Linens and Dishes Make the Meal, a Moment

It already seemed like a party and all I had done was pull pieces from the china cabinet.  My friend was coming for tea and conversation.  We both love traditional tea fare - scones, tea sandwiches, sugar cubes and every once in a while we throw ourselves a little party. 

For me, a big part of entertaining is using beautiful dishes and linens that can make a meal, a moment.  My deep periwinkle linen tablecloth, designed by Moutet, was woven in France and is covered with a variety of leaves and botanical names. The cloth is a botany lesson in itself.  It was a lucky find at T.J. Maxx at least 5 years ago. As a result, I never miss the chance to go down the linen aisle in T.J. Maxx, just in case!

The dishes are a variety of pieces from The Blue Room collection by Spode.  Sometimes I display the dishes as art (see it in my house) but on this day, they were ours to enjoy as intended, filled with beautiful sweets and treats.  

I filled a low open vase with lavender roses from the grocery store and used some of my "Blue Willow" paper napkins (love them!) to make the tablescape complete.  I found "Blue Italian" cloth napkins online that match these dishes - they are going on my wish list!

I wanted to showcase the table "before" the meal, so you could see the foundation for a very special day.  Tomorrow, I'll show you our tea party.