What a wonderful surprise! Amanda from Five Copper Creative graciously shared her photos of our vintage china and glassware from Travis & Chasity’s wedding with us and, of course, we want to share them with you. Elegant, rustic, and romantic – a fabulous combination for a beautiful day! f
Thank you, Five Copper Creative, for these lovely photographs!
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It’s time to showcase the additions to our vintage silver plate collection! In a previous post, “From Elegant to Rustic, Vintage Silver Plate is Chic,” we introduced our silver treasury but since then we have added so much more. Today’s pictorial post features these shiny, timeless, and versatile lovelies – please enjoy!
At present here is our silver collection inventory.
Large & Medium Trays – 20+
Small Trays – 8+
Sugar & Creamers – 20+
Cake Stand – 1
Coffee/Tea Pots – 3 (+one lidless that is a beautiful vase!)
Pitchers – 7
Bowls & Serving Dishes – 8+
Ice Bucket – 1 large with handles (champagne), 1 large tub (4-5 wine bottles), 1 small (1 wine bottle)
Candle Holders – 20+
Bouquet Bowl Candelabra (3 Candle Holders) – 3
Bud Vases – 6+
Goblets – 6
Silver & Glass Coasters – 20+
Flatware Place Settings (Knife, Dinner Fork, Salad/Dessert Fork, Spoon) – 150+
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It works – it really does! Regular household hydrogen peroxide is terrific for cleaning stained china! I’ve used this cleaning trick many times now and it has worked almost every time. All you need is regular hydrogen peroxide, soaking time, and a warm oven. It’s pretty remarkable and very easy.
I had a chance to give it another try with a set of salad plates gifted to me from my dear friend, Cissy. I immediately loved this vintage Homer Laughlin pattern with the edging and gold florals. Although the exact pattern name is unknown, the mark says “Homer Laughlin Colonial.” These stained, slightly crazed pieces needed a little time and effort and I knew just what to do.
With a tray underneath to catch spillage, I poured the H2O2 onto the first plate and filled it almost to the edge. Then I carefully placed the second plate on top, filled it, and continued until all the plates were soaking. After soaking for two days, I poured off the H2O2 and put them in a cold oven. With the temperature set to 200 degrees, the plates baked for about an hour. What happens in the oven is the heat evaporates the H2O2 that has seeped into the china pores, bringing the stains up to the surface.
Here are the incredible results – before soaking, after being in a warm oven, and then cleaned.
So, give it a try with any stained china you might have or find. It’s definitely worth the effort! Check out my previous cleaning post for some more incredible before-and-afters! One thing I have learned since that post is you don’t need to use anything stronger than the standard concentration of H2O2. It just takes a little more time and may take a couple of soakings, but it works just as well and much cheaper, too. Voila!
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It was a beautiful Merry Hill Farm wedding and the late July weather was picture-perfect. After months of planning, new careers, and a relocation to the NC coast, Chasity and Travis were so excited their day had arrived!
This beautiful affair was more than their wedding day – it was time to rejoice with family and friends. From grandmother Jean’s stunning centerpieces and floral arrangements, to the decorating talents of the couple’s mothers and aunts, these two families made certain Chasity and Travis’ celebration was filled with memories to cherish for years to come.
The gorgeous purples of the centerpieces against burlap created a splendid backdrop for our vintage tableware and we loved the napkin/silverware lace burlap pockets with their floral accent! It was all so lovely and befitting of this couple’s love and devotion.
Thank you, Chasity and Travis, for inviting us to help with this beautiful affair! Wishing you love, happiness, and joy on your new life’s adventure together!
Here are the fantastic folks who helped make this a beautiful, joyful day!
Venue – Merry Hill Farm
Photographer – Five Copper Creative
Florist – Mews Designs
Floral Designer – Grandmother Jean
Decorators – Aunts April, Paula, Mary, Ruth
Director – Aunt Bonnie
Table Settings – Southern Vintage Table
Caterer – Clyde Coopers BBQ
Tents, Tables, Chairs – Hayden Tent Rentals
DJ – Big Boy Productions
Bar Tender – Raleigh Bartending School
PS – Chasity, thank you for being such a delight and for helping me with this post. Travis and your mother, I am so appreciative of your help unloading and loading. Lastly, Joni from Merry Hill Farm, you did an extraordinary job packing up from the evening’s festivities!
