"Lions and Tigers and Bears! Oh My!": Varga Art Crystal Safari Stemware For Your Bar

"Lions and Tigers and Bears! Oh My!" Animal prints have been ever so popular in home decorating and this trend is not dying out anytime soon. Now and in the spring, there have been, and will be, lots of safari prints to fill and accessorize your home. If you love this motif, then you'll love these Varga Art Crystal Safari stemware and barware that perfectly compliment any spot, stripe or leopard print on your walls, floors or tabletop.

The Safari collection by Varga has an exquisite array of giraffes, elephants, cheetahs, gazelles and other indigenous African animals and vegetation hand-etched onto Varga's beautiful, top-quality clear crystal. The details are so intricate the African safari landscape will come alive in your hand. The decorated crystal comes in a full set of stemware and barware, including decanters, brandy sniffers and martini glasses. My favorite is the Varga Safari Ships Decanter. It's the perfect gift for any animal lover.

Click here to view all of Varga Art Crystal's collections available at Sallie Home.

The Mottahedeh Ring Tray; The Perfect Home Gift

Finding the perfect gift can be an arduous task, especially if you do not know the person very well or they are the type of person who has everything. For these occasions I found myself giving very luxurious but very generic gifts of lotions, candles and frames as gifts. I thought these were low risk, who couldn't love these gifts? Then maybe there are more people out there like my dad, to whom I gave a fragrant lotion to after noticing his dry skin, only to find out afterwards that he hates fragrances; he even uses scent-free antiperspirant. After completely missing the target on this gift, I made it my mission to find a better gift to give for anniversaries, birthdays, fathers’ day, and mothers’ day. I found the perfect gift after searching high and low: a ring tray.

Ring Trays are a very cute and definitely a more personal gift to give to friends and family. My favorite ring trays are by Mottahedeh. These wonderful trays have many great saying and words of wisdom - like “A faithful friend is a strong defense” or “knowledge indeed is a desirable and lovely possession” - surrounded by beautiful decoration. They are the perfect gift not only because they are beautiful but they also serve multiple purposes and can go anywhere in the house. Don’t let the name ‘ring tray’ fool you, these trays can be used for rings, keys, coins, and soap -just to name a few. Or they can simply be used as decoration and a constant reminder of advice to live by.

To view the other gift-ware available at Sallie Home, click here.

Fish and Tortoises for Dinner; Anna Weatherley Dinnerware

In an earlier blog, I talked about my affection for the Jaune de Chrome Tortoise dinnerware collection. After writing about these plates, I was looking at pictures from the New York City Showroom in the fall and saw a Tortoise Jaune de Chrome Charger combined with the perfect accent plate; the Anna Weatherley Antique Fish salad plate.


The Antique Fish collection is beautiful white porcelain, rimmed with gold, and in the center there is a hand-painted image of a fish. There are fifteen different salad plates to choose from for your tabletop, each featuring a different type of fish, varying in color and shape. My favorite fish are the ‘Aqua and Gold,’ ‘Lt. Blue/Yellow,’ and the ‘Orange, Lavender, Aqua.’ Whichever fish or fishes you choose, the gold rim incorporates perfectly with the Tortoise Plates, highlighting its beautiful flecks of gold and brown.

To view the Anna Weatherley Collection available at Sallie Home, click here.

Tea for Me, Too Tea Party Set by Rosanna; The Perfect Gift For Any Child

“I’m late, I’m late, for a very important” tea party! And with the adorable children’s Tea for Me, Too tea set by Rosanna, you’ll never want to be late to this party. Everything you need to draw in the guests is here; this tea set comes in an assorted service for four which includes cups and saucers, a teapot, and creamer and sugar pots. Each piece is sure to brighten the party in the variety of pink, blue, green, and yellow colors. After the tea party is over, all of the accessories can be placed in the dishwasher and then stored away in a cute, decorative box. It is the perfect gift for any child!

Click here to view all of Rosanna's colorful plates, gifts, and flatware available at Sallie Home.

Raynaud Petit Trianon China: Tableware Fit for a Queen

Petit Trianon China by Raynaud Limoges Tableware is full service china fit for a Queen, in fact it was. The Petit Trianon dinnerware collection is a reproduction of the china that Marie Antoinette used on her travels from Austria to Versailles. While at Versailles, Ms. Antoinette frequently lived in a small chateau on the palace grounds named the Petit Trianon, which is where this china collection received its name.

The Petit Trianon china dinnerware, serving pieces, and gifts are all decorated with a royal flower garland of kingly blues, golds, yellows, and greens. In honor of Marie Antoinette, the china gifts and powder room accessories, like the pill box, dish and candle pot, are all marked with a 'M' and an 'A' monogram. Besides those gift accessories, my favorite piece is from dinnerware; it is the Petit Trianon Tea Cup and Saucer. It embodies everything this collection has to offer in design; it looks so sophisticated and is dainty enough for a queen to use in her white gloves. The saucer separates itself from other Tea Cups and Saucers; this saucer is shaped more like a bowl than a plate - ensuring that a drip will never fall onto your gown.

Click here to check out all of Raynaud's collections available at Sallie Home.

