Welcome 2021 ~ A New Year!

Rabbit, Rabbit

Welcome January 2021!

I hope everyone greeted the 1st

with Rabbit, Rabbit for good luck!

A peek back at  

New Year's Eve 2019.

We welcomed 2020 with a toast

and great expectations!

Little did we know what the 

year 2020 would bring!

Our champagne toasts this New Year's Eve 

welcomed 2021 with open arms

as we eagerly said goodbye to 2020.

Like all our celebrations in 2020, 

our table was set for two.

White tulips, Veuve Cliquot, and details of 

black and gold set the stage.

Festive horns were close at hand

to make a little noise!

Beautiful linens from Crown Linen Designs

offered an elegant touch perfect for a celebration.

And perfect for our dish stack and flatware 

that continued the black and gold theme.

Elegant Gold Rimmed Glass Chargers

Robert Stanley Collection Purple Dinner Plates 

Smashing Plates Celebration Salads Hand Painted In Gold

222 Fifth Clock Cocktail Plates

Gold Ball Stems

MacKenzie-Childs Black Tie Flatware

The buffet offered a melange of tasty treats.

Our friendly butler with 

pretty cookies from Hayles Cookies.

Oreo candy canes and a cone of a

new favorite sweet/salty mix.

Seriously! ~ A friend sent us a big bag of this deliciousness!  Thank you, Janice!

It's a sweet and salty mix coated in 

white chocolate and confectionary sugar.

Yes, it is perfect and addictive!!!

Cheers and Happy New Year!

Pop the cork and raise a toast 

to a year of good health for all!

Cheers Y'all!

Leave a comment and tell me about your 

New Year's Eve 2020.

Did you start the year with a kiss?

Love Your Creativity @ Life and Linda  Sundays on Silverado @ House on Silverado  All About Home @ Common Ground  Before and After @ Between Naps on the Porch You're the Star @ Electric Red Barn Happiness is Homemade @ Bluesky at Home  Inspire Me Monday @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia     Celebrate Your Story @ Celebrate and Decorate  Keep in Touch @ Let's Add Sprinkles  

Over the Moon @ Marilyn's Treats Tuesday Turnaround @ Bluesky at Home 

 Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop @ Electric Red Barn
Share Your Style @ French Ethereal  Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Thursday Favorite Things @ Katherine's Corner Charming Homes and Gardens @ Shiplap and Shells  Embracing Home and Family @ The Everyday Farmhouse   Farmhouse Friday @ The Painted Hinge 

Tête-à-Tête ~ Christmas 2020

Christmas Tête - à -Tête 

December 2020

Tête - à -Tête 

~ a conversation between two people

In French, a Tête - à -Tête literally means "head to head."

Pour yourself a cup of tea and a let's have aTête - à -Tête about Christmas 2020 here at HFTS.

No question the holiday season of 2020 was by far

very different from all our past celebrations, 

though that didn't deter me from adding festive 

touches around our home this December.

A tray of Connie Roberts' folk art Santa whistles added

a touch of whimsy and brought smiles.

Twinkle lights and collected Santa figures are 

like old friends come for a yearly visit.

Christmas mice, given to me by an aunt in 1975,

brought sentimental memories of special times.

Early in our marriage, The Chef  hung a petite copper 

heart chocolate mold on our tree, a thoughtful, romantic gift.

Over the years we found more petite copper hearts,

 and a new collection began as I came across other little copper chocolate molds here and there, along with small copper bells. 

Isn't that how most collections begin?

 Now they decorate a small tabletop tree each year.

Another year, the chef gave me a large 

copper heart with an endearing message in German. 

Over time, he found a few more, and they are treasures.

The handsome wooden soldier came to live here in recent years, 

 a purchase from my friend, Rita @ Panoply

She and her sisters have a fun filled space at an antique mall.

Nutcrackers gather on the sun porch table.

Can you spot the new one?  

I couldn't resist the small Highland Nutcracker on a flash 

sale the week of Christmas with Christmas Eve delivery!  

Thank you, MacKenzie-Childs!

The darling watercolor by Monique @ La Table de Nana

is a cherished reminder of friends across the miles any time of year.

The talented Jenna @The Painted Apron surprised

me with this darling farm truck that she painted.

It's the perfect accessory with my 

MacKenzie-Childs Farmer Nutcracker.

Let's talk about holiday table settings!

COVID has changed traditional entertaining.

Tables for eight or ten are now a table for two.

To keep our home festive, I made a point to keep our table

set with the ambiance of the holidays through out December.

I simply changed up the plate stack a little from week to week.

Juliska introduced their Stewart Tartan this fall.

Those little gnomes insisted I add a touch of 

this traditional look to our holiday table. 

My generous, thoughtful friend Victoria @ Crown Linen Designs

sent me the salad plates of the new Arte Italica Natale,

They are a perfect pairing for the tartan!

