Tablescapes.......

There just aren't enough surfaces in the world to house all the great ideas for tablescapes. Oh, that's just a fancy word for "stuff on the top of the table that you pull together to make it look pretty"........ So do you use a theme, or use a color, or just how do you pull together a great tablescape? Obviously, you begin with a great statement piece. Then you add filler and fluff to make it just right. Seems like I use that phrase a lot...... Well, today I want to concentrate on a great piece. That's what I love about Southern Living at HOME pieces, by the way, is that the pieces are great pieces and OH SO VERSATILE!!! Take the Jamestown Centerpiece.......it doesn't make a lot of noise, it's been around in the catalog for some time now, and is just a little workhorse. The handle is removable if you like, and it comes with a glass piece in the bottom to give you a surface over the gorgeous wrought iron work that makes the frame. Did I mention that the glass surface also makes it food safe for serving food? You can use it in the bathroom for holding all your toiletries or for towels and soap; you can fill it with flowers for the dining room centerpiece, or you could line it with a napkin to serve rolls/bread. The ideas are endless! If you have one, how do you use YOURS? Currently mine is in the bathroom holding all my bottles, cans, creams, etc. Oh, and it also has precious little votive candle holders to match.....and as we know, just because they are called votive holders does NOT mean that you cannot use it for something else........condiments sit so prettily in them!! You can place butter in them next to that great basket of yummy rolls! As it happens , I DO happen to have a few pics I thought I would share. And again, one of them came from Paula!! She is so creative, I love to save pics of her ideas! Thanks, Paula! She has made a fabulous little spring basket and showcased her little collection of eggs and nests. And take a look at that gorgeous cloth she has laid underneath it. I'm sure this is in her beautiful dining room, which you can see if you go on over to her blog! Mine, shows the way I used it last year for Easter. And then the other picture shows it with bread sticks with the votives. And lest you think that this is only an EGG basket, think again. Imagine it filled with small pumpkins and gourds for fall, Christtmas balls and ornaments, birthday party favors,office supplies on the desk..... So you see, my dear friend, you can use this for decorating seasonally, OR use it for everyday. It's just one of the many choices when deciding how to use this little gem. There are a million and one choices that I didn't list here! You can look on my website, www.southernlivingathome.com/sjathome for additional ideas and recipes!
So what's YOUR idea for this piece? I'd love to see!!!

Check out the Filigree Iron Candle Holder used for the centerpiece on this gorgeous fall table. It is such a versatile SLaHOME piece! I love that it is not too high and doesn't block the view of the people across the table, nor does it interrupt conversation by being obtrusive. It is a brown iron piece that will go with any season, with multiple types of candles and candleholders. I've used five inch column candles, various shapes and sizes of votiveholders, as well as other "outside the box" kind of elements. Recently I just purchased the battery operated votives to try out on this piece. I love that they sort of flicker w/o using any fire!!! It can be decorated elaborately, or very simply, used on the dining table or outside on the patio. Another idea for it is to hang it on the wall, and use the bottom of it to hang a tea towel on. I'll need to photograph that and illustrate what I mean. In the meantime, I'll show you a few other pics of it and show the versatility of this Filigree Iron Candle holder.......it's all FYInspiration. Enjoy!

How CUTE is that?

Well, as you know, I love to "think outside the box".....and today I thought I'd show you some clever ways the oh.so.creative girl designers at Southern Living at HOME created lamps for the Product Showcase at our National Convention which was held in Nashville this past summer. They think of the most clever things! This post will be about some of the ideas they used to re-purpose products as lamps.....another post another day about the clever way they designed a coffee table! Back to lamps....they take vases, candlesticks, flower pots, etc, and run them right over to the local lamp/lighting store where they are fashioned into the most darling little lamps. I will show some pictures of products they used to make lamps. Of course this is FYInspiration, and if you want to, of course you could consider things you currently own, or you could take a swing by a yard sale, or even by Goodwill and look with your creative eyes for products that might possibly be used in the same way. And then there's always your local SLaHOME consultant!! ;)

chocolate anyone????

One of my favorite things......
and a few more recipes to share! This pie recipe comes together in about ten minutes....oh.so.good!
No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie--
1 (15 or 18 oz.) package chocolate chip cookies (such as Nabisco chunky chips ahoy)
1 cup milk
1 (9 oz.) graham cracker pie crust
1 (8 oz.) container of Cool Whip

Dip 8 cookies in milk, and place them in a single layer in the graham cracker crust. Top with one-third of the Cool Whip. Dip 8 more cookies in the milk, place on top and spread with one-third of the Cool Whip. Repeat layers with 8 more cookies dipped in milk, and spread remaining Cool Whip on top. Crumble 2 chocolate chip cookies and sprinkle over pie. Cover and chill for 8 hours before serving. Enjoy!

The cookies absorb the moisture and make a yummy filling in this pie! So easy that even the kids can make it!!!


and I'll be trying these very soon....

Strawberry Fudge Balls

1 (8 oz.) pkg cream cheese, softened
1 cup (6 oz.) semisweet chocolate morsels, melted
3/4 c. vanilla wafer crumbs
1/4 c. strawberry preserves
Coatings: 1 c. almonds, toasted and finely chopped OR powdered sugar OR unsweetened cocoa

Beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add melted chocolate, beating until smooth. Stir in vanilla wafer crumbs and preserves; cover and chill for 1 hour. Shape mixture into 1 inch balls, and roll in almonds, powdered sugar or cocoa. Store in airtight container in refrigerator up to one week, or freeze up to 1 month.

Don't these sound scrumptious?????? Enjoy!!

A random winner!!!! and no more gnarly necklaces!

Well, I had all my little pieces of paper written out and then I thought I'd try this Random Generator I keep reading about in blogland.....so I forgot about the papers and went to Random.org......it worked! SO, the winner of my 100th blogpost blogaversary celebration gift package is going to be lucky number 9.....hey that's Jill at AtHomeintheCountry!!!! Oh, I get to send the package to the lovely new Hickory Hollow mansion!!! How fun...now when she's resting up from doing all that unpacking and decorating, maybe she can enjoy some treats from me!! Yippee...and do go on over and visit her, because in the chaos of trying to get it all done, she accidentally deleted her delightful blog and she is kind of starting from scratch. We all know how painful that would be, so go on over and show her some bloggy love, see the brand spankin' new Hickory Hollow beaut, and give her some comment love! She's a sweetie! And she is SO. Stinking. Talented!!!!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

9 ----HEY this is Jill!!!
22
16
16
9
7
6
20
15
2
2
21
3
5
6
17
6
9
13

And on to other business, remember I promised a little helpful suggestion for having no more gnarly necklaces!! Say that 10 times fast!!! Well, here I want to show you the SLaHOME Estate Towel Stand......a towel stand, you ask....well yes, here it is in its unadorned fashion....

and then with a cute little Valentine's Day towel, as it used for in my kitchen!

NOW to tame the big chunky necklaces that get all gnarly when they are stuffed in the drawer...I give you some organization...which is a BIG bonus at my house!! Repurposed and looking great! It doesn't stay in my kitchen, however! It does live in my bedroom on the dresser, as it should be! ;)