Monday, March 24, 2014

Jane Austen Inspired...

at our RS birthday dinner I signed up to decorate a table.
It came out so pretty, I thought it deserved it's own blog post.

I asked my friend Sara, if she would like to help me.  We had a general "idea" taken
from the Regency Era of Jane Austen with a little Downton Abbey thrown in.

Any "tea party" should have tea cups.  We knew the prettiest would be if they
didn't match.  This was probably the hardest thing.  I went to 3 Goodwill stores
and got 8 mis-matched sets.  Easy to find Asian style, but not the flowery ones we
wanted.  At one of the stores I saw the silver water pitcher and silver teapot.
They were black with tarnish, and I didn't buy them.
I went back 2 days later and there they were 1/2 price!  Took awhile to find a store that 
sold silver polish, but they added the right touch.
I went to the wholesale flower mart and got mixed flowers.  These are hard to find
also, no tropicals in Jane's time.

the favor wasn't the teacup, but a teapot shaped cookie.  
Same place I got the Downton quote cookies

Sara and I both had some of the children's board books…
Pride & Prejudice, Jane Eyre and Sense & Sensibility 


Sara made little place cards for each setting that were 
quotes that Jane's men said in her books.  

Sara also made small bouquets for each place setting.  Each one was different
and she wrote out the significance of each flower



I used hubby's grandmother's two linen tablecloths.  It was hard to find spray starch, but
they were so special.  I loved that they don't match.
This was such a fun thing to do.  I used some of the things that I had left over
from the Downton party a few weeks earlier.  
It was fun to share my love of Jane Austen with Sara.
We enjoyed sharing this with our RS sisters and a little step back in time.

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