Romantic Centerpiece

Well, we finally got the holidays pretty much cleaned up (except my snowman outside, my Little Beacon of Hope)so my kitchen table was bare. Now, if I was a neat and tidy kind of girl this would have been great. But I am a More is More kind of girl and truth be told, a Too Much is Not Enough kind of girl.

So I got to thinking.........
And I kept looking at this cloche that my friend Sharon gave me years ago that usually has a beautiful vintage bunny in it. And I love it and it makes a great centerpiece but I was hoping for some kind of candlelight for cozy dinners. Candles under the big dome would have looked great but would never have worked. Then I remembered my battery operated, remote control candles. They came from Costco. I am not a huge Costco fan, but my friend is. She always finds the greatest food and cool stuff like the candles. So I force myself to go over there and buy whatever she tells me. (I keep my Costco membership because I think they have wonderful party food.)

So battery operated remote control candles, not only means they will light up under the cloche, but I don't have to lift the lid to turn them on. I just grab my little remote and poof! Magic!

The candles looked a little bare and then I remembered how I am always squirreling away corks from wine bottles. I don't know why I can't throw them away. They always remind me of good times, and I think so many of them are like little works of art. The guy at the wine store recently told me that all the wineries are going to start moving away from corks and moving towards SCREW TOPS! Even the Italians! Gasp! I hope he is wrong.

I filled in the spaces with corks, put on the lid and lit the candles. Loved it.


Then I added my favorite sheep, Patrick Ewe-ing (or maybe it's BaaBaa Walters)and a silver teapot full of tulips. I was in the store the other day and my husband bought them for me. You have to love a man who sees flowers and says, "I think you need tulips."
Something seemed a little off to me and I realized that it was the runner underneath. (Actually this is a pillow sham - I will use anything as a runner.)I felt like there was too much going on - even for a Too Much is Not Enough Girl. I found an old valance that has been floating around here since 1992, took out the rodpocket to make it squarer and added some chenille onion fringe that I found down in my studio. (See, I told you! Anything is fair game for a table runner.)
I like it much better. Romantic candlelit dinner? Bring it on!