Barely Blue

My hutch is fun place for me... I change it according to seasons or holidays. I like change and since the hutch is a focal point in the dining room, it gets changed often. This is what I came up with for my post-holidays look. I have used the white dishes and the blue dishes separately, but this is the first I have used them together.

I have been thinking about painting this hutch black. My curio cabinet is oak, but my dining room chairs have a black wash over them and so I think it would be ok.... but.... I really do want dark red walls for this room. So, I am thinking it would be too dark. Now I am thinking about just getting new hardware for the hutch instead. I am concerned about the size of the back plates... it may be hard to get some to cover the area. Just thinkin'...

The blue dishes are Fostoria and they are a gift from my step-mother. They were hers, a gift from her first husband. I have always loved dishes and I think she knew I would treasure these. When I was young, before I was a teen, I would go over to my Dad and Mary's and she would always have the latest Montgomery Ward catalog. I would pour over that catalog and choose dinnerware sets for every day of the week ... the pretty blue and yellow print for Monday, the green mosaic design for Tuesday, and on and on it went. And of course I dreamed of the space to store it all!! I was going to write that now I can't imagine having different dishes for every day, but secretly I am still that little girl that would love it!

These little yogurt cup are part of a set that Rachel got me for my birthday last year... or was it Mother's Day? Anyway, they were from Rachel. She knows the way to my heart. The lid that you can see goes to the urn type piece that is under the doily that you see. We have a few pieces like that that are from Larry's sister, Debbie. Her husband was stationed in Turkey and those were some Turkish tresures we got from them.

The white dishes are a set my Mother-in-law got me for Christmas one year. They have a white on white floral band with a thin sliver band along the edge. For this hutchscape I went with ivy and white gardenia. I love gardenia. It is so delicate.

This is a basket that Rachel made for me for Mother's Day in when she was a Girl Scout. It always makes it into my spring decor... it's just out a little early this year to go with the blue dishes. I think these flowers have been in the basket since she gave it to me. They were just some I had on hand, but I have never changed them.

Spring really is just around the corner. As a Sunday School teacher and since I do the bulletin board in the family center at church I am always looking ahead... Easter and spring are the next things on the plans! Doesn't that make you happy?

"Unshared joy is an unlighted candle."

Thanks for letting me share some of my favorite things with you!