'd love to have a birds nest but don't know when I'll get to town and by then I need to focus on Christmas shopping.haha Let me know if my wreath and bird will work for this time.

I wish you could of seen me trying to get that bird pulled off of the arrangement. MY poor DH came out from showering and said "What on earth are you doing?" I said "STEALING A BIRD for my TABLE like it belonged to the neighbor! My goodness what we go through for a nice table.LOL

I had company all day and they stayed for dinner so I'll try to get some of my tree posted later. Thank you all sooooo verrrry much for all your help on this table. I'm laughing NOW!!

Punk

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I'm in love with the dishes...the rest is icing on the cake!! You are doing a great job, thanks for sharing!
J

J, Thank you so much for your comment, "I'm in love with the dishes...the rest is icing on the cake!!" With comments like yours, I will keep trying. Punk

phonegirl, I am also LOL...am so envious of all your energy! You go, girl! Wow, birds, birdcages, angels...lots to choose from! I think cardinals would be beautiful...here's a pic of a one from my front LR window earlier this yr...can you find a ne of these??? LOL! TFS your talent & pics! Jeanne S.

Jeanne,

Thanks for your comment and beautiful picture. Wouldn't that look nice blown up and framed for winter. I love it. Maybe I will be on the lookout for a cardinal for my centerpiece.

Are you the one who makes all the neat things and sells them??? It seems like I've commented on all your neat projects before. Let me know if it's you or I've mixed you up with someone else, please.

Punk

Those plates are beautiful, if you hear a strange noise in the night, that is only me "borrowing" them. You carried out the nature theme very nicely, I really liked the bird cage as the centerpiece.

Punk, I see you found a bird--too funny about DH asking what in the world you were doing? LOL Keep your eyes out for a red bird, I think the red color would really be perfect, and to me the cardinals always look so regal, but this will do in the meantime. That's a neat birdcage too, but I still like the other centerpiece best, love all the greenery. Still really really love those dishes! Luvs

I love the salt and pepper shakers and I think I like the bird centerpiece best, but it is all pretty. Those dishes are just beautiful. I wish I could use more red, but it just doesn't look good with most of my stuff. Good job!
Syble

I am a new lurker and very much enjoying reading and seeing the pictures.I am getting in the mood to do some more decorating.

I am glad I read all the way through because I immediately thought - the angel needs to be changed for a bird. I think that would work with the original centerpiece but I also like the second one but I think the bird is a little too prominent - I love the idea of a cardinal and maybe a chickadee. I am from NH and now live in CA but I associate Christmas with Chickadees. We used to put our tree outside the picture window after the holidays and decorate it for the birds - we got to enjoy it a little longer that way - and the chickadees were the biggest customers.

Oh, your dishes are so pretty, it makes me wish I had room for more Christmas dishes. Everything looks beautiful. - Gail

Gldnfan, welcome to the forum. We are glad to have you joining in. Where are you in Ca.? I live in So. Ca. in Rancho Cucamonga. Luvs

Judithva,
Thanks, I'm glad you like the plates. I can't seem to find them any where so I will only have a set of four.

If you let me know when your coming, I will leave milk and cookies for you!LOL I will work on the birdcage and see if I can do more with it. I think I have a metal one somewhere in the shop so maybe next year I'll dig it out too.

Luvs, I think a red cardinal would look good with the dishes. I went and looked at Karens last years pictures. Maybe if I'd go help her with her decorations she would give me her cardinal. Do you remember hers? If not go take a look, it's neat.

Syble, thanks, I received the S & P shakers for a gift. They are bicentennial, so quite old but still beautiful. Our home is tan and white so any color works. Your pink is beautiful so enjoy it.

Gldnfan, thanks for your comments. I'll keep watching for your decorations. Enjoyed your story about putting your tree out for the birds. You won't have to lurk no more. Come and join the fun whenever you have time.

Gail, thanks so much and have you been away for awhile? Hope all is well with you.

This is fun to read all the different comments and it goes to show we all have alittle different tastes which is a good thing. Thanks everyone for all the help. I truly enjoy all of you here.

Punk