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Navy and Neutrals Dinner Party

Nov 06

Navy and Neutrals Dinner Party Decor- I love the place settings!

So maybe I’ve been holding on to this post for a little while. I had my birthday dinner party almost a month ago now, but have had too many other things to share with you guys… so I’ve waited on this one! This is my second year hosting a small dinner party with girlfriends for my birthday (check out my first one here)- and I can see me doing it again next year, it’s so fun! I know I’ve said it before, but I love a good party. And I think dinner parties are my new favourite type of party because of the quality conversation that you get to enjoy around a dinner table. This year I took that one step further and created fun conversation starters or table topics to have at each place setting to get the conversation rolling. That’s what those pretty little floral cards are by the wine glasses. I’ll be sharing the print file for those in the next few weeks!

Navy and Neutrals Dinner Party Decor- I love the place settings!

Navy and Neutrals Dinner Party Decor- I love the place settings!

I’ve had a few people tell me I’m nuts for wanting to have people over and feed them for my birthday- shouldn’t I let someone else do that? But I love to host and decorate, this is what I enjoy. AND really, I didn’t do all the work. I actually invited the girls over to cook dinner with me. We got a bit of a late start, but I love cooking with friends. In university, some friends and I used to have ‘cook nights’ where we would hit the grocery store with recipes we wanted to try and then spend the night cooking all those new foods. Preparing food together just makes for good company. One thing I’ve found, and totally forgot to do until the party was starting, is that by writing the recipes out on nice paper, you can hand each person a recipe card so there’s less time asking questions about what to do and more time to have fun conversation.

And what we cooked… so delicious! I know I don’t blog about food too much (thank goodness we have some awesome recipe contributors!) but I really do love cooking- just not slow while taking pictures. If you’re looking for some new recipes, I can’t say enough good things about this chicken piccatta recipe which we served over this asparagus risotto recipe. And I know that risotto can be intimidating (I actually love making it) but dinner parties are the perfect time to try it, because you’ll be standing around the kitchen visiting anyways so stirring it won’t be a pain (like when you’re home alone and would rather be sitting on the couch catching up on Survivor). We also started off with a few bruschettas. My favourite was this simple mushroom bruschetta or this beet bruschetta… but we also did a classic bruschetta (recipe from memory) and a pea bruschetta. I like to serve bruschetta with a mixture of cream cheese and goat cheese (about half and half) and I’m not shy in how I load it onto the bread! We had those to snack on while the chicken cooked and I ate way too much- I just couldn’t stop.

Navy and Neutrals Dinner Party Decor- I love the place settings!

For decorations, I didn’t want to spend too much time preparing. My mom and sister came over in the afternoon to entertain the kids and help get things on the table (and clean my kitchen if we’re being real). For each place setting, I tied napkins with velvet ribbon holding a few quail feathers (you can grab a pack of these at the dollar store) and a sprig of seeded eucalyptus before finishing it off with a hand lettered name card. I lettered these on craft paper, then cut and folded them into banners. The centrepiece was a collection of seeded eucalyptus (left long to trail out of the small containers), eucalyptus, baby’s breath, thistle, and dusty miller. Yep, a lot of the same elements as my spooky halloween arrangement! But not spooky when put in little patina cream and sugars. And if you head to a large florist, you’ll find that buying pieces like this by the stem is going to give you a much more affordable arrangement than even hitting the grocery store! Brass candlesticks finished off the tablescape and added height to the otherwise low centrepiece. The only thing I wish? Is that I had gold… or copper cutlery. But I know it’s not needed, so that will wait ;)

Navy and Neutrals Dinner Party Decor- I love the place settings!

Navy and Neutrals Dinner Party Decor- I love the place settings!

Navy and Neutrals Dinner Party Decor- I love the place settings!

While I used decor that I already had (other than the greens), there’s one thing I can’t seem to keep myself from buying for dinner parties. Tablecloths! I’m addicted. I really don’t like my dining table, so I always cover it. Since I was holding on to this one for my birthday, I skipped buying a new one for Friendsgiving this year (did you see my solution instead!?) but most dinner parties get one. I actually don’t go and buy table cloths most of the time though. I like to ‘make’ them. I head to the fabric store and go all the way to the discount section at the back and look in home decor fabrics (they’re the longer rolls) for something I love. 2 Meters of fabric, always priced under $5 a meter… it’s the best deal on a tablecloth you’re going to find. That’s what I did for this plaid one and this crushed velvet look one and this floral one… see I can’t help myself!

