Dressing up the take-out

I am joining the very talented Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.  Be sure to stop over and enjoy all of the wonderful tablescapes. 

Our church held a Chiavetta's Chicken BBQ last Sunday, so I convinced the neighbors to support the effort and invited them to eat at our place.  I decided to set a cheery table (one of these days I will take pictures of the food too.)  I served the hot chicken halves in the pretty green baking dish.

I pulled out some new red placemats, my everyday flatware (Gorham Studio), the plain old white Corelle that I've had for years, green salad plates from a sale at Pottery Barn years ago, new goblets from Christmas Tree Shop, and two different cotton napkins.  (folding tutorial to follow)

I'm keeping this very simple and easy.....just like the dinner itself.

This sweet little radish dish was a gift from my daughter several years ago, and I filled it with Feta Cheese, Crumbly Blue Cheese and toasted almonds to serve with a fresh tossed salad.

The view from my kitchen..

Napkin Folding Tutorial

1.  Start with one large square napkin, place hem side (wrong side) up.

2.  Lay second napkin on top (hem side up) matching the upper side and right side with the first napkin.  They do not have to be the exact same size.

3.  Fold the top napkin to the right hem.

4.  Fold the bottom napkin over so edges meet.

5.  Fold the napkins in half again, bringing bottom hems up to meet top hems.

6.  Fold top napkin edge under.

7.  Fold second napkin corner under.

8.  Fold third napkin quarter toward you and tuck under.

9.  Fold 4th napkin quarter under in the same direction.

10.  Turn entire napkin over.

11.  Bring right edges back to center.

12.  Bring left edge over and tuck under the right edge.

13.  Smooth out and flip over.

Voila!

Two napkins come in handy when you eat BBQ chicken.


The sunset was beautiful over the lake, but we were too busy eating and chatting to take pictures.

Little Cottage on the Lake ~ a trip through time

A huge THANK-YOU to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting  Metamorphosis Monday.                            

A Trip Through Time

Thanks to the daughter of the previous owner, I was able to scan old slides of the cottage from 1960.

Remember the pink siding we discovered when we tore out the bathroom wall?

Jump ahead 44 years to the day we first visited the cottage....

  July 2004

The day we became cottage owners ~

September 10, 2004

This is why we bought the cottage.

November 2004 .....Not quite as pretty as the sunset.

The Work Begins

April 2005

New windows and doors.

A lake side deck.

Off with the old aluminum siding.

Might as well improve the roof line before we shingle.

Gosh, that was NOT in the plan...while I was working, this feature was added...hmmm...what to do now?

Go with it....guess we will have an upstairs some day!

New vinyl shakes...hey we don't want to WORK when we retire!

And that's what happened to our cottage in the first year.

(on the outside, that is)  If you haven't seen what we did on the inside that winter,click HERE and HERE.

Thanks for stopping by.

Come back soon for another episode in Cottage Life.

Now, be sure to visit all the other participants at Between Naps on the Porch. You are in for a treat!

It's All About Beaches

I've traded white sand and sunshine for a relaxing dinner on the cool southern shore of Lake Ontario.

All of those wonderful finds from many shopping trips in Florida have made it back home.

and I'm ready to relax on my very own sunporch with a glorious view of the Lake.  This is where we typically view the sunset, but tonight the clouds have obscured it.

My new plates from Marshalls are partnered with the gorgeous salad plates from Kohl's, salt & pepper shells and glass tea lights, from ROSS, net and flatware from Bealls, napkins from HomeGoods, and placemats from TJMaxx.  Phew!!!! I covered alot of territory.

The napkin rings I made from shower curtain hooks and pvc shelf supports (check out Met Monday), and a closer view of those sweet little salt and pepper shakers next to the star fish glasses I bought at Kohl's when I returned home.

Remember the candles I bought way back in February that didn't match anything else I brought home from that first shopping trip for my very first Tablescape Thursday?  I just knew it would all come together!

My inspiration.

and the sign from Beall's Outlet in Florida (Tablescaping in Paradise)

I think ITLLDO until summer officially arrives at the Lake.

Thanks for stopping by, and please don't forget to hop on over to Susan's place at Between Naps on the Porch for another adventure with Tablescape Thursday.

Napkin rings from shower curtain hooks???

I am joining Susan today for Metamorphosis Monday.  Be sure to stop over at Between Naps on the Porch to view lots more! 

My search for "beachy" napkin rings came up empty, so I decided to make my own.  I found some great shower curtain hooks on clearance at ROSS while on vacation in Florida last month.  I thought perhaps I could bend those hookie things into a ring if I had the right tools.

Well, with vise and needle nosed pliers, I managed to break the first shell right in half....good thing they came in a package of 12!  Another try and, guess what....broke that hookie thing right off, but at least I was left with a little piece of metal and the shell intact.

Hmmmmmmmm...I knew I saved those extra pvc shelf supports for something!  I just cut them on my mitre saw and VOILA!!!! the makings of a napkin ring...    BTW, I have a whole bin of those pvc tubes and could make thousands of napkin rings.  Does anyone have ideas for me to try?  I'm already thinking of hot gluing some silk flowers, and possibly some small shells, but would love to hear your suggestions.

Drilled a little hole.........

and popped that post into the ring.

I wish I could get the color to show correctly on the computer.  It is the prettiest shade of transluscent aqua.

Just a sneak preview of the tablescape I am preparing for Thursday.  Please stop back then to view my post.

My new "beachy" napkin rings!  I think ITLLDO.

wabi sabi

My daughter, Jennifer suggested that this blog ~ ITLLDO:  an obsession with imperfection  ~ was described in a recent article found in Woman's Day magazine.  The term Wabi-Sabi refers to "a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. It is a beauty of things modest and humble. It is a beauty of things unconventional.." 

YES!!! That is exactly what I am trying to emphasize here in my blog.

The article goes on to say, " It is also two separate words, with related but different meanings. "Wabi" is the kind of perfect beauty that is seemingly-paradoxically caused by just the right kind of imperfection, such as an asymmetry in a ceramic bowl which reflects the handmade craftsmanship, as opposed to another bowl which is perfect, but soul-less and machine-made. "Sabi" is the kind of beauty that can come only with age, such as the patina on a very old bronze statue. Wabi and Sabi are independent word stems in normal speech. They are brought together only to make a point about aesthetics."

Thank you Jennifer !