Gianna Rose Atelier Bonjour Bonne Nuit: Not Just A Pretty Soap

Gianna Rose Atelier has widely been publicized and praised in the media and amongst Hollywood celebrities for their delightful, designer novelty soaps coming in various shapes and designs like hearts, flowers and animals - just a name a few. These soaps are the whole package - and beautifully packaged as well; they are quality and aesthitics wrapped into one. The French-milled, airy, designer soaps are guaranteed to spruce up any bathroom or powder room. Both Gianna Rose Atelier's signature fragrances and quality transcend their soaps and are incorporated in all their gift and personal care products.

If you love the soaps, you should definitely check out Gianna Rose's ultra-luxurious cremes; my recommendation, Bonjour Bonne Nuit Hand & Body Creme. This is a rich cream infused with Gianna Rose'd signature fragrance, Fresh Linen. It replenishes and soothes hands and body with a nourishing formula of aloe vera, shea butter, sweet almond oil, meadowfoam, viola and cucumber. This cream is the perfect housewarming gift, birthday gift, or the just-becuase gift for anyone who love bath and beauty products. Click here to see all of Gianna Rose's amazing products available at Sallie Home.

Juane de chrome Tabletop: Cream Scale Dinnerware

I learned a new word today - or should i say style - that is as cool as it sounds; Majolica. Mojolica is a pottery term in regard to a type of glazing process on earthenware. In Majolica, a white tin glaze is applied to the raw surface of the earthenware before being fired. Once applied, the pottery is then fired at a low temperature which restricts the flow of the glaze as it melts, producing a soft, opaque, directed, glossy surface. This is a unique glazing process that makes these ceramic pieces stand apart from other wares. A great example of this is the Cream Scale Dinnerware Collection by Jaune de Chrome.

The Cream Scale collection, available with either a platinum or a gold rim, is perfect for a contemporary setting or a formal event. The Finition Mug from the collection is the perfect start to any morning accompanied with a fresh newspaper, or the fitting end to a wonderful dinner with friends. The natural coloring of this dinnerware collection makes it a perfect accompaniment to a table set styled with a cool colored palette of greens and blues. Jaune de Chrome has much more table sets in this magnificent glaze. Click here to directly view Jaune de Chrome tableware available at Sallie Home.

Wake Up and Smell the Scents of K. Hall Designs

Everyone wants to have their house smelling and looking great all the time. Unfortunately, many of the aromatic home products may smell wonderful, but they look awful. We have found the solution to this problem with K. Hall Designs aromatic bath, body, and home products; they are the perfect combination of smell and style. K. hall is a local (at least to us), St. Louis based, company that specializes in the fragrance industry and hand-make all their candles, reed diffusers, sheet sprays, perfumes, bath gels and salts, shea butter lotions and triple milled soaps.

Not only are their items are chic and smell great, they are also a socially responsible business. All of their home gift items are minimally packaged and are contained in recyclable/reusable glass. Those wonderful smells are all made with a minimum of 95% natural ingredients, including vegetable based candles.

K. Hall Designs pride themselves on delivering scents that are comforting, familiar, fresh, and real; like their scents Moss, Pomegranate, Jasmine, Lavender, and Milk. Their room diffusers are a great, popular gift for any home. They work well in any room and are a safer alternative to candles when wanting to freshen up the smell of a room. K. Hall products smell naturally great and work even better. stop and smell their scents; click here to view all the K. Hall aromatic bath, body, and home products available at Sallie Home.

The Perfect Match with Match Petwer Convivio Tableware

Match Pewter Convivio tableware collection is a beautiful combination of pewter and ceramic. This combination allows Match dinnerware to be versatile; it is traditional, modern, formal and casual all in one plate, bowl, or mug. The whole collection is handmade by artisans in northern Italy, making every piece unique, but all are safe for food, the dishwasher, and the microwave.

The Convivio dinnerware collection is made up of fun, vibrant colors – white, green, yellow, and blue – that can easily be mixed and matched with one another. The Convivio plate and platters are elegant ceramic earthenware with a pewter rim. The Convivio Mugs are simply classic ceramic coffee mugs with a pewter base. This collection also features kitchenware that includes my favorite pieces from Match – the Small, Medium, and Large Canisters, and the Cookie Jar. These canisters are perfect decoration for any kitchen and are wonderful for holding flour, sugar, salt, what-have-you. Each and Every piece is stamped with their crests as a mark of authenticity and quality. Click here to directly view Match Pewter, available at Sallie Home.

Monkeying Around the Table: Monkey Business by Lynn Chase

Growing up I could never leave the zoo without going to the Primate House; it was my absolute favorite exhibit. Maybe this is why I am in love with Lynn Chase's Monkey Business collection. Like the Primate House, it is full of energy with all those adorable monkeys hanging around. The Monkey Business collection features colorful dinnerware and service pieces with cute monkeys, toucans, parrots, and flowers crawling around the plates, bowls, cups, and other serving pieces.

My favorite piece is the rim soup bowl from dinnerware. At the end of every bowl, there is a surprise; in the middle of the bowl lies a bunch of bananas that is sure to make anyone smile. There is this same bunch of bananas painted on the inside of the coffee mug. with this collection, like all of Lynn Chase's items, it is all about the cute little touches. To see all of Lynn Chase's collection available at Sallie Home, click here.

Teaposy: the Gift That Blooms Right on Your Table

With cold weather this time of the year, people want something to warm them up, and I found the perfect gift that will do just that. The Teaposy is warmth and beauty wrapped up into one glass teapot that everyone can taste and see. Teaposies' are tea leaves formed into flowering blