Set The Table: Glass + Gold

Hi loves!  Hope your week is off to a good start!  If you follow me over on Instagram {andy_adler}, you may have seen the picture I snapped over the weekend showing my Thanksgiving tablescape progress.  I ended up making a few changes, and am really pleased with how it turned out!  Yesterday, I took a few higher quality photos and am excited to share them with you today.

I'll link everything that is available for purchase online at the bottom of this post if anyone is interested in purchasing the materials I used for my tablescape.

Let's get started.

The theme that I am going for this year is glass + gold.  I've been really inspired this past year with vintage glass, and have been slowly acquiring some beautiful vintage demijohns & various other glass antique pieces.  I wanted to somehow incorporate glass filled jars & cloches and pair them with luxurious gold accents since most of my flatware & dishes from last year have some form of gold on them.    

I recently purchased this large Hungarian mason jar from Restoration Hardware.  It is one of RH's authentic vintage pieces that they occasionally have, and as soon as I laid eyes on it I knew that I had to use it somehow in my tablescape. 

Last Friday, I popped into my local Pottery Barn to see what type of vase fillers they had, and was instantly drawn to the gold pod flowers which sadly are not sold online.  They ended up working beautifully in my large mason jar, and under my small glass cloche.  I also displayed a few faux white pumpkins under another glass cloche.

I picked up the plaid table runner from Pottery Barn a few weeks ago on serious clearance!  It ended up costing $17 - down from $69.  Love a good sale!  I layered it on top of another cream colored runner with tassels to add a bit more texture & visual appeal to my tablescape.

I love candlelight.  Love, love, love candles so finding the right candles for my tablescape was essential.  Both the gold candlesticks + the gold acorn candle plate are from Crate & Barrel.  They were the perfect match for the gold accents that I was looking for and tied everything together nicely.

The chargers, plates, flatware, and glassware were all purchased last year from West Elm, but I believe they still sell all the pieces in stores and online.  They are fairly inexpensive, and instantly dress up any table.  I've ended up using them all throughout the year whenever we have "special occasion" dinners and am really happy with them.  The linen napkins are new {purchased from Pottery Barn} and are currently on sale.  I used 2 different colors on each plate to add a bit of visual interest, and finished them off with basic gold napkin rings {also on sale for $4 each}  from Sur La Table.  

 For my place card settings I got a bit crafty.  I bought a bag of walnuts and painted them with metallic gold acrylic paint from a crafts store.  I attached the place cards with a bit of hot glue and voila!  Easy, peasey place cards that look so luxe!

I'm super excited to have a buffet in my dining room this year to place my Thanksgiving spread on top of.  I decorated it with a simple table runner, matching gold candlesticks, and an antique Italian ceramic vase circa early 1900's.  Do you guys recognize the pumpkin cast-iron cocotte from this post?  It is so festive, and I'm really happy that I bought it.  It's one of those pieces that will last for so many years, and can be handed down if we happen to have any children that share the same passion for cooking that I have :)

And lastly, the bookshelf technically isn't part of my dining room, but it sits directly off of it and I love to fill it with lit glass votives whenever we have guests over for dinner.   I ordered a fresh garland online from Pottery Barn and placed it on top of my bookshelf.  It smells AMAZING!!  It just adds the perfect festive element to the whole area....I love decorating for the holidays! 


I'm so happy with how everything turned out.  Now bring on Thanksgiving :)

Shop These Items:

Large vintage mason jar / gold candlesticks / gold acorn candle plate / gold rimmed dinner plates / gold rimmed salad plates / gold rimmed glassware / gold flatware / linen napkins / napkin ring / pumpkin cast-iron cocotte / buffet runner / live garland /  

If I missed anything, or if you have any questions/feedback leave a comment below in the comment section.  I always respond to your comments.  Thanks for reading! xx

Set The Table: Rustic + Metallics

Happy Happy Friday everyone!  Hope you all had a great week!  I'm really looking forward to this weekend as our house hunt continues & we have a couple homes lined up to tour.  Fingers crossed that we walk into our dream home :)

If you follow me on Instagram {andy_adler}, than you may have seen the picture that I posted a couple days ago featuring my Thanksgiving table setting.  I snapped a few higher quality photos that I wanted to share with you.

The theme that I am going for this year is a 'rustic luxe' look.  I wanted to incorporate rustic earthy textures & tones with metallic accents to add a bit of a luxurious look.

I wanted lots + lots of candles!  I LOVE candlelight :)  I decided to use my mercury glass pillar stands with these Birch candles from Pottery Barn.  I shared them a while back and am still in love with them :)

I was thinking about buying some burlap from JoAnn's Fabrics and making a table runner this year but decided to just use a runner that I already had.  

I found these adorable salad plates at West Elm {currently on sale here}.  They come in 4 different phrases and are perfect for Thanksgiving.  I had my eye on them for a while and am really glad that I scooped them up on sale!

I picked up the gold chargers at Home Goods a while back.  Metallic chargers are so versatile and can be dressed up or played down.  They're definitely a staple if you entertain often.  You can find extremely affordable gold chargers just about anywhere.  Some good choices are at Target {here}, Bed Bath & Beyond {here}, and also at Macy's {here}.

Instead of napkin rings, I opted to simply tie twine around my napkins for a little rustic touch.

My assistant {featured in the background} is saying hello! 

The gold flatware that I'm using this year is from West Elm {view here} as is my gold rimmed glasses and gold rimmed dinner plates {here & here}.  I kind of went West Elm crazy this past month :)  But seriously, everything they have right now is so cute & affordable!

For my place cards settings, I took some old wine corks that I had been saving for a while and spray painted them gold.  I used a box cutter to make 1/2 inch slice down the middle of the cork and stuck some brown cardstock paper {purchased from Michaels} in the center, but just cutting up a brown paper bag would look cute also!

The one thing that I think my table is lacking is a little greenery.  I'm thinking about hunting down some olive branches or something similar......thoughts??

Anyways, that's all that I have for now!  Tell me what you have planned for Thanksgiving......

I hope you all have a fabulous & beautiful weekend! xx

Oven Roasted Tomato Soup

Is there anything better than tomato soup in the Fall?  For me, the combo of tomato soup + grilled cheese embodies Fall comfort food.

This recipe is adapted from one of my absolute favorite celebrity chefs ever, Ina Garten.  Seriously, she's amazing.  I remember being in my first apartment that I had on my own {so sparsely decorated!} and watching her on the Food Network.  I thought she was so perfect; always in that chambray shirt, in her shabby chic Hampton's home, whipping up amazing food while I dined on ramen noodles every.single.day :)  Her cookbook was the first that I ever bought myself, and in that tiny shoebox of a kitchen, my passion for cooking really started to take off......anyways, I'm drifting off topic.  Back to the soup.

This soup is beyond delicious.  Fresh oven roasted tomatoes, mixed with a heavy dose of onions, garlic, and basil.  I always have tons of leftovers {since its just Adam + myself eating} so I like to freeze the leftovers and save for a rainy day when I'm craving comfort food :)

Enjoy!

Ingredients

3lbs tomatoes {any variety}; quartered
1/4 cup + 3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp salt
1 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 c. chopped yellow onion
6 garlic cloves; minced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 can {28 oz} plum tomatoes w/ their juice
4 cups fresh basil leaves; packed
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 quart chicken or vegetable stock


Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt + pepper. Spread the tomatoes on a baking sheet and roast for 45 about minutes or until they are slightly browned.

In an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, saute the onions and garlic with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown. 

Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, and chicken/vegetable stock. Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid on the baking sheet. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes.   Liquid should reduce by about half.

After liquid has been reduced, scoop out 1-2 cups at a time and pass through a food processor pulsing until all large chunks has been reduced {I like to leave mine still a bit lumpy & not completely pureed but this is entirely up to your preference}.  Taste for seasonings.  Serve immediately and top with a few sliced basil leaves for garnish if desired.

Original recipe here

Aren't these soup bowls perfect for tomato soup?  I picked up these adorable Imiso bowls from West Elm last week.  They were on serious sale {$4.99!} but unfortunately are no longer available online :(  If you have your heart set on this particular bowl, you could maybe try popping into your local store and see if they still have them.  Another option that I'm loving are {these} bowls also found at West Elm for only $3!!  

I also picked up the pretty gold flatware as shown in the above pictures {here also on sale!} which I intend on using for Thanksgiving dinner this year - so elegant!  I finished off my table setting with the Cross Stitch cloth napkins in "iron" {here}.

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