Do You Like to Entertain?

I am hosting my homeschool group's Mom's Night Out tonight. It has been so long since I hosted a shindig. We've had only one other time where we've hosted people other than family, and that was at our first Thanksgiving at this house. We didn't have even all of our furniture moved over then. I think that I've been avoiding having people over because there is still so much that we want to do this house to make it our own, but are waiting because our other house hasn't yet sold (God has blessed us with a great couple who is renting, though!).


I have had so much fun getting ready for tonight, though. Here are a few snapshots of what I've done.

Here is the foyer. The camellias in the front yard were in bloom, so I picked a big bunch and have used them throughout the house. My mom always had camellias when I was growing up, and I love being able to decorate with them. Three bushes had deep rose blooms, and one bush had candy-striped flowers, which were perfect for this close to Valentine's Day! I put a small glass inside a blue-and-white china cachepot and arranged the camellias in the smaller container.



Here is the dining room. I arranged camellias in a silver teapot we received as a wedding present. I don't have china laid out on the table because at Mom's Night Out if you serve as hostess, you provide only drinks. Isn't it nice that others volunteer to bring refreshments and the hostess doesn't have to get the kitchen all dirty?


Here's the little set-up where we'll serve ourselves refreshments. I set out my Nantucket Basket dessert plates and created a vignette with Valentine's candies and my Southern Living plate. I wrote "You are loved!" on it with white board markers and wove Valentine ribbon through it.

Here is the centerpiece for the breakfast table. I just folded a piece of pink and red fabric with hearts and laid a platter on top. Then I took various sized goblets and arranged them over gumdrop hearts and scattered some heart beads left over from one of Emily Anne's craft projects.

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Here is a picture of the living room. I've done a good bit in here to try to dress this room up. You can see a before picture here. I mistreated the windows a la the Nester, and the fabric has really helped to warm up the room. I also picked up that big palm in the corner for $11 at my grocery store. I put it in a big cachepot I already had, and it made a tremendous difference in cozying this space.

Here is a shot of another corner that I've filled with a tilt-top table and some forced tulips in another small planter. It's a nice touch of spring.


Whoops! There's the doorbell. I'll let you know in my next post how it goes.