Navy and Neutrals Dinner Party Decor- I love the place settings!

So tell me… do you love a good dinner party? What’s your best tips to keep them fun for you as the host? What about for decorations? I spilled my secrets, let’s hear yours!

Category: EntertainTag: Birthday, Decorations, Dinner Party, Florals, Handlettering, Party Decor, Party DIY, Party Food, Tablescapes
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Comments

  1. Michelle @ Elegance and Enchantment

    Nov 06 at 7:35 am

    This is just stunning, Colleen! I absolutely love your color scheme the textures and the way you were able to achieve such a sense of warmth (with a cool color palette). Happy Birthday one month late! Thanks for sharing. :)

    Reply
    • Colleen Pastoor

      Nov 21 at 5:45 pm

      Aw, thanks so much Michelle! This comment is so sweet, you’re making my day :)

      Reply
  2. Rachel

    Nov 06 at 10:34 pm

    I love those name place cards! They are so cute, and your hand lettering is beautiful too!

    Reply
    • Colleen Pastoor

      Nov 21 at 5:03 pm

      Thanks so much Rachel! Spending time working on lettering in the past year or two is one of the things I’m most happy I’ve done… you can seriously add it to anything :)

      Reply

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I’m Colleen: wife; mom to 4 wild ones; and DIY blogger behind Lemon Thistle. You can expect to see rad DIY, modern home decor, renovations, hand lettering and the occasional party on Lemon Thistle. Read More…

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colleen pastoor/lemon thistle
Let’s talk about coffee! This is my coffee ‘st Let’s talk about coffee! This is my coffee ‘station’ and the second photo is my dads! I’m talking aaaall about them over on YT today!
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It’s felt like such a long time coming for such a small space. Since we moved in 2.5 years ago, this space has seen new doors and hardware, new trim, new floors... twice😅, we changed the boob light to a pot light and I hated it and now it’s got the most beautiful flush mount fixture I’m in love with (thanks @mymitzi!). It finally got some fresh paint and now frames on walls and last but not least... After this weekend, the new floors look like they were here all along (no door jamb gaps!) which was the last thing really bugging me since our flood last year. 

All this to say that home takes time and sometimes getting it right might take a couple tries. Also- the spaces we don’t really think about (hallways) can totally help a house feel like home with some love (and family photos 🥰)
ps. I partnered with #mymitzi to create a tiktok for This makeover... are you following me over there yet?! I’d love if you popped over and said hi!
It’s done! It works! And I’m calling it a grea It’s done! It works! And I’m calling it a great use of my afternoon the other day. Did you catch the stories? These projects both cost me under $10 by using pieces I already had in my home (yay for scraps!) and one package of drawer slides).
You can find the full video about these two kitchen organization projects over on YouTube in collaboration with my friend @love_create_celebrate and her #scrapsmademodern challenge! But for now... I’m rejoicing this coffee maker is off my counter for good 🎉
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I’m not going to lie, I’m easing into this new year thing pretty slowly. All my decorations are still up (we always leave them up til Ukrainian Christmas which is later this week) and I I’ve yet to respond to my emails since before Christmas 😅
I’m enjoying the slowness of it all.
Happy Christmas Eve from our fam to yours 🥰 Happy Christmas Eve from our fam to yours 🥰
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Like this rolling storage system I made for my office, that rad dollhouse and the gorgeous bath toy storage. All of these projects are things that I’d personally love to buy for our family and look like they’d be a great return on your time making them! And yes, all of them use #Kreg tools to make them easy to assemble and quick to make! Plus, they’re having a great sale on right now with deals on their K4 and K5 jigs, Rip-Cut and even a hardware jig bundle! There’s never been a better time to get your workshop set up!  #sponsored
Just a peaceful moment and then a real life moment Just a peaceful moment and then a real life moment for ya 🙃 
My #holidayhometour is on the blog and YouTube (I’ll put links in my stories) as part of the #seasonalsimplicity holiday home tour series. I’ll share those too so you don’t miss any!
My holiday home tour will be up tomorrow, but for My holiday home tour will be up tomorrow, but for tonight... I’m just enjoying the lights. And possibly a hallmark movie with some more custom order lettering 😅 what are your plans?
#christmasdecor #christmastree #holidaylights
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