Shells and Tiny Pumpkins Create A Fall Centerpiece

1. Step One: Find the really dirty, dusty, tarnished silver plated tray that I have been hauling around for 10 years.  (Where in the world could I have stashed it this time?)  Tom finds it under the bed...

2. Apply elbow grease to black tarnish.  Ewww.... sort of disgusting. Gosh, I hope this works!

3. Go to farm for fanciful pumpkins. (need cute boyfriend to push wheelbarrow!)

4. Dig out fall collection of amber, yellow, brown and sea green sea glass (box in the garage?)

5. Find collection of shells (I keep a pile of neutral bleached out pieces for fall) and interesting pieces of found driftwood. Believe it or not, the acorns were collected on one of our forays to Angel Island this summer - could not resist putting them in my picnic basket before we came home.

6. Add Candles.

Voila'! 

A new centerpiece for our coffee table this Autumn at our new home. 

I love doing this every year, as it gives me a chance to sift through our found sea glass and shell memories as we create more...

Caron's Fall-Thanksgiving Dining Room

Hope you like our creation!

We had so much fun rearranging our dining room furniture and creating new vignettes of beach art on our

walls - hope that we can give you a little inspiration for your coastal fall dinner parties too.  

I created this Fall-Thanksgiving tablescape as an excuse to show off some of our coastal home decor at Caron's Beach House, but it quickly became a labor of love as I found all kinds of treasures in our home that I could mix and match to create an aqua blue, light green and white color palette that compliments our small space. Perfect timing too - we had guests come for the weekend for the Ducks-Stanford game! (we don't discuss the score....)

Poor Tom, he had to put up with eating at the kitchen bar for a few days as I made a total mess (creative minds sometimes are messy)  in the dining room. I really need to think about making up an award for "Best Boyfriend"... he would win every day!

I chose to stick with these three shades found in nature, because of where we live in Northern California, and because we already have these colors in our every day dinnerware. 

  It's easy to find a plethora of green and blue tints in our natural greenery, but not so much "traditional"  fall color.  All of the greenery was found out on a walk in front of our house - you can do the same thing by just looking around your own backyard!  

Mixed in some of my found large blue mussel shells, Tomales Bay oyster shells, green sea urchins, bleached moon snail shells and sand dollars, a few white starfish and golden periwinkles. I also added driftwood pieces to reinforce the "beach" feel and natural color palette.  (goodness knows I have enough pieces collected on our deck!) The yellow-white little pumpkins are courtesy from Trader Joe's;  my go-to for fresh seasonal flowers and greenery.

And of course, my special Half Moon Bay blown glass pumpkin from last year! 

Love my Jonathan Adler Sailor and Mermaid salt and pepper shakers! Great gift from my daughter, Allison.

CBH Products featured:

Brown Shell Burlap Table Runner

Art and Pillows from My Island Art

Solstice Driftwood Mirror

Coastal Fish Flatware

Aqua Coral Linen Napkins

Stemless Sea Shell Etched Wine Tumblers

New Sea Breeze Wine Glasses

Our guests oohed and ahhed and then feasted on one of Tom's fabulous steak creations, fresh green beans with Chantrelle mushrooms that we picked up at the Ferry Building, vanilla sea salt heirloom tomatoes, and roasted baby red potatoes.  Served with Joel and Tracy's gift of  Hawley's Zin from the Dry Creek Valley.  Perfect way to host a fall dinner party!  

Autumn at the Beach #5 - Sonia's Dinner Party

There are times when I really am homesick for my "brick and mortar" store.  I miss our quaint Norwegian fishing village, I miss my fellow merchants... mostly I miss my customers; I miss their stories, and being part of their celebrations and redecorating projects.  During the five years that we were open in Poulsbo, I was so lucky to have met so many wonderful customers, many that actually became my friend.  Sonia is one of those special people.

Last weekend, I had a few minutes to catch up on my personal Facebook page, and Sonia had posted these beautiful pictures of her dining room table for a special Sunday night dinner party.  Of course they caught my eye right away - original and fun fresh design!  They were planning dinner for eight, and she was incredibly gracious to send me the photos and her menu.

Gosh, I hope we get invited sometime!

Sonia's Tablescape Ideas...

"For the tablescape, I collected curly willow branches, maple leaves, moss and cedar branches from the woods near our home. Then added white pumpkins, candles, and colorful fall gourds. To add a little coastal flair, I also added antique glass, aqua fishing floats and starfish!"

For us Pacific Northwesterners (not sure that was a word?), this is a perfect example of using nature's bounty; cedar, moss (goodness knows that we definitely have enough moss!) and curly willow branches from our backyard to create something that is so special!  Love the pretty aqua blue vintage fishing floats, adding that extra special panache.

Sonia's Menu:
Panko crusted Dungeness crab cakes with a light lemon & dill sauce, roasted garlic and rosemary smashed reds. A fall salad which included mixed greens, pears, blue cheese, candied pecans and a real maple vinaigrette. Accompanied by garlic roasted asparagus and homemade Manor Farm Inn Bread* (time consuming, but to die for) I learned how to make it when I worked there in high school!  For dessert I collected winter apples from my yard and made a crispy apple crumble with vanilla ice cream.  

Oh mi goodness.... I might have to beg for an invite!   I am drooling while I am typing... not a pretty sight.

*The Manor Farm Inn, is just outside of Poulsbo, Washington on the Kitsap Peninsula

October Shells and Pumpkins!

I am a big believer in simple, but pretty.  My mom gave me the crystal bowl a few years ago, and it finds its way on our dining room table often filled with beach treasures, sea glass and what ever else I can find to change with the season.  Here's what we came up with this weekend!

*Potpourri from Homegoods

*Pumpkin Spice Candle from World Market
*Real Mini Pumpkins from Trader Joe's
*Collection of White Seashells and Green Sea Urchin Shells gathered on Washington and California beach walks
*Burlap and Shell Tablerunner from Caron's Beach House (could not resist - had to keep on for myself!)

Have a great Monday everyone!