SILVER BELLS FOYER 2014

I have been looking forward to sharing my Christmas foyer with you this year.  The house has the winter look for the season.  To begin this setting, I started with a Samovar.

One of my favorite finds was this Samovar, a vintage tea server  from a warehouse in Little Rock that when going out of business.  All silver plate items were  marked down 75%.  With a list price of $200.00, I couldn't bring myself to pay the $75.00.  When I took Mr. Thrifty to this shop the second time, he told me to go ahead and buy one.  Was I happy!  That was 8 years ago.  It has taken me this long to brainstorm an idea to use in my decorating.

 

 My first thought upon purchasing this piece was to use it at teas and pour hot coffee into it so I could use it as a dispenser at a military tea.  The reality was that with working spouses, those teas happen rarely.  Sorry to digress....
 

But then, I looked up the definition in the dictionary and was surprised to find that.......

From the Merriam dictionary.

sam·o·var

noun \ˈsa-mə-ˌvär\

 

1

:  an urn with a spigot at its base used especially in Russia to boil water for tea

2

:  an urn similar to a Russian samovar with a device for heating the contents

 

Illustration of SAMOVAR

Origin of SAMOVAR

Russian, from samo- self + varit' to boil

First Known Use: 1830

 ... it was more appropriate to be used in making tea.  Oh well, some ideas don't pan out.
                       

This year, the idea finally came to me.  Since I like using my estate sale silver plate pieces and other clearance sale silver pieces, I was ready to act.

 

 

My idea was to create SILVER BELLS.  So the foyer was ready to be transformed with 'all things silver and bells'.


I found this beautiful image of  SILVER BELLS sheet music online. 

I was pulling pieces out from all of my cabinets and putting them on the foyer table.

 

While at Home Goods a year ago, these silver ornaments or now... bells were on clearance.

 

This was the first step in placing the items for my display.

 

 

I didn't like the black at all, but this table was the only one that would fit the square cake server on top of it.

 

 All the silver pieces combined reminded me of a fancy hotel,  so all I needed was to add a pristine, white, damask tablecloth.

 

 

 

Folding the front edges over hid the bulky extra fabric.

 

 

Now, let's start again by adding the silver pieces.

 

This candelabra was a gift from a friend.  Instead of using candle sticks, I added one of the Home Goods ornaments, or in this case--bell.  The base was a silver round cupcake server.

 

 

Another mercury ornament--bell, sat on one of my silver goblets.

 

 

The third ornament--bell sat on a compote.

 

 

My $15.00 champagne bucket held the largest ornament--bell.

 

 

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Adding some crystal branches surrounding the bell gave the display the necessary height.

 

 

And finally.....the silver bells(found at Target for $3.00 tied up with white satin ribbons!!

 

 

It was so hard to take a picture of these bells without having my reflection in the picture.

 

 

Here is to the Christmas Silver Bells foyer. 

 

 I will leave this up through January.

 

 

When I was done taking pictures of the foyer, I drove over to the commissary to pick up some groceries.  On my way back, I stopped at the Thrift Store on base.  I can always find something a bit unusual from my hunts there.  I found this treasure!

 

This Nativity set was only $3.00 because it was missing Joseph's staff.  Are you kidding me?  Now, it isn't fine china, but I have always wanted a plain white Nativity scene.

 

I went to the garage and cut off a piece of my broom and inserted it into his palm. The solution was so simple!

 

 

I really like how the scene looks so serene amongst all the silver.

 

 

 

O Holy Night.....

 

At night time, a soothing glow comes off the reflection of the  mirror and the silver.

 

 

And with that being said, a tranquil Christmas will be had.