Speaking to Northville Historical Society

Last Saturday I had the privilege of speaking to a sell-out group of 60 ladies who attended the Northville, MI Historical Society's December Tea.

Mill Race Historical Village [where the historical society meets] was beautifully decorated for Christmas.

Below is Cady Inn where the tea was held at 1:00 o'clock.  I arrived early to set-up in the church were I would be speaking at 2:30 following the tea.  Vickie, the caterer and lady in charge of the teas, allowed me to take photos inside Cady Inn before anyone arrived.

I usually attend the tea, but this time I opted to set-up and have some quiet time to go over my notes while the ladies were enjoying their tea.

~ Quaint village houses ~

Below is the church where the ladies came after their tea.  It's a short walking distance from Cady Inn. There was a wedding scheduled in the church Saturday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. shortly after I finished my presentation.

My program was titled "The Art of Tablescaping."  I sat all my china, accessories, and embellishments on the back table, and then built the tablescape step-by-step on the empty table in front.

~ Church filled with ladies following the tea ~

Pictured below is Linda.  She let me take her picture wearing her festive nutcracker sweater and beautiful red hat, and since she sat on the front row, she was the photographer throughout my presentation.  Thank you, Linda!

Below I was telling the ladies that an empty tabletop is a blank canvas waiting to become a form of art.  Some state fairs have creative arts competition, and tablescaping is one of the categories.  I love being a tablescape artist.  I can't draw a straight line, but I enjoy creating beautiful tablescapes.

I layered the tablescape with three layers of linens - white tablecloth on bottom, a sheer, glittery, light blue overlay, and satin silver runners on top. In the photo below I was assembling the centerpiece - the anchor or focal point of the tablescape.

  

I only demonstrated one place setting so I wouldn't have a lot of dishes to transport.

Below was the final result with one disclaimer. ;-)  The narrow point of the napkin should face the edge of the table, and I did that when I placed it on the left of the dinner plate, but one of the questions was could it be laid on the plate instead, and when I hurriedly moved it I didn't position it properly.

It was a fun afternoon and the ladies were so responsive and attentive.  They've invited me back in February to speak about ladies' hats at their Mad Hatter tea party.

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Today I'm joining Rose Chintz Cottage for No Place Like Home

and Antiques and Teacups for Tuesday Cuppa Tea