Also, sincere thanks to Amanda of Five Copper Creative for allowing us to feature several of her photos with ours. Be sure to check out her post for more photos of the family and celebration! Such a pleasure meeting you all!
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They’re in – Kait Miller‘s beautiful photographs of a most happy event – the marriage of Anna and Anthony. In an earlier blog post we shared our images of the tables and decor along with one lone but wonderful photo of this radiant couple. Today’s post captures more of the joyfulness of this day, along with a few more lovely photos of our tables, courtesy of Kait!
There were two touching details you’ll love hearing about as much as we did – the stories about Anna’s dress and the tiered wedding cake. Take note of Anna’s mother’s elegant wedding dress in the below photo. After being refashioned and refitted, this dress was transformed into Anna’s one-of-a-kind heirloom wedding dress. How delightfully fabulous and sweet!
Now, here’s the backstory of their delicious wedding cake as told by Anna’s mother, Sheila.
“I baked the cake with my sister-in-law, Suzi. I had baked my own wedding cake with the help with my mother-in-law 37 years ago. Suzi had baked her own cake for her wedding 34 years ago. My mother-in-law was Susie’s mother but by that time Suzi didn’t need any help from her mother. Over the past 30 years Suzi has baked about 13 wedding cakes. I really couldn’t of done it without her. It was an almond flavored golden cake with lemon curd filling and Cointreau flavored buttercream.”
Magical memories, embellished with enduring family traditions, were created on this loved-filled wedding day. Anna and Anthony, wishing you two a lifetime of joy, happiness, and fun!
We are so pleased to have played a role in this most important family celebration and, as you can see below, Sheila was appreciative to have us there, too. Thank you, Sheila, for these kind words!
The vintage china and your decorating absolutely made the wedding so special. Having the wedding away from the family home created some challenges. We wanted our guests to feel the personal touches that we would have shared with them if we had been at home. You made it possible. I think the wedding was one of the happiest days of my life if not THE happiest. I know it was the happiest day of Anna’s life… Thank you so very much for your aesthetic touches and thoughtfulness.
Here are the fantastic vendors who helped make this a beautiful, happy day!
Venue – Merry Hill Farm
Photographer – Kait Miller Photography
Wedding Coordinator – Events by Memory Lane
Florist – Fernrock Farm
Tableware and Decor – Southern Vintage Table
Caterer – Thrills from the Grill
Hair and Makeup – Adonia by Jen and Samantha Anderson
Band – The Troupers
Transportation – Greenway Transit
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It’s always a sweet pleasure to find something with a rich backstory and, indeed, one unfolded when I found this vintage tiered stand at a local thrift store. The striking red and white scenic pattern caught my eye as I glanced down the filled shelves. My heart skipped a beat as I picked it up. No cracks or chips – what a nice surprise! I looked for the mark underneath and read a name I’ve never heard before – Clarice.
With the slight crazing visible from the bottom and the unique mark, I knew I found something with an interesting tale – and, as it turns out, it’s the history of an incredibly creative English designer, Clarice Cliff, who made her mark in the pottery world during the Art Deco era of the 1920s-1930s. As I admired the beautiful scene on this pattern, I expected to discover more delicate creations of Clarice’s but her more popular pieces are much more interesting!
According to Wikipedia, Clarice was born in 1899 in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, the heart of England’s pottery industry. She started working as a potter at age 13 and by age 25, Clarice was creating a new line of pottery known as Bizarre Ware with bright, striking colors and unique lines.
During the late 1920s and through the thirties, Clarice enjoyed much success and produced many different bright, colorful, and angular patterns, now highly collectible Art Deco pieces, including Honolulu and Melon. Production took a turn with onset of WWII, and English potteries were allowed to produce only white tableware. Following the war, the market returned to the traditional English patterns, which is when Tonquin was manufactured for the overseas market, including the United States.
After the war, although Cliff was occasionally nostalgic for the ‘Bizarre’ years, as witnessed in personal letters to friends, she seemed to be realistic and accepted the commercial taste was for conservative ware. Clarice seemed to enjoy playing a lesser role at the factory, knowing that she could not recapture those crazy days of the thirties.[20] Much of the post-war production went to Australia, New Zealand or North America, where the taste was for formal ware in traditional English designs such as Tonquin[21] rather than the striking patterns and shapes that had established Cliff’s reputation; thus she was never to return to creative work. – Wikipedia
From bizarre to bucolic, Clarice Cliff demonstrated an incredible range of talent during her lifetime, and although she was marginally recognized for her creative genius at the time, today she stands as a major artist of her time. To learn more about her life and work, check out the following sites. And, if you see a “bizarre” piece of pottery on the shelf, look underneath for her name – if it’s there, that would truly be a find!
