Marsha's Creekside Creations: Russel Wright dishes

In 1959, my mom chose Russel Wright's Iroquois pattern in ripe apricot. It was January and we had suffered a house fire. A complete loss. Mom told me that the loving people in that little Tennessee community had a shower for our family so we could start over. Friends told her to go to the local store where she could select needed items and that's where she made her Russel Wright selection of Iroquois in ripe apricot.

So, I grew up eating off of what is now

considered a "mid-century modern" set of dishes.

At the time my Mom selected this dinnerware, it was already considered modern-- because it had no designs.

Some of the serving pieces are very interesting-the salt

stacks on top of the pepper shaker and the

creamer stacks on top of the sugar bowl.

And, the large covered casserole dish, I just love it....so pretty and it always, always was used to serve homemade potato salad.

Several years ago, my Mom decided she liked the white dishes I had--she noticed how versatile they were and liked the idea of getting a set of her own. When she got those white dishes, she said she didn't know what to do with her old dinnerware, so I told her that I would love to have them (she has stored the serving pieces, so I wasn't able to include any of them in my post).

Today, I'm sharing these lovely, simple

plates in a Woodland tablescape.

I've paired the dishes with dark wooden chargers (Better Homes and Garden collection at Wal-Mart-years ago-wish I had bought more), burlap place mats that I made, green napkins with snowflake napkin rings, and green goblets to complete the place setting. The flatware is Nouveau by Gorham.

Do you like designing centerpieces for your dining table?

I do. This one was so easy. A branch of faux greenery (or your could use fresh), a mercury glass tree, a candle, a few pinecones and an interesting container. You can always use a second, taller candle in place of the mercury glass tree. How easy is that???
So fresh and pretty to start the new year.