A snowy vignette on a silver tray served 

as a simple centerpiece for our holiday table.

I added a few bottle brush trees and an

origami reindeer from my ornament box. . . 

Along with this cute MacKenzie-Childs gnome 

and old fashioned faux snow sprinkled across the tray 

to complete the winter wonderland scene.

An Instagram and blogging friend, 

Bernadette @ B home with  Bernadette, 

shared this wonderful stag plate on her IG feed, 

and I rushed to Hobby Lobby with hopes of adding these

to my plate stack for yet another look.  I bought the last one, and searches far and wide to add more turned up empty handed.  

If any of my readers see this pattern for sale, please alert me.  

They are part of the Farmhouse Christmas by Robert Stanley.

I layered the plate stacks atop my favorite 

Crown Linen Design's 

black and white check linens with a touch of 

MacKenzie-Childs tartan napkins kicked to the side.

I traded out the white Vintage Garden charger 

from the Ambiance Collection 

for a green porcelain charger by Zirke.

Part of playing with dishes is trying out different

looks with the same basic stack.

Just change out a charger, salad plate, stack topper, 

flatware, or linens for a complete new look.

Don't forget to add a fun plate 

topper for a holiday touch!

Our Christmas dinner stack included a fun new touch

with Bauble Stockings at each of our place settings.  

Donner for The Chef.

Winter Wonderland for me.

Napkins ~ Victorian Red by Crown Linen Designs

Thank you, Emily @ The French Hutch!

Bauble Stockings are exquisitely hand stitched by women in Haiti who are paid a fair trade wage and provided with tuition for their children's education, books, after school curriculum, breakfast, and lunch.

As a lifetime stitcher, I stand in awe of Kate Stewart, her generous business model, her enthusiasm, her kind heart, 

and these perfect little stockings.

Thanks for the visit.

Leave a comment and let me know

how you celebrated this holiday season.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As we sometimes say in Texas,

"Happy Y'allidays!"

Joining

Love Your Creativity @ Life and Linda  Sundays on Silverado @ House on Silverado  All About Home @ Common Ground  Before and After @ Between Naps on the Porch You're the Star @ Electric Red Barn Happiness is Homemade @ Bluesky at Home  Inspire Me Monday @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia     Celebrate Your Story @ Celebrate and Decorate  Keep in Touch @ Let's Add Sprinkles  

Over the Moon @ Marilyn's Treats Tuesday Turnaround @ Bluesky at Home 

 Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop @ Electric Red Barn
Share Your Style @ French Ethereal  Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Thursday Favorite Things @ Katherine's Corner Charming Homes and Gardens @ Shiplap and Shells  Embracing Home and Family @ The Everyday Farmhouse   Farmhouse Friday @ The Painted Hinge 

Zooming into Cookie Decorating

I recently received an invitation for a 

Zoom Cookie Decorating 

class and thought, "Why Not?"

Everything was perfectly organized!

A box of cookies and a decorating kit were delivered right to my door.

~ Tubs of Icing ~ Sprinkles ~ Pastry Bags with Decorating Tips ~ 

~ Even a Spatula!~

 Christy Mendoza of Make It Sweet

was our expert cookie decorator 

teacher for the evening.

It was a fun filled event with this group 

of Chi O sisters here in Austin.

Thank you, Nicole, for organizing such a fun evening.

Christy was an amazing teacher, as she cheerfully

walked us through step by step of how

to decorate each of these cookies.

Christy made it appear easy, but let's just say,

I have a renewed respect for the art of cookie decorating!

We are not entertaining, 

but in honor of this fun virtual evening, 

I'm hosting a virtual Cookie Party for you.

Pick your favorite cookie and let

me know in the comments.

They are delicious!

I want to take this opportunity to thank all 

who left a comment on my previous post here.

Congratulations to Jane @ Blondie's Journal.

Jane won our Traveling Tote gift for the December

 edition.

Be sure to join us March 1, 2021 for the next edition.

Joining

Love Your Creativity @ Life and Linda  Sundays on Silverado @ House on Silverado  All About Home @ Common Ground  Before and After @ Between Naps on the Porch You're the Star @ Electric Red Barn Happiness is Homemade @ Bluesky at Home  Inspire Me Monday @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia     Celebrate Your Story @ Celebrate and Decorate  Keep in Touch @ Let's Add Sprinkles  Over the Moon @ Marilyn's Treats 

Tuesday Turnaround @ Bluesky Kitchen 

 Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop @ Electric Red Barn
Share Your Style @ French Ethereal  Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Thursday Favorite Things @ Katherine's Corner Charming Homes and Gardens @ Shiplap and Shells  Embracing Home and Family @ The Everyday Farmhouse   Farmhouse Friday @ The Painted Hinge