I received a beautiful book in the mail last week, called Modern Mix written by none other than Eddie Ross. I could hardly wait to delve into the colorful pages of this beautifully penned book!
If you aren’t familiar with Eddie Ross, he is a talented individual with a love of design, entertaining’ and curating stylish and unique arrangements, using vintage and antique treasures. a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, His list of achievements include working for such names as Martha Stuart Living, and House Beautiful. He is currently the east coast editor for Better Homes and Gardens.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading about how he honed his skills for treasure hunting, and creating the perfect settings for entertaining. I was inspired to see what I could do with the creative juices that were flowing after looking through the beautiful images in his book! My mind immediately was drawn to a few pieces I owned, I challenged myself to see what I could do with what I had on hand, and adding a few pieces. Here was my inspiration
The first thing I did after reading this book, was head out to see what treasures I could find! I headed to the only place I know to find possible vintage or antique items, our local Deseret Industries Thrift store. Right off the bat I scored this gorgeous Oneida punch bowl for $15!
sorry guys, this is a crappy cell phone pic, at least it’ll make it look that much better when I show you the after photo after I gave it some love 😉
I thought to myself, I loved it so much, I didn’t care if it was worth any more than what I paid. When I got out to the car, I immediately googled Onieda punch bowl and up pops the same exact bowl I purchased (except it was the complete set) for $550 at www.replacements.com Say whaaaaaat???!!!! Ok, so I don’t have the set, I know its not worth that much but now this is fun right?! I’m addicted! I messaged a pic and description to my friend Beth over at www.gryphonestatesilver.com she told me it is safe to say it is vintage. I am pretty happy with my purchase and I have all sorts of plans for it, I can’t wait to show you how it looks now!
When I was at the thrift store I also saw some china, I’ve never owned china, I haven’t necessarily felt the desire to either. I have always loved to collect serving pieces, we don’t entertain a lot, when we do, its for our large extended family. I come from a family of six kids, and my husband from 8. Just between me and my siblings we have 23 kids, there are at least that many on my husbands side as well. We don’t usually have sit down dinners, they are always buffet style. If you find yourself in a similar situation, and you would like to create a beautiful table setting without spending a lot of money, then you will definitely want to keep reading!
Once I felt confident in my punch bowl purchase, I started searching china. I looked in the local classifieds, most of what I found was around $200 to $300. No thank you, I don’t think I would ever be happy with a pattern long enough to spend that much! I’d rather stick with my boring white Gibson dishes that match everything. Besides, I was trying to channel my inner Eddie, I’m supposed to be looking for pieces of interest. The next day I went back to look at the china I saw at the thrift store, it was only $50. You guys! I would spend that much buying 48 pieces at the dollar store! Once back at the store, I looked at the bottom of the china and found the pattern. www.robbinsnest.com/japan-fine-china/signature/oriental-garden.html Once I saw the plates were selling for $15 a piece on this site, I knew I didn’t need to feel any guilt for buying. Eventually I’d like to add pieces that I can mix and match to add interest, but at least I actually own china now!
I stayed up late Saturday night washing my china and polishing my silver, thinking it should feel a lot more glamorous I was so impressed with how my punch bowl turned out! On sunday I pulled out the other vintage serving pieces I own and got to work setting my table. I should mention, I did inherit a ton of crystal from my grandmother when she passed away so I did have something to start with. But for the most part, I used thrifted items and spent very little.
Here is a view of the china and the punch bowl, I bought an inexpensive bunch of fall flowers from the grocery store to and created this arrangement.
This decanter was a thrift find a while back, I love cobalt blue. The mugs are Ikea, I bought them because the reminded me of blue and white china. I always thought if I did buy china that’s what it would be.
The salad bowl and crystal tongs belonged to my grandmother. I used a pitcher and some ranunculus to add more color. The pumpkin on a pier one stand adds a bit more fall.
I found this crystal vegetable dish for $2, it matches the salad bowl that was my grandmothers. The silver plated tray was .50cents hardly worth losing sleep over if it didn’t clean up well. It’s holding crystal salt and pepper shakers that also belonged to my grandmother.
I may have to keep this punch bowl out all year!
I still need to be on the look out for a few items, I don’t have a table cloth that fits this table yet. I had a fabric remnant so I just folded the unfinished edges and ironed it. I have silver flatware that also belonged to my grandmother, passed from her mother, I just didn’t get it polished. I think this is a good start with only a few purchases over two days. I Can’t wait to get out and hunt for items to create more interest.
Thank you Eddie Ross for setting me on a journey to curate my own unique style, using what I learned about mixing new and old, shapes, textures and colors. I feel confident now that over time, I can surround our home with beautiful things I love without taking away from my kids college funds
As you can see, my kids will appreciate that too!
Jen
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