Unusual colours, an odd number of plates—five—snowy scenes and animals wearing spectacles. Ok, not your usual Christmas tableware. But somehow, it all comes together for a joyously zany table.
Please meet Eric (or Eloise). I’m not sure which is which.
As described on The Gilded Thistle website, the Eric and Eloise Framily Dinner Collection was:
Inspired by the folktales of Scandinavia and her own childhood in the forests of Canada, Jessica Hiemstra wrote a little story about an unlikely friendship between a hare and a fox. Eric and Eloise, two unsuspecting friends, relish in the innocence of imagination and the joy of being home again.
So this one must be Eloise (or Eric).
The plates are a hefty size for a salad plate – a good 8″. And weirdly, there are five different animals, not four or six.
At first, I was a little stumped on how to style them. But not one to back down from a design challenge, I settled on highlighting the amethyst and aqua/teal colours. Antique amethyst Venetian glass goblets got us started.
Then a little digging around produced inexpensive baubles to fill the galvanized sleigh and decorate the eucalyptus garland.
After that, it was a simple matter of adding galvanized chargers, snowy white Sophia dinner plates by Ralph Lauren and finding some mercury glass candles for a little more bling.
This professorial deer with his pipe quite won my heart.
The startled…what is that? a sheep? …is priceless.
Finally, we have a walrus. With a Mom tattoo. Of course! He seems to be the only one not requiring optical assistance.
The tablecloth is actually a fabric piece I picked up on Amazon for a song. I’ve discovered that a number of high-quality fabric manufacturers are selling their remnants on Amazon, expanding my tablecloth repertoire. Such fun!
The mercury glass pillar candles are from Save-on-Crafts. They come in a set of three graduated sizes and are very reasonably priced.
The amethyst Venetian glass open salts are part of the same collection as the goblets and came from Elise Abrams’ antiques.
Thank you, Eric + Eloise for helping us kick off the Christmas season.
I waited (somewhat impatiently) until after Remembrance day to begin decorating the house. A spell of unexpectedly warm weather inspired Glenn to get the outside lights up early, though we waited to turn them on until this weekend. The inside faux trees are up and decorated, and yesterday we brought in the real tree, which is gathering itself before we begin to trim it. I’ve found that giving the tree a couple of days to acclimate and rehydrate helps the branches retain their shape before they get weighed down with lights and ornaments.
Santa has made his list and has checked it twice; wrapping began yesterday morning in a glorious confusion of paper and parcels. My daughter-in-law, Annie, and I visit and watch Christmas movies for a day early in the season to get the wrapping done and dusted. A few concentrated hours is a small to pay for peace of mind, knowing that task is off the list. Whew! Now we are free to enjoy the season—baking and taking the grandgirls to the local theatre for live productions of Oliver and A Christmas Carol. Tonight Glenn and I are taking in It’s a Wonderful Life at a local restored movie theatre, which has been part of the community since 1935. After two years of socially-constrained celebration, we are enjoying our freedom immensely.
Dear Helen,
Isn’t it delicious to be halfway normal now? Well, unless you count the price of electricity that has Europe wondering whether there will be Christmas lights. Luckily we will, because we are 98% hydro powered. I think my favourite colour is amethyst, and with teal it’s swoon worthy–love that table! Oh those glasses! The sheepish character looks like a llama but hasn’t the horizontally elongated pupils she needs to spot predators. Artistic license? I put up the tree before leaving the Alps, so decorating when we return won’t take long. After these glorious weeks in warm sunny (and now Ronaldo’s) Cascais, I’ll be ready for snow.
Hi Beatrice,
It sounds like you’re getting the best of both worlds between sunny Portugal for a few weeks and a return to snowy slopes for Christmas. Europe and the UK are in a right mess, aren’t they? Well, they’ve gotten themselves out before and will again, but it’s going to be rough going for a while, methinks.
I coveted those amethyst glasses for a long time before finally succumbing to their charms, and I’ve used them far more than I had anticipated. Who knew?
Enjoy your day!
Sounds like you’re now in the Christmas spirit. These plates are the quirkiest and cutest that I have ever seen on your table. The amethyst colored additions are perfect and I’m sure you had fun putting this table together. Enjoy the season!
We are in full Christmas mode now, Maura. I managed to finish all the wrapping yesterday and can now focus on baking. I have all four local granddaughters this coming weekend (parents of one set away, so might as well have all four). We’ve got lots of projects planned.
Hope you and Bill are well and enjoying the run-up to Christmas. See you soon.
I believe the surprised character, (purple background) is a porcupine.
Thank you for your fanciful tablescapes and wonderful recipes when you share.
Have a wonderful Christmas season.
Elizabeth
Excellent call on that porcupine, Elizabeth! You’re a genius. That is indeed what it looks like!
All the best to you and yours for a lovely Christmas season. Wishing you much joy and peace.
Such pretty colors Helen! The salad plates are adorable and I love how you framed them on the white dinner plates – I’m sure the grands will love them too! Your garland centerpiece is gorgeous with all the greens, teals, and amethyst. A really pretty table in lovely soft colors and a wonderful kick-off to the holiday season.
Thanks, Kim. The Gilded Thistle was a new find—they have all kinds of unusual table decor ideas. I also picked up a gilded sleigh drawn by two reindeer. It’s quite a large piece and will no doubt feature in all manner of future tables.
Wishing you and yours all the best of a lovely holiday season.