Happy Dinner

I will be linking to Thursday Tablescape over at Susan's Between Naps on the Porch.  Please, click on her icon and be transported to her blog for a treat of tablescapes submitted by talented bloggers.  Thanks, Susan, for hosting us!




"Find me a man interesting enough to have dinner with and I will be happy".  Lauren Bacall.


Well, Mr. B is such a man.  After all these years of marriage, forty-seven, to be exact, we still like to share a quiet dinner and have interesting conversations.  He always makes me laugh.   He is my bestest friend in life! 

Today I decided to prepare a tablescape for such a dinner, planned for Thursday evening.  It will be simple and informal, but I always like to make mealtime an event to please the eye as well as the stomach.  

The table is set with our everyday dinnerware Franciscan Desert Rose, and the matching stainless flatware and glasses. 

In the "olden days" this little flower dish was used for an ashtray.  We use it for butter pats.

The yellow chargers are lacquerware  from Hobby Lobby.

The centerpiece is a collection of objects to help fill the space on our rectangular table.  This is my solution to help balance the table when it is set for only two people.  This suits me just fine as I have never been known to be a "minimalist".  I can always make room for something else......the "queen of clutter".

The Desert Rose compote holds a few butter pat dishes and a crystal paperweight.......covered by a clear glass cloche.

The ceramic asparagus is by Fitz and Floyd, purchased at Tuesday Morning.

The wooden Easter bunnies are very old.  Our daughter, as a little girl, chose them for part of our decorations.  They have been in the family and celebrated every Easter for 37 years.  I just love traditions and so do our grown children.  Now the grandsons enjoy them, too!

The Easter basket is by Jim Shore.  It was a gift to us a couple of years ago.  The votive candle holder is from Dollar Tree, and I think it is so cute.

The dinner music is playing softly in the background, the candles are lit, and dinner will be served, and of course, I will probably forget to serve something that I have prepared.  That is the norm for me........however, I can assure you that the conversation will be interesting and that I love having dinner with Mr. B!

Thank you so much for stopping by to visit me!  I do so enjoy your visits and love to read your comments.  Have a wonderful rest of the week and until next time................

Tea Party Everyday...............why not!

"Hole in One" lamp

I am linking to Susan's Metamorphosis Monday .....thanks Susan for hosting this fun event!!  Please, click on the Metamorphosis button and travel there to view all the creative projects by talented bloggers.




Several years ago Mr. B. thrillingly made a "hole in one" on the Wichita Falls Country Club hole #9.  This made two holes in one that he had made up to that point in time.  Later, he would make two more bringing the total to four!  In fact, in a period of about 12 years, he made a hole in one on every par 3 on the course at Wichita Falls Country Club.  I may sound as if I am bragging, and I am !  It is not everyday that a little dimpled white ball can be struck with a iron stick, leave the tee and travel through the air, land on a green and gently roll for several yards and "kerplop" into the cup, all in one stroke!

To commemorate the second hole in one, I decided to make a golf lamp for his office in our home.  Finding the perfect shape lamp body took a little time.  After many yard sales, I came up with one that looked similar to this one.  This lamp is currently on sale on ebay and could be bought there or you could thrift one.

I have found that when looking for a lamp to decoupage, it is better if the surface is smooth....no molded decorations or handles.  You can gently work around the curves by clipping your pictures ever so slightly all around the cut out edges and smoothing out the wrinkles with your fingers and /or a bone folder when applying to the lamp.

I took every golf magazine that Mr. B. had tucked away for years and delicately cutout each picture using tiny sharp sewing scissors. I tried to choose pictures that had some significance to Mr. B. and his golf game.  This truly personalized it for him.

Here is one of his most treasured photos on the lamp........

This is our son at age two with his golf club, a wood, as he was taught to play golf at an early age........the age of being able to stand up.  The little boy loved golf and played on the University of Oklahoma Golf Team for one year before transferring to Baylor University.  He is a great golfer but decided that he did not want to be a professional golfer so he changed the course of his education.

This is the base of the lamp, and you can see that I chose to cover the metal part of the base and carry the design all the way from the tippy top to the very bottom where the lamp rests on the tabletop.  Do you see the Pinehurst resort?  We had visited there, and loved the historic nature of the courses and the resort.

More views of the body of the lamp.  Notice Kiawah Island.......we visited there many times and I had to include those golfing memories for him.   Mr. B.'s favorite golfers are Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Fred Couples, Payne Stewart and Phil Michelson.

I tried to add a few quotes and famous sayings about golf.  One of my favorites is, "Golf is an easy game, it is just hard to play".

The photo in the golf frame is grandson #3 getting his first golf lesson.  I told you that Mr. starts them out when they can stand up.

In this picture you can almost see the golf ball finial on top of the lamp.  Mr. B. allowed me to use his actual "hole in one" ball for the "frosting on the cake"

I used Mod Podge to decoupage the lamp.  The green silk lampshade was purchased new to complete the project.

This is the "metamorphsis" of an old lamp to a keepsake.  The original lamp cost $2.00 at a garage sale and now it is PRICELESS!

Thank you for stopping by and I invite you to have a cup of tea with me...............

Tea Party Everyday............why not!!

PS......I could not leave without including this group of photos with Mr. B. giving grandson #3 his first golf lesson.