Happy Graduation Emily!

In late May, my younger daughter Emily graduated from Salem College.We are so proud of her! At the end of the graduation ceremony, everyone throws confetti.

The night before, after the Baccalaureate service at historic Home Moravian Church, there was a reception in the backyard of the President's house in Old Salem. Here are some pictures of the fabulous floral arrangements.

Salem's official flower is the daisy, so as gifts for her friends, Emily and I quilled daisies for a wreath.

Here is the graduate in front of Main Hall with her hand-painted mortarboard and daisy dress!

The next weekend, we had a party at our home to celebrate. The epergne in our foyer contained daisies (of course) and hydrangea and yellow yarrow.

On the mantle in our billiards room, I had my gold ornament tree with graduation ornaments and surrounded by a daisy garland.

Here is a picture of my dining room table, which was covered with a yellow cloth with paper daisies and graduation confetti all over it. The centerpiece arrived a day ahead as a very thoughtful gift from one of our neighbors!
I used yellow and blue plastic ware for the party.

The porch is always a popular gathering spot at parties.....

...especially when the gardenias are in bloom!

One more thing! Here is an edited copy of our Graduation Party invitations. The bottom has my address and phone number so I cropped it out, but it was beautifully hand lettered by a very talented friend with a stationery business! Please visit her site at http://www.saintfolly.com/

And if any of this looks familiar, you may be remembering this POST, from when my older daughter graduated from Salem College three years ago!

I will be joining Let's Dish at Cuisine Kathleen and Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch.

White House China for Presidents' Day

My tablescape for this week will be in honor of Presidents' Day and I will be sharing this at Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch. I am also linking to Tabletop Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life.

This is the Lincoln China and this ornament is the inspiration for this table and a new collection of mine! My older daughter had to travel on business to Kentucky this fall and while she was there, she visited the Mary Todd Lincoln birthplace. In the gift shop, they sold these ornaments, so she bought one for me and one for herself. I loved it and it made us wonder if you could find other ornaments of White House china and we discovered Woodmere China Company's White House Collection! My Lincoln ornament is shaped like a little plate, but the ornaments from Woodmere are flat, but they go together very well! A little about the Lincoln China: it features a band of purple-red called "solferino," which was all the rage in the 1860's. This china was from President Lincoln's first term. There was a different service ordered for his second, but the Lincolns hardly used it because he was assassinated two months after it was delivered.

This is the Washington China. Although George and Martha never lived in the White House or Executive Mansion, I still consider this White House China. It has MW monogrammed in the center for Martha Washington and a snake with its tail in its mouth to represent perpetuity.

Next is the James K. Polk China. President Polk was born in my home state of North Carolina and graduated from my Alma Mater, the University of North Carolina. Sarah Polk graduated from Salem College, Alma Mater of my older daughter and current school of my younger daughter. I think this is the prettiest pattern. The ornament is too small to duplicate it, but the larger plates had a red, white and blue shield with "E pluribus unum" at the top.

This is the Benjamin Harrison China. Caroline Harrison had once taught china painting and designed this china herself. Before Mrs. Harrison's time, the White House had yard sales and sold off odd pieces of china from previous administrations. Mrs. Harrison made restoring and cataloging the remaining White House china her project.

This china is from the administration of Andrew Jackson. He wanted to have his china "made in the USA," but alas, the level of craftsmanship was not up to White House standards. Like most of the porcelain in America at that time, this came from France.

I had a hard time capturing the lovely green border of the Millard Filmore China. The Filmore family brought a lot of their own items with them into the White House and this china is thought to have been from their family collection.

The last ornament of my collection if the Ulysses S. Grant china. American artist William E. Seaton worked with the French firm Haviland to create this pretty pattern. Different flowers adorned different items and different sized plates.

On the back it tells which president used the china.

Here are all the ornament displayed on the ornament tree. There are 16 ornaments available and I only have 7, I can't wait to add to my collection!

I used my Old Glory placemats and Spode Pink Tower china for my table.

Here is the whole Presidents' Day table - Have a very Happy Presidents' Day!

Graduation Celebration!

A few weeks ago my older daughter Carmen graduated Salem College. We have had a wonderful time celebrating!



I am linking this post to Tablescape Thursday sponsored by Susan at BETWEEN NAPS ON THE PORCH!



Thanks Susan for hosting Tablescape Thursday every week!

The celebrations started Friday night at the Baccalaureate Service followed by the President's Reception.

The next morning we had the Graduation Ceremony outside in the May Dell. It was a little rainy, but that didn't put a damper on our happiness!



After a luncheon at the college, we moved here out of her dorm and into her first apartment! She starts her first "real" job July 1st and we are all excited for her.

Then it was back to our hometown for a dinner at our house. Our theme was Daisies, since that is the college official flower.



Here is the foyer table with the epergne filled with daisies and hydrangeas.

Here is the dining room table loaded down with the food.



Here are some close ups of the centerpiece.









Dining Room Mantle




Happy Graduation Cake!



The Sun Room with Paper Daisies all around




Daisies in the Parlor


A good time was had by all - especially the graduate and her proud parents!