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Hi everyone,

Well it’s that time of year again, time to celebrate another anniversary for DishingwithDiane.com

Hard to believe that DishingwithDiane is

Four Years Old !

 Four years have flown by so quickly. I absolutely love sharing my recipes, tablescapes, family events and stories.

The more members we have just makes the DishingwithDiane family bigger and better. I deeply appreciate every member.

I wish I could thank each and every one of you in person for signing up to become a member and showing so much love and support for this blog. 

I hope that over the course of four years I have helped you in some way. Perhaps a new recipe that has become a family favorite or new ideas for your tablescapes for parties and holidays. Whatever it is, it has been a labor of love for me.

Please continue to ask your family and friends to like, share, comment and join DishingwithDiane, as we head into year number Five.

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So let the celebration begin and lets start an anniversary tablescape for our

Fourth Anniversary. 

I knew from the day I bought these dishes that I wanted to use them for my 4th anniversary tablescape. They are pretty versatile. They can be used for any winter celebration and even for a Christmas luncheon.

I think what attracted me to these dishes was the black & white harlequin pattern, absolutely one of my favorite patterns. And they are designed by one of my favorite artists, Susan Winget.

I have been obsessed with black and white in fashion and home decor for many years. I think I fell in love with the bold look of black & white once I saw My Fair Lady and they had the Black and White Ball.

Does anyone remember seeing the movie and how stunning Audrey Hepburn looked in this ensemble?

Photo courtesy of Arktimes.com

 She has always been a favorite actress of mine.

Back to the dishes…

The dinner plate is very festive and it has the black and white harlequin pattern as the border with an accent of amber and burgundy at the edge of the plate. The center of the dinner plate is white framed in an array of fruits in tones of burgundy, amber and green finished with a red bow. Almost looks like a wreath of fruit.

The salad plate also has the harlequin border with an amber and burgundy edge and each plate features one of the fruits displayed on the dinner plate in the center.

Unfortunately for me this set does not come with soup bowls, only small ice cream bowls which I chose not to buy. I did purchase the mugs along with a small harlequin rectangular tray (12 X 6) with handles and the creamer and sugar bowl. 

I am starting my tablescape with a solid black tablecloth with a woven square pattern. Very basic but I needed the pattern to add something to the table. I think a plain solid tablecloth would be too dull.

Along with the black tablecloth, I had to add my black and white harlequin table runner.  I originally bought this table runner to decorate a table at Halloween for bowls of candy for trick or treaters. 

Now for the placemats and chargers. This tablescape needed an accent color from the plates, so I am using a red woven placemat. This will add a pop of color and match the bow on the dinner plate.

I didn’t want to add any additional color to the tablescape so I am using clear glass chargers. They dress up the table without taking away from the table linens.

When I purchased the table runner I also purchased the matching napkins and I am so glad that I did. They work perfectly on the table and I decided to use a pearl napkin ring. I love the combination and I am using pearls in my centerpiece.

My flatware is absolutely fantastic! I was gifted this set of black and white harlequin cutlery and I love it. My son’s girlfriend gave me this set because she knows how much I love black and white and the harlequin pattern. There couldn’t be better flatware for this tablescape.

Now the glassware. Since there is always a dessert and prosecco celebration for the anniversary, I am using my Waterford crystal flute glasses.

My centerpiece is the crystal vase that matches the stemware and I filled the vase with black and white silk flowers and a few pearl sprays to accent the flowers and coordinate with the napkin rings.

For the first time I am using water jewels as a vase filler. These are water absorbing polymer that grows larger the more you hydrate them. When the water evaporates the beads shrink and can be saved in an airtight container for another project.

Normally, I would use these beads for fresh flowers, but I wanted to try them on silk to help the flower stems stay exactly where I wanted them.

Here is the picture of the water jewels I purchased…

(Found at Michael’s Art’s & Crafts).

My table accents are candles of course and I am using mercury glass votive holders to complete the table along with black, gray and white glass gem table scatter.

My cake stand is clear glass at the base with a crackled pattern for the cake stand top. It actually reminded me of the water jewels in the vase.

Now, what is a celebration without a cake? This year I asked for a harlequin print on the cake and I had to go to two bakeries before anyone would accept the challenge. It seems that black frosting is a color that isn’t asked for very much. 

I finally found a bakery willing to try and I think they did a great job. I even kept the filling simple to make it easier for them- just yellow cake and chocolate pudding (can’t go wrong with basic).

And now the finished cake served by candlelight…

I wanted to add a second accent to the table and decided on some fresh fruit that was featured on the salad plate. I used a white ceramic fruit bowl with pears, apples and grapes. 

(Bob said this looks like a painting).

Table Setting

And now, Bob and I will have our traditional toast to another great year along with a toast to all the members of DishingwithDiane that make my dream of having this blog come true.

Thank you

Until my next post, make every day a celebration!

Stay well,

Diane

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