Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men (And, women!)

Happy holidays! I was fortunate enough to be able to hostess a table at my church's candlelight Advent luncheon. What this means is that I had to provide decorations, glassware and tableware for 8. Yikes, that's a lot. Luckily, I had several settings of 2 patterns of basic white plates already in use, so dishes weren't a problem, or were they? My dining room wall is a canvas for white plates, all shapes and sizes. Nearly all were purchased at my favorite Goodwill in Wichita, Kansas.

 

I had a good look at my wall and decided to pull down 8 mismatched plates, why be normal? Next, I needed water glasses. Luckily, I was able to borrow them. I then remembered I needed bread plates and glasses for the sparking cider we serve. I had already acquired 4 hand painted china plates purchased from the Wichita Goodwill.

I also had 4 glasses that I though would be cute for the cider. These glasses were made by Anchor Hocking since the 1950's and are in the "Boopie" pattern. My daughters like to drink there juice out of them. They're sturdy so I don't mind. But, I didn't have the full 8 I needed. Enter The Stillwater Goodwill. The previous week, I had been down the glassware aisle. I certainly don't need glasses, but when I'm shopping I try to get a good look at everything. I saw they had identical Boopie glasses. I didn't buy them, didn't need them. Fast forward to Saturday, now I need them. What were the odds they were still there? What were the odds I could find 3 small, hand painted plates. My daughter and I hop in the car to see if I can find something, anything to add to my place settings. We head to glassware. Sitting on the shelf are the 4 identical glasses. I grab them and run to the cart, mentally prepared to fight whomever tries to wrench them out of my sweaty hands.

We move to plates. There are several pretty floral saucers, but that seems to be it. Saucers would be weird, so I pass. Finally, realizing that I will have to go somewhere else for plates, I get down and begin lifting up all of the plates so I can just make sure I haven't missed any. Lo and behold, I find not 1, not 2, but 3 adorable floral plates that will fit nicely with my existing plates.

I am mentally exhausted, at this point and we go home, very satisfied. The next day, I arrive at church, with several boxes of items for my table. I have the setup in my mind, now it's time to get to work. I arrange candles, ornaments, small Christmas trees and my place settings. I arrange my thrifted damask napkins in their thrifted, beaded napkin rings. I put chunky candles in my thrifted lead crystal candleholders.

 

 

It's then I realize, that without Goodwill, my table would have been skimpy and not too exciting. As it was, there were oohs and ahs from the church ladies over my use of the antique glassware and china plates. I beamed with pride not only because my table looked great, not only because of the nice compliments but mostly because I had shopped at Goodwill and had saved a fortune. It goes to show that shopping at Goodwill will produce cost effective and lovely decor for any season.

 

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