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Light up the table. “Candles are great,” said O'Shields. “If you’re going to go with pillars, I like to do more than just one set. It’s nice if you can kind of repeat them all the way down the table and do them in a little cluster. If you don’t have candleholders, you can hollow out the inside of a small pumpkin and use that as your holder. That would look great going all the way down the center of a table.”

Sharon Kleinman of Transition by Sharon Kleinman advises bringing the outside indoors. “I like to take to autumn leaves and scatter them down the table,” she said. “A friend and I baked a cornucopia and shellacked it and filled it with vegetables. I also like to tie napkins with different things like raffia or a ribbon and add a flower to it.”

Another designer who incorporates foliage is Sallie Kjos, of Grey Hunt Interiors in South Riding. “One thing you do is gather fresh leaves and press them in wax paper so that they are preserved and flat,” she said. “When you are setting the Thanksgiving table, put the platter down — without the turkey — and place the leaves around it to make a decorative border. You can also do that around the dinner plates. It’s easy to do and it’s free, but it’s very festive and looks almost like a placemat.

Source: Virginia Connection Newspapers

by Dear Pearl Vintage

So yesterday I decided first thing Monday I would buy a mannequin, after trying plain backgrounds, coloured backgrounds, pretty coathangers, floral hooks and even the back of my grandmothers old wardrobe, I felt I needed something to give the clothes photos for Dear Pearl a bit more dimension so here she is, isn't she gorgeous, I have spent the day dressing her up, kind of like playing dolls for big girls. SQ has decided to name her which could prove interesting the last time she named the cat we ended up with Princess Diamante. Speaking of cats don't you love this old photo from Life Magazine. I've always wanted a black cat instead I have a ginger with serious codependency issues....

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by Dear Pearl Vintage

Rather partial to opshopping, vintage haberdashery, old frocks, trashy romance novels, glass glitter, Australian ephemera, Florence Broadhurst wallpaper, vintage tickets, doilies, polka dot mixing bowls, millinery flowers, rhinestone brooches, nanna tins, salvaged sewing patterns, retro flower curtains, chenille bedspreads, chandeliers, discarded photographs, cut glass cakestands, kitchen cannisters, royal winton teasets and baking cupcakes. Perfect holiday would be travelling Australia with vintage caravan in tow and stopping at EVERY SINGLE country op shop along the way.

Source: Dear Pearl Vintage: Saturday Morning Vintage