Several years ago on a trip to Asheville, NC I purchased a lovely antique tea table which is now placed in the corner of our formal dining room.  Our dining room was already furnished with a beautiful dining table with 8 chairs and matching china cabinet.  Also in the room was a tall cherry wood cabinet where I store silverware and table linens.  I had been searching for a long time to find a piece of furniture to complete the room’s furnishings and the addition of the antique tea table was the perfect piece.

So what does a person place on a tea table?  A china tea set of course!

The china tea set that I placed on the tea table was purchased several years ago when I worked in a small retail store that sold home decorative items and various collectibles.  The white china tea pot has pretty pink roses and ivy, on the front are printed the words “And the greatest of these is Love”.  The two teacups and saucers also feature pink roses and ivy, trimmed in gold.  The words, “Love, Faith and Hope” are printed on the front of each teacup.  I search and was able to find gold teaspoons that I placed on the saucers to match the gold trim.  The saying on the teapot has a very special meaning to my husband and me because at our wedding we had the 1 Corinthians 13:13 verse read during the ceremony.

Hanging above the tea table are two framed items that will continue the story of our wedding and complete the decorations in this area of our dining room.  The first is a framed print of the Marty Bell painting “Sweetheart’s Gate”.  I love the vivid colors of print and if you look closely there are hidden hearts which Marty Bell painted into many of her paintings.  Below that framed print is another framed item; it is the custom label from the wine served at our wedding.  Before we got married my husband and I took a wonderful trip to the Napa Valley and toured several of the wineries.  Knowing that we would be married in a few months we order several bottles of wine from a small winery in the area and had custom labels made with our names and the wedding date.  I had a few extra labels and I decided to mat and frame one of the labels to create a unique wedding keepsake.  (Décor Tip:  When decorating an area of the home, think about displaying related items that tell a special story, this is what I did in the corner of our dining room)

As most of the readers to my blog know, I love to decorate for the different seasons throughout the year.  In this post, I will show how I have decorated the tea table with various seasonal items.

Spring/Easter –

Shown below is a photo of the seasonal decorations I used for Easter.  I keep the china tea set on the tea table and then placed a special holiday decoration.  The used a white feather tree and placed it in a cute cracked egg white vase that I found in my local craft store.  Then I decorated the feather tree with sparkle egg ornaments in pastel colors and for a little bit of whimsy I also added a few small white bunny wearing pastel colored tutus.  For another touch of merriment I place a small stuffed duck into one of the teacups.

Fall/Thanksgiving –

Shown below are two different seasonal decorations for fall.  The first photo shows a lovely floral arrangement of golden roses and greenery placed in a crystal vase, this arrangement usually sits on the dining room table.  To add an extra festive touch, I added several peasant feathers to the arrangement.  The second photo shows a unique decoration that I made especially for the year that we hosted Thanksgiving dinner for several family members and since the holiday season is a time of celebration and remembrance I wanted to create a special “Memory Tree”.  I used a small tabletop artificial pine tree which I decorated with family photo frame ornaments, golden feathers and bronze jingle bells.  (For complete instructions on creating a “Memory Tree” for your home, please click on the link)

     

Christmas –

Shown below is the special Christmas decoration that I made.  Inspired by the cranberry topiary that I had seen in the Red Room on the HGTV White Christmas special a few years ago I decided to create one for the tea table in our dining room.  It was very easy to make and I used two different Styrofoam pieces, artificial pine, pinecones and artificial cranberries.  When I completed the decoration, I placed is on a silver pedestal to add height.  (For complete instructions on creating a Cranberry Topiary for your home, please click on the link).

Several years ago on one of our antique shopping adventures I came across old sheet music of “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer”.  I thought that it would look wonderful framed to match the other two framed sheet music that hang on the wall on either side of the china cabinet.  So, for the Christmas season I remove and store the framed Marty Bell print and the framed wedding label that usually hang above the tea table.  Also to match the other two framed sheet music, I add artificial pine boughs and pine cones placed above the frame.