Porches and Petals

 It's been forever since I last posted, so I decided to start again in what is my favorite season for decorating.  Fall! In this tablescape, I have a plaid tablecloth I recently purchased from Dollar General.  I love the addition of the blue in the fall colors of the plaid.  It is somewhat unexpected.  ' The bright orange, glass pumpkin was a HomeGoods find last month.  The wooden board it is on is from Ross.  All of these items were around only $10 each! The stack of plates were thrifted.  I loved the neutral look of them, and I think they worked well for these setting, even though they have snow flakes on them. And I almost forgot to mention!  The cookie is from Walmart bakery! View this post on Instagram A post shared by Porches and Petals (@porchesandpetals)

This glassware was made by "Colony." "Colony" was one of a series of companies that produced glassware in the early 19th Century until the mid-20th Century. Those interested in the history of these companies can find it on various other websites, including Ohio Glass . NOTE: This vintage glassware is not to be confused with Park Lane "full lead crystal" ware by Mikasa . Libertad and I discovered Park Lane glassware at secondhand stores early in our relationship. I believe that some blue glass pieces of it were among my earliest purchases of glassware in San Antonio, Texas, where Libertad and I were married in 2009.  For our first Valentine's Day together, in 2008, she took me to a store in Shockoe Bottom, in Richmond, Virginia; I think it was La Diff . I decided to buy a set of four, handblown glass tumblers, allegedly made in Mexico. They have what appear to be drops of blood all over them, blown into the glass. I thought they looked appropriate for V...

I recently purchased this beautiful blue floral table lcloth by Pioneer Woman from walmart.com for under $20.  I went with the largest one available to make sure that I had enough for my dining room table. I thought id it was too large, I could use the excess fabric to make matching napkins. I'm very happy with the print of this tablecloth, I particularly wanted the beautiful blue and white to showcase my yellow and green lemon plates that I purchased from the Dollar Tree last year.  I think the colors and patterns are going to work very well to showcase lots of other dishes and tableware as well. The blue and yellow toile napkins that are on the table are ones that I made from extra scraps of fabric that I had lying around the house. They are not a standard shape and size of napkins but for just me and my family, I don't really care and they worked out just fine.  

 Here is a look at our table setting for Thanksgiving Day, 2021. This year, we decided to use the orange vintage glassware we purchased from a Goodwill while living in San Antonio, Texas. These glasses our a favorite because they are such a unique color. The green pumpkin was hanging from vines at the back of our yard this year, and we believe it mixed with Zucchini to make this odd, deep green. The green marble wine bottle holder was another Goodwill fine from several years ago. The pretty pumpkin plates are probably the only items not thrifted, and they were purchased several years ago from Walmart.

I decided  to create the dessert bar that I've been wanting to do for several years.  It may not be as pink and on the scale that I wanted it, but I am very happy with it and I think it turned out very pretty.  A few months ago I had seen an advertisement about the Unicorn cake being sold at Walmart, so I decide to get that from a birthday and it tasted great and looked great and I am very happy with that as well. I totally recommend the unicorn cake for kids and adults alike.

I purchased these vintage style flags at a Habitat For Humanity Restore last year. I love the aged look of the fabric, and I think they work great with the color scheme and a core in my bedroom.

I purchased this shelf sometime last winter For only 99 cents at a goodwill store.  I thought it would be a good place to store toiletries in my bathroom that I was renovating. The metal on the shelf was a dull gold and the wood was a brown, so I decided to repaint the entire thing in gold from Rustoleum spray paint. I'm very happy with how it looks and it fits perfectly into the corner of my little bathroom so I can put some of my prettiest toiletries on display.  

This was my first ever attempt at making apple pie from scratch, and it came out great!   We have planted three apple trees in our backyard this past year, so hopefully we're going to have many apples for many years to come.  I was happy to find a good apple pie recipe! I baked the Apple pie in this ceramic pie Pan and it came out great, as well.  My table cloth is handmade with fabric that I bought from a fabric store when we were still living in California.  The little peach tea pot is something that was a gift with flowers many years ago. The little coffee sign was a Dollar Tree purchase, and the grape vase was a thrift store item.

I made this damask tablecloth for this small bistro table in our kitchen from some clearance remnant fabric that I found at Walmart for around a dollar or so. It ended up being the perfect size to make a small table cloth for this tiny table.    I added a few of these beautiful dishes that we found from a thrift store several years ago. I just love the beautiful design, they are so romantic and shabby chic. The napkins I made from some remnant fabric that I've had for years and it was the perfect amount to make four napkins.  I think the shade of pink is a beautiful dusty, mauve pink and I love it.  The napkin rings are from a set that I also thrifted, as is the teapot and the vases.

I decided that I wanted a screen for the fireplace so I started looking around online and saw that they had a pretty option around a $100. I was considering buying it when I remembered that I had this plastic fan that I bought from the thrift store for just a few dollars.  I had been planning on painting it with a rose gold spray paint and putting on a wall somewhere. It occurred to me that I could work very well as a decorative fireplace screen I am not going to be using my fireplace for a real fire so it doesn't matter that this item is plastic. I think it works very well and helps to cover what I consider an unsightly fireplace, especially when I want to use this area for taking pictures in front of.

This little, red polka dot shoe shaped ring holder as another item that I found at the 99 Cent Only store.  For a while I was collecting all kinds of cute items like this but now I'm trying to cut back on a lot more of the knick-knack items that I have in my house. At the marble table that this is sitting on is a Goodwill purchase. I believe it is only around $10. 

I'm not even sure where this tiny silver flower pot came from, but I presume it's something that I bought from a thrift store many years ago.  What you're looking at is my mantle in my dressing Room. I'm still figuring out just how I want to reject rate it now that it has been painted. The tall vase to the right is another item that was thrift it a few years back. I have a collection of things in the same iridescent and pastel look.

I found this Hello Kitty piggy bank at Walmart several years ago and it was around $10 when I purchased it. I've noticed that Walmart has had cute piggy banks in the past, and I also have one that is a pink perfume bottle that's my favorite. The little pink piggy bank was a 99 Cent Only store purchase back when I was still living in California. 

I have a few new additions to my Christmas décor in my living Room this year. I found this mantel decoration at Goodwill for $6.99, and I found the candles to put in it the same day so they match perfectly. The Santa has to be where the most amazing finds my mother pointed I while we were shopping in Bliss Thrift store. We could not believe when it had a $20 tag attached to it. I had been thinking last year that I would like a Santa that was more life sized but I knew it wasn't practical.  I did not really have any real plans on buying one until I saw this and that it was such a great deal . The Santa does not move or anything like that, and he is lightweight and easy to carry myself,  now I just need to figure out where to store him until next year. The beautiful red and gold tablecloth is another item I picked up for less than one dollar at Bliss Thrift Store.  I think it is perfect for Christmas! The Santa is another Bliss find from earlier this y...