Rental Vintage Decor NC Archives - Page 12 of 12

Southern Vintage Table Vintage China Rental NC

Southern Vintage Table Event – Linens, Lace, & Lingerie Bridal Shower for Melanie

A more beautiful day just wasn’t possible! The cosmic powers delivered a warm, spring green day for Melanie’s shower – the grass, trees and flowers were all freshly watered by the previous day’s rainstorm and the sun was sweetly gleaming on the lovely backyard of Louise’s country home. The stage was perfectly set for Southern Vintage Table and the Yayas to host this happy occasion!

We first set up our sawhorse table with cedar planks as our tabletop. My friends from Fernrock Farm, Carrie and Bill, helped me design this rustic look and I love it! With the pink bordered vintage tablecloth and bunting, it’s the main feature of our rustic Country Farmhouse decor theme. We used lots of vintage wooden items as food stands as well as a vintage radio and scale. With Jami’s stunning tiered floral centerpiece we achieved just the look we wanted – quaint, country, pink and sweet!

The other two main tables were then designed. The accessories’ and dessert tables featured a beautiful mix of vintage china, silver, napkins, serving pieces and decor. I especially love how the yellow flowers trellis up the vintage candelabra.

We covered our dining tables with vintage tablecloths and Jami created individual floral centerpieces for each. Louise’s rustic picnic table was treated with a beautiful double-ring vintage quilt! Perfectly lovely!

Our final two stations were the mimosa bar and gift stand. At the mimosa bar we arranged our juice-filled vintage decanters in an enameled pink tub and a pink vintage Coleman cooler chilled our champagne. A mix of vintage pink, green and clear glasses were selected for guests to make their own special drink. With the striking red rose bouquet and a mix of vintage decor, the final display was beautiful!

With stacked vintage trunk and suitcases along with vintage wooden boxes, the gift stand was created. We tucked in a few special vintage items such as the chicken and egg basket filled with the flowers, the copper sifter and sedum-filled vintage dishes. I especially love the vintage linen tree with the chalkboard sign!

With vintage teacups filled with petite arrangements, the bride and bridal party left with a sweet reminder of our wonderful occasion – a beautiful day with friends and family celebrating Melanie’s and James’ upcoming wedding. How sweet is that!

Invite Southern Vintage Table to help you celebrate someone’s special day! Whether a bridal shower or a birthday party, we can help make your occasion memorable and uniquely vintage!

PS – With just a few exceptions, these spectacular photos were taken by the talented Katherine Miles Jones. Check out her Facebook and website for more fantastic photos and ideas!

PPS – Loved hosting this bridal shower with my Yaya friends – Louise, Jami, Cis, Pat and Mary!

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Southern Vintage Table Vintage China Rental

Vintage Feature – Planning a Bridal Shower with Friends

It was Friday and I started to panic. Usually by now I had decided on my weekly post topic, taken all the photographs, edited and uploaded them and written the first draft. Well, with all the preparations for our Yaya bridal shower, I kept pushing blog stuff to the back burner. I know next week’s post will be about our lovely shower, but what about this Sunday? Then it came to me – I should set the stage for next week’s post by sharing a little about my friends and our shower planning. Won’t be as many photos but next week there should be a plethora of images, thanks to Katherine Jones Miles, who is coming to take photos!

My friendship with this wonderful group of women goes way back to when we were young teachers. Most of us worked at one school together for years and when the new school opened, we all followed our incredible principal, Charley. That was 1994 – 20 years ago – and as our working relationship strengthened, we also became very close friends. Somewhere in there we officially became the Yayas.

We love spending time together – whether we are lounging at Louise’s beach condo, eating dinner at Margaret’s Cantina or Dick & Jane’s Martini & Tapas Bar, savoring our Christmas feast at Mary’s home or planning one of new adventures, we love sharing our lives with each other. Now two of us have retired, two more will retire this year and in the next few years, the younger two will join the rest of us. We all look forward to spending more time together!

When Mary told us her daughter was engaged the rest of us were so excited for her and for us, too, because we knew we would be planning a bridal shower together! Cis got on her computer and our first email was entitled “Initial Delegation of Duties for Melanie’s Shower.” Classic Cis – getting us organized and ready! Knowing Mary, the quintessential Southern lady, we easily came up with the menu – country ham biscuits, pimento cheese and cucumber sandwiches, chicken salad, cheese straws, vegetable tray, fruit salad and deviled eggs. Our drink list included iced tea and a mimosa bar. Desserts featured Jami’s key lime tarts and Pat’s top-secret-recipe chocolate cake. Yummy!

Our duties were divvied out – Pat, Cis, Jami and Louise had the food covered, I would handle the tableware and decor, and Jami would design our flower arrangements. Louise offered hers and Pete’s beautiful country home as our venue and she and I would take care of the invitations. It may not take a village to host a bridal shower but it’s definitely more fun when you have good friends!

With help from Pete, Van, Carrie and Bill, we were ready for Saturday’s “Linens, Lace & Lingerie” bridal shower. Check in next week to see how our Country Farmhouse decor theme works out. As Louise would say, we are sooooooo excited! Right on, Louise!

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Vintage Milk Glass Vase with Dried Flowers

Vintage Feature – The Beauty of Vintage Milk Glass

I remember the first time I heard the term “milk glass.” My dear sister-in-law, Cathy, was packing up her house to move to the Outer Banks. She showed me a vase and explained it was hobnail milk glass. I recall thinking “what a cool name” and I think I even had her spell it since I had never heard “hobnail”, but it wasn’t love at first sight for me. Of course, I said something like, “hmmm, that’s interesting” but I didn’t quite understand why anyone would collect a knobby white vase. Like many twists in life, I never imagined I’d be building a collection of milk glass today for my business, Southern Vintage Table!

Since then I’ve educated myself a bit on this classic vintage glassware. I’ve learned that milk glass has been around since the 1500s but the term “milk glass” wasn’t coined until the twentieth century. Although “milk glass” was popularized by the white milk-like color, the word “milk” doesn’t necessarily mean white; it means the glass isn’t transparent, but translucent. Here’s a little bit of chemistry trivia – they use either tin oxide or bone ash (yep, ashes of real bones) to give the glass that milky white color!

“Opal glass.” as it was called, comes in white, brown and black as well as in hues of green, yellow, pink and blue. It was invented in Venice in the 16th century, spread to France and England and then to America. First considered collectables by the wealthy, many American companies began making less expensive milk glassware for the masses. One highly, collectable and popular variety is Jadeite, which has a beautiful light green color. Our collection is only white but I’m always on the lookout for the other colors.

Probably all of us have seen the many styles of milk glass vases. I’ve collected small bud to large bouquet vases, with wonderful designs and textures. Here are some from our collection!

I love the vintage compotes and serving dishes in the milky white color. Food just looks extra delicious against the pure white of the dish!

Vintage milk glass goblets and small compotes are also lovely and can be used as either vases, planters, or small serving dishes!

The purity of white vintage milk glass is a classic choice for so many special gatherings such as weddings, receptions, showers, anniversaries, and dinner parties. Invite Southern Vintage Table to help you set the table with this charming vintage accessory! More of our collection can be seen on our Pinterest Board.

For more about milk glass, check out these resources!
Milk Glass Kitchen
Wikipedia
About.com Antiques

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Vintage Feature – A Message from the Cosmos

Anything Can Happen…

I was doing a photo shoot featuring our new doilies and decided to use some vintage books as an accent. I chose this one off the shelf, and not looking at the title, I placed it on top of the stack and took a photo. Then I noticed the title – Anything Can Happen by George and Helen Waite Papashvily, copyright 1940. Wow, I instantly hought, a message from the cosmos!

Haven’t read it but, of course, I love the sentiment! Sending you wishes for your “Anything Can Happen” dreams in the new year!

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A Vintage Adventure – Oops, I Did It Again… At My Second Auction

Recently I went on a working day trip to a local auction house to check out a few items I wanted for our vintage decor collection at Southern Vintage Table. My list included a butter churn, blue mason jars, a washboard and a suitcase.

I drive into the parking lot and quickly notice there aren’t many cars. I start thinking, this is a good omen – not too much competition for the items I have come to bid on. Hah – little did I know that those items are on other folks’ lists as well as mine. Phooey…

I sign in, get my number and mosey around the place for the next 10 minutes before the auction begins. So many interesting old things – jewelry, signs, musical instruments, furniture, doo-dads, glassware, wooden boxes, magazines, books and much, much more. Some in pristine condition and others dusty, musty and soiled but definitely vintage.

I sit close to the front and, after settling in my seat, I check out the other folks nearby. A lady down the aisle starts pulling things out of her bag and I notice she’s got snacks, a drink, a book. The guy in front of me has his computer in his lap. Wow, I’m thinking, what a fun way to spend a Monday! I get my pencil and paper ready. This was lesson 1 from my first auction experience – always write down what you buy and how much you spend.

One of the early categories was cowboy stuff – nothing I was interested in so I felt pretty safe to listen and figure out the pace of the bidding. Quickly I realize that folks were holding tight to their money and starting bids were dropping low – some all the way down to $1! Somewhere in there I win a cowboy dinner bell that I didn’t know I had bid on and a signed Gene Autry photograph. After bidding $2 on Gene Autry, the auctioneer says to me, “Ma’am, we are sure glad you came today.” You can translate that anyway you want…

The blue mason jars come up and I sit up straight, thinking and hoping that folks were going to let these go low – well, no such luck. The bid gets high really fast and I have to back out. A bit later the butter churn comes up. Unfortunately, others also want it but I stay in this one and get the highest bid. Ditto with the vintage suitcase – win that, too.

The featured items come up soon after – an array of vintage musical instruments from guitars to trombones. They are lined up down the center aisle for everyone to inspect before they came up for auction. Again, starting bids are low and I just can’t resist bidding $5 for a trumpet … or two … or three…and a guitar or two…and a saxophone…and two empty banjo cases…and…

Somewhere in there, I forget to write down my items and my card is full anyway so I start getting a bit nervous about my total bill. I’m thinking that I should pay up at this point, which may be one of the best decisions I make that day. Lo and behold, it is well over my spending budget!

After loading up my loot, I decide that I better not go back in even through there were three hours left. Heading home I recount the adventure in my head and ponder what lessons I learned this time.

First, remember Lesson 1 – write down everything you win and how much you spend. Lesson 2 – bid on the items you come for and maybe pay more than you think you want to. Lesson 3 – only bid on other items if they are truly exceptional and suit your purpose, not because they are a good deal.

Now I wish I had saved some money for the blue jars and not bought those trumpets but I’m working on a vision for those, too! But, I am glad about getting the banjo cases and the vintage radio – they are perfect additions!

So, oops, I did it again by winning something I didn’t know I was bidding on, but I’m with the auctioneer, I am glad I went that day. Not only did I learn more auction lessons, but I ended up with some wonderful vintage items. These and other cool vintage decor are available at Southern Vintage Table!

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