Autumn's Jewels

Just in case you missed it on a previous post, my mother bought a set of Jewel Tea dishes years ago at an auction. (Jewel Tea dishes were manufactured outside of Chicago beginning in 1933. They added new pieces each year to make people continue to collect.) Apparently the lady that owned the set my mom bought readily bought into that idea.

The set my mother purchased has close to 200 pieces. One of these days I will count them all.....When I have time to count that many!  I know there are 16 dinner plates, three different sizes of bowls and two sizes of coffee cups. There are at least seven different kinds and types of pitchers. There are mixing bowls, casserole dishes, covered dishes, pie pans and even metal hot pads. There are salt and pepper shakers and even a coffee pot on a brass and copper base.

Even though I was only in grade school I remember my mom buying the dishes. She had to come back to our house and trade out her car for my dad's pickup to transport all the Jewel Tea dishes home. I helped her unpack all of them. Maybe that is why I always had a fondness for them.

I remember my mom using the casseroles and pie pans more than anything. Then as I got older and had my own home I kept telling her she should get the Jewel Tea out for fall. She would get a piece or two out and put them around. Once in a while she would put out a few plates. (She had LOTS of other dishes and these kind of got pushed aside.)

Then one day when my son came home from a visit to his grandparents he began unloading boxes from his car. My mom had had him pack up all the Jewel Tea and sent it home to me.

What a wonderful surprise!

She told me since I had always liked the dishes she thought I should have them. I could not love them more. They are simple and classic. There is not too much orange or too much design. They mix easily with the reds, golds and browns of my favorite fall colors.

The Jewel Tea mix easily with the leaf dishes I bought at Wal-Mart several years ago. Last year I paired them with some Better Home and Garden leaf plates. I will probably do that again this year as well.

I bought the big brown plates at Target several years ago in a four-pack. I bought two four-packs and use them all the time. I bought the leaf placemats at Ross. I bought the leaf napkin rings at JC Penney's after Christmas for 90% off.

 

All these things I bought before I was ever gifted with the hundreds of pieces of Jewel Tea. It was like they were just all waiting to go together!

I added pieces of Jewel Tea throughout the table, as well as pumpkins, twig balls, candles and acorns.

The best part of the Jewel Tea dishes is that they will work throughout the entire Fall season. I can leave them out for a couple of months.

The battery-operated candles are the ones I made over from Hobby Lobby.

See how sweet and classic the Jewel Tea pattern is?

My cousin gave me the spools when I got married years and years ago. I have added to the set over the years. There has never been a time or a house that I have not used them in constantly. There are so many ways to use them and I constantly put them to work!

In this picture you can see one of the many pitchers and one of the coffee 'mugs'.

The little sugar bowl in this picture is a spare without a lid. I added the twig ball and it looks like they were made for each other!  

My Jewel Tea dishes are truly a 'jewel' to now own. They fit my decorating ideas to a "T". 

I have linked this to Between Naps on the Porch and Open House Party with No Minimalist Here. 

 Tablescape Thursday and Farmhouse Friday.
The Lettered Cottage