Haviland...Boxed Lunch

"First things first...We are truly blessed to have the means to set a pretty table and invite our friends to join us for good food and fellowship. I am mindful that many are not so fortunate. My daughter has a passion for the work of the Food Bank. As a singer-songwriter, she has written and recorded a song that is the anthem for the world wide Crop Hunger Walk project. Her song, "Raise Your Voice" is featured in their video. I've included a link in the side margin of my blog. During this beautiful season when we celebrate harvest and Thanksgiving, I hope that it will encourage you to support projects in your community that contribute to the effort to overcome hunger.

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It's been a while since our Haviland group has gathered to share lunch at a table that features the Haviland china, which we all admire and enjoy using.  Our luncheon was today, at my friend Marsha's gorgeous new home.  She has been out of town, so she asked if I would prepare the table while she put together the menu for our meal....i.e., a boxed lunch.  I packed a selection of my china and crystal, etc. in boxes, loaded everything in the back of my SUV, and headed for Marsha's.

Before Marsha left for the weekend, I retrieved her gorgeous old linen and lace tablecloth and took it home with me.  I wanted to have it available when I picked out the items that I would use to design the tablescape for our luncheon.

Anything would look marvelous against the padded golden yellow fabric walls and the elegant Persian carpet in her lovely dining room.  I had so much fun creating our table in this magnificent room.  Do you see the large wooden birdcage sitting on the games table in the living room?  If you look closely, you'll also see an assortment of Haviland china sitting in, on, and around it.  Stay tuned!  The Haviland group is making an encore appearance at this year's Theta Flaming Festival, during the first week of November.  Do you remember that last year we built the White House out of Haviland china as the centerpiece for the festival's tea table?  You may revisit that post HERE.  I'll share our creation for this year's centerpiece in November.

My silver beaded edge charger plate added a nice contrast under the Stouffer, Gold Encrusted Medallion charger plate.  This is but one of a number of our Nana's opulent patterns that we were blessed to receive.  Theodore Haviland manufactured the same design.  I have a small group of them, but not enough to set a table...yet.  I once again decided to use the antique carved ivory handle flatware.  The sterling teaspoon belongs to Marsha.

 The focal point for today's design is the Theodore Haviland, "Rani" luncheon plate.  I'm crazy about 'exotic birds', and of course, I adore the blue rim.

 I liked the idea of repeating the gold element with the Limoges gold encrusted dessert plate, a great get on eBay.  I topped off the quartet of plates with a beautiful crown jewel...

...the champagne/sherbet from Marsha's incredible set of family gold encrusted crystal.  It eventually held our dessert.  She doesn't know the maker.  Do any of your recognize it?  Bill, how about you?  She would love to increase the size of her service.

I picked up a dozen of these vintage linen and lace napkins at an estate sale.  I paid a mere pittance for them.  If I were a really noble person, I would give them to Marsha because they work perfectly with her lovely tablecloth.  Pretty sure that I'm not that noble...at least today.  She knows that she is free to use them any time.

I'm pretty happy with the way that my design is coming together.

I've really enjoyed using a combination of colored crystal goblets lately.  Today I selected the Waterford, "Simply Blue", and the AJKA, "Arabella".  My original set of Arabella came from Tuesday Morning.  The Simply Blue and additional stems of the Arabella were found on eBay.

For our centerpiece, I found the blue and white Hydrangeas at my local Homeland Grocery.

The gold encrusted bowl belonged to Nana, as did the stand.  When I brought in the bowl, Marsha rushed to a cabinet and magically produced...

...A gorgeous pair of gold encrusted hurricanes in the exact same pattern as my bowl!  Talk about kismet.  I placed small Nell Hill's candles in glass sleeves inside the hurricanes.  I wanted candlelight, but I didn't want to mess up the containers with melted wax and sticky black smoke residue.  Ick.

I'm ready to roll...

I anticipate that this will be a table that encourages our group to linger and enjoy precious fellowship after lunch and dessert are long gone.  We always love to have new Haviland enthusiasts join us.  How about you?  Let me know if you're coming our way!

Thank you, yet again, to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting her magical meme, Tablescape Thursday.  I'll be linking my post to "Tablescape Thursday."   Hop on over and check out the myriad of marvelous tablescape designs, after 9:00 pm on Wednesdays.  You'll be glad that you made the trip...it's a wonderful adventure.

When I think of Fall, I think of sunlit mornings and close friends gathered at my table.  How about you?  With thankfulness for her dedication and efforts, I'm joining the multi-talented Tablescaper for her fabulous meme SEASONAL SUNDAY.  Hope to see you there!


I'm joining the Blog Hop, hosted this week by Growing Old with Grace.  Sounds like fun!

You can check out KC's music at www.kcclifford.com, on iTunes, and on YouTube.  I hope that you'll take a few minutes and give her a listen.  You'll also enjoy reading back through her blog on this site.  The girl can really write!  Her latest CD is called "Orchid."  It is available on iTunes or through her website.  I hope that you'll give her music a chance.  I know that I have zero objectivity where she is concerned, but I think that you'll fall in love with her music and her!