Learn more about the amazing Clarice Cliff!
Wikipedia – Clarice Cliff
Inside Out – Clarice Cliff
Clarice Cliff
Clarice Cliff Facebook
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Happy 4th of July!
It’s time for Southern Vintage Table to take a blogging vacay! We are celebrating Independence Day with a hiatus from our weekly post to concentrate on a few projects, both business and personal. We will be back Sunday, August 2nd. In the meantime, expect a few more Facebook posts during the weeks featuring some of our new old treasures! Have a terrific July!
(Pssst – Did you notice those patriotic red, white, & blue vintage goblets? Pretty awesome, huh?)
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June has been wonderfully busy for Southern Vintage Table with three weddings, two of which were at one of our favorite venues, Merry Hill Farm, and with our favorite flower farm, Fernrock Farm. Both of these weddings were beautiful, sweet, and fabulously vintage! Today’s post will feature our table and decor photos from Anna & Anthony’s wedding with more forthcoming when the professional shots are available.
When Anna contacted us to help her with her wedding plans, we were delighted! Not only did she want to use our lovely vintage china patterns and stainless flatware, she also wanted to design her table centerpieces using some of our favorite finds – vintage tins, topless teapots, teacups filled with succulents, miniature framed artwork, and milk glass vases. We had so much fun putting together our schema for the tables and were excited to see how our vision would come to life. Except for the pesky high winds that day, we would not be disappointed!
In addition to the tables, Anna saw our vintage pink dresser and knew it had to be part of her design plan. It is adorable and we’ve been waiting for someone to appreciate its charm, but the main feature of the greeting station was Anna’s inspiration – vintage-inspired handkerchiefs for their guests. With her brother’s talents, our trifold divider was transformed! Check out the blackboard sign’s greeting – you’ll love it!
Thank you, Anna & Anthony, for letting us be a part of this wonderful, love-filled day. It was such a pleasure setting your tables and meeting your delightful family and friends. To whomever took this incredible photo – thank you! It captures the absolute joy of this beautiful day!
A followup post will be coming soon with photos from Kaitlin Miller along with the vendor listing – be sure to check back in!
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Remember our previous post about our trip to Tarboro to the historic Saint Anne’s Chapel for Brooke and Tyler’s wedding? Well, here are the photos of their nuptials on this beautiful May day. As you can see, our vintage china and tableware fit in beautifully with their outdoor vintage wedding.
Many, many thanks to photographer Laurie Crutchfield for sharing these and to Brooke and Tyler for inviting Southern Vintage Table! Wishing you endless love, happiness, and joy! Be sure to check out Crutchfield Photography’s Facebook for more from this happy occasion!
Folks who helped with this sweet vintage celebration included:
Tar River Rentals – Tent
The Decorating Divas (Debra Guthrie and Cynthia Flint) – Flowers and Decor
Catering by Family and Friends
West Furniture – Vintage Furniture
Southern Vintage Table – Vintage China, Glassware, Silverware
Crutchfield Photography
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Tucked down a dirt road in western Orange County is the farmland of Merry Hill, a beautiful, pastoral venue. This rural property, passed down many generations of the Nelson family since 1754, hails as the “oldest continuously owned family farm in Orange County.” Merry Hill is also designated as a one of 1600 North Carolina Century Farms, which means it has been “continuously maintained” as farmland by a single family for at least one hundred years. With 52,000 total farms in North Carolina, this is indeed an accomplishment to note!
The current Nelson owner, Lynne, has recently opened up her family property for others to enjoy as a wedding and event venue. Her lovely homeplace, luscious grounds, and open fields are the perfect location for families to gather to celebrate special occasions. Complete with horses, minature mules, farm dogs, and peacocks, Merry Hill is delightful for everyone!
This weekend and next, two brides have invited Southern Vintage Table along with Fernrock Farm to be a part of their festivities and we are both very pleased and excited! More photos of these two weddings will be forthcoming!
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