Playdate at The Enchanted Home

Morning y'all! Come and play y'all! I'm over at The Enchanted Home being silly and talking about my Perfect Fall Day! Tina was one of my first bloggy friends and is one of the nicest bloggers out there.  We started at around the same time, although her readership is way more humongous than mine - for good reason, her blog is fabulous and she should win an award for bestest sweetest comments in the world.  I'm so happy to be a part of this series.  Fall is definitely my favorite time of the year!

See ya over there at The Enchanted Home!

Come On Over ...

... to Belle on Heels where I'm having a little blue and white bedroom party!

What are you still doing here? Go! 

Guest Post: Bering's Hardware - Fine China

Morning! Today, I have a guest post for y'all because I'll be traveling to Dallas.  I had decided not to do too many guest posts this year, but then Bering's Hardware approached me about talking to y'all about fancy china, and I thought, "well, I'd like to know more about it" so maybe y'all would, too.  Houston people know that Bering's Hardware is super legit, more legit than I am so I'm more than happy to welcome them here to Belclaire House.   I only wish we had one in Kansas City! Anyway, I'll be back tomorrow.  Enjoy!


Fine China Musts!

While we are in the clear with the holiday season behind us, it is never too early to start thinking about, and keeping an eye out for must-have, the nice-to-have, as well as those truly unique fine china pieces! Not only will you find yourself using these china pieces for the holidays, but for hosting showers, social gatherings as well as birthdays and family celebrations. Go ahead and allow your tabletop to be as fun and festive as the event you are hosting!

You might be a lover of fine china, everyday china and everything in between. However, you might also catch yourself letting your china collect dust! My husband and I received some truly amazing Herend Chinese Bouquet Green china for our wedding, and it has been a lot of fun using certain pieces for baby and wedding showers. I even used the teacups and saucers with some girlfriends while watching the Royal Wedding. As you can see, there are numerous occasions to use your coveted china. The even better part is that you don't have to use all 5 pieces of your place setting at once! ...That should be refreshing to hear. Hosting formal set-down dinners can be a bit overwhelming. Go ahead and pull out your dessert or salad plates, cups and saucers! Trust me; you will not hurt your charger and dinner plate's feelings!

Chinese Bouquet Green, by Herend

 Let me backtrack a minute by addressing the first point of business, your must-have china pieces. You have probably guessed it! Your 5 piece place setting should be the foundation to get you started. A beloved 5 piece setting is like the perfect little black dress, you can mix it and match it, dress it up or down, all while feeling poised and confident. If you do not have a full 5 piece setting, that is okay. Having even a few pieces is a great start, and a fun collection to build on over time. In fact, exploring all of your many fine china options is a lot of fun. Take your time and select the right fine china for you.
Just to be clear, the "standard" five place setting consists of a dinner plate, salad plate, bread plate, cup and saucer.

Here are a few of my favorite 5 piece place settings to consider for your must-have pieces:

Mandarin Bouquet by Mottahedeh, with an Anna Weatherley charger

Tobacco Leaf by Mottahedeh, with a Blue Lace charger by Mottahedeh

Now you have your must-have 5 piece place setting, or have at least begun thinking about which one you will select, let's dish about the nice-to-have fine china pieces. Every fine china pattern has matching serving pieces. These serving pieces can range from a cachepot to a platter. The serving pieces are often used as lovely centerpieces for your dining room table, book shelves, antique hutch as well as other places. I also love decorating with plates- which is another way to enjoy your fine china by seeing it every day.

Here are a few of my favorite fine china nice-to-have serving pieces:

Blue Canton, by Mottahedeh with additional matching serving pieces

Louvre Pattern by Bernardaud, with classic serving pieces

True, it is nice to have your must-have as well as your nice-to-have fine china pieces. However, it is not essential to have all of them before looking for those truly unique pieces of fine china. In fact, the truly unique pieces are often not related to your fine china setting or serving pieces. Truly unique pieces are those pieces that catch your eye and serve as more than a surface for food or garnish. They are the pieces that make you and others smile. Some of my favorites include Herend figurines. They are hand painted and truly special.

Here are some of my favorite unique fine china pieces, by Herend

Now you have some options to consider in laying your foundation of must-have, nice-to-have as well as truly unique fine china pieces. Just think how much fun your next get-together will be for you and your guests when they are met with some of your favorite fine china!

About the Author
Julie Shuford is the Marketing Manager for Bering's Hardware in Houston, TX. Julie is a girl's girl who loves a good sale, a long run, and time with her husband and new baby boy. Bering's Hardware is a unique retail store that provides everything from hardware to fine china and housekeeping products to grilling products.

Moodboard Monday: Guest Posting at The Pink Pagoda

Morning y'all! I'm guest posting over at The Pink Pagoda for her weekly series Blue and White Monday.    Come visit me there for lots of my blue and white favesies and a moodboard.  Go here y'all! 

P.S. How sad are y'all about Whitney Houston??  Hers was my first concert and I pretty much grew up listening to her music.  When The Suze designed our preschool directory she was listening to The Greatest Love of All and put the most perfectest quote on the cover: "I believe the children are our future ... " you know the rest.   If I can ever find it I'll share it with y'all.  It was super adorbs.  During and after college, I danced real hard to I Wanna Dance With Somebody every Thursday night at Don Hill's in NYC.  And unfortunately for my family, I often practiced my singing on my karaoke machine to I Will Always Love You.  It's all very sad (my singing included).  

Morning!

Today, you must head on over to my friend Tina's fabulous blog The Enchanted Home. She's featured yours truly in her Behind the Blogger series and after reading it, I was like, "hey, she's pretty awesome, I totally need to be best friends with her oh wait that's me."  After you're finished reading about my awesomeness, look through her past posts if you haven't already.

Tina is building MY dream home.  It's amazing! I'm not even jealous either because she's basically created a template for everything I will do someday, so I'm like, "hey, 'preciate it!" She has fabulous taste and an amazing archive of inspiration that rivals that of The Suze.

That's her house!

Holy Gorgeous Stair  Rail! 

It's legit. 

Also, don't forget to enter my Hadley Pottery Giveaway! You have to leave a comment under the post to enter, and if you tweet about it or "like" Hadley Pottery on Facebook, you have to leave a separate comment under the post to get the extra entries. 

Have a lovely day!