Epiphany Tablescape

"On entering the house, the three wise men saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage." (Matthew 2:11)

This Tablescape Thursday is in celebration of the Epiphany. The Epiphany is a Christian holiday celebrating the manifestation of God the Son in Jesus Christ. The holiday focuses on the visit of the wise men to Christ and, thus, Christ's reveal to the Gentiles.

I created a simple tablescape using wintery elements. I started with a cream-colored crocheted table runner and added the iron pillar candelabras wrapped in greens. The centerpiece is composed of fresh greens that I purchased from a local nursery. I added the painted white pine cones, silver berries, and three cardinals to the centerpiece. The live greenery smells amazing!

 

These cardinal painted salt and pepper shakers are the perfect addition to the table! The set was a gift from my sweet Mother-in-Law. The artist used vintage mason jar shakers.

Here is a close-up of one of the cardinals proudly perched on the evergreen centerpiece.

I added glitter flakes around the white pillar candles on the iron pillar candelabra to look like freshly fallen snow. I love the iridescent shine! When lit, the candles will glow warmly on a very cold winter's night. The overnight temperature is 9° F.

I then added the traditional names of the three wise men using scrabble pieces. I scattered their names down the table runner along with paper curls.

Melchior is one of the traditional names of the wise men.

Balthasar is one of the traditional names of the wise men.

Gasper (also spelled Casper) is one of the traditional names of the wise men.

The cream-colored tatted napkin rings were picked from a local thrift store. The white damask dinner napkins were picked from an estate sale. Here, the napkin lays on top of the place setting.

I took pages from the responsive readings section in an old hymnal and cut out crowns for each of the six place settings. I aged the paper using a walnut stain distress ink pad. Then, I stamped a swirl flourish at the bottom using gold pigment ink. I placed the paper crown cut-outs between the red chargers and the glass dinner plates. A crystal sorbet glass was placed on top for dessert.

I used frozen cinnamon bun rolls to create this delicious King Cake. I baked one from scratch last year, but didn't have time to do the same this year. I simply sprayed a bundt cake pan with nonstick spray and added the cinnamon rolls around in a circle. I baked the cinnamon roll cake until it was golden brown and not gooey in the middle, about 20 minutes on 375°. Then, I added 2 oz. of cream cheese to the (included) two cups of icing and spread it on top. I placed the iced cake into the oven for a minute to melt the icing down into the cinnamon roll cake. Finally, I added green and pink sprinkles, since the grocery store didn't have yellow and purple.

Super easy and super yummy!

It is delicious! And since the cake is made-up of cinnamon rolls, it is okay to eat it for breakfast the next morning - or whenever you want a delicious pastry.

The American Brilliant cut crystal vase is so fitting! The star shines above the wise men on the buffet centerpiece. I placed our three wise men and baby Jesus on a mirrored surface, added glitter flakes for a snowy affect, and placed this vase with a single rose bouquet off to the side. Lucky me, I picked this vase up at a local thrift store for $1!

Here is a close-up of the gorgeous single rose bouquet with the glitter flakes shining off the mirrored surface in the background. I absolutely LOVE how this photo turned out! The Epiphany rose!

And here is what this celebration is all about! You can see the star reflected in the centerpiece mirror. I made the rustic star using river cane found in the woods on my in-laws' farm in Tennessee. It is hung on the mirror above the buffet.

I hope that you have a wonderful 2015! Stay warm, my friends!

We are linking up at Between Naps on The Porch's Tablescape Thursdays

Anniversary Tea Party

We drove up to the family farm to celebrate our second wedding anniversary. I incorporated cotton elements into our table decor, since cotton is the traditional second wedding anniversary gift. For dinner, we had herb-encrusted sirloin tip arm roast, sweet creamed corn, garlic mashed potatoes, and cheesy Red Lobster style rolls. For dessert, we had strawberry sorbet topped with chocolate-covered strawberries. We also had an unbirthday cake and white chocolate blueberry scones with lemon curd. To drink, we had Bentley's Mad Hatter Tea Party Tea. We went a little over the top, you see ...

I love this old barn with the cow weathervane at the top! We got married outside in the cove on this farm. We have so many wonderful memories here. It is a very beautiful and serene place.

 

It turned out to be picture-perfect. Mr. Sew Southern bought me rows of flowers with roots for our first wedding anniversary. So we dined among them for our second. Flowers with roots keep coming back year after year. Hopefully, we'll be coming back year after year to dine here.

I found this white rabbit at the local thrift for $3! I fell in love at first sight, so she joined us for tea. She is decorated in her finest tea-party attire, holding onto a wooden spool of cotton thread.

This gold resin "S" was used as part of our wedding decor. I also included some playing cards and a looking glass to complete the look. Mr. Sew Southern is very lucky and is always finding 4-leaf clovers, so one was placed on the looking glass. I used dollies and a crocheted table runner in keeping with the "cotton" theme.

We borrowed some silver from my mother-in-law. These are the white chocolate blueberry scones with lemon curd. They were delightful. I loved how the silver shined in the fading evening sunlight!

The Gold-encrusted Noritake Chocolate Pot (c. 1906) served as the centerpiece, holding raw cotton that was harvested last fall. We scattered vintage wooden spools of cotton thread down the center of the table. Everything sat atop a vintage crocheted table runner that I found in a local junk store. 

We used crystal salt and pepper shakers, iced tea glasses, and sorbet glasses that I found at box sales. The glass dinner plates were found at Dollar Tree. We used them to show-off the gold monogrammed chargers that we received as a wedding gift. The vintage silverware was found at a local thrift.

Who doesn't like Scrabble? 

We borrowed these silver candelabras from my mother-in-law. My talented sister-in-law snagged them up at an estate sale as a sweet Christmas gift. They added the perfect touch to our tablescape, with my whimsically mismatched crystal bobeches. 

A 10-second self-timer and a tripod made this photograph possible. Here's to our second wedding anniversary and to many more to come! Thanks for stopping by!

We linked up at Between Naps On The Porch's Tablescape Thursdays

And at Rose Chintz Cottage's "Savour the Summer" Tea Party

And at Antiques and Teacups' Tuesday Cuppa Tea

And at Bernideen's Tea Time Blog's Tea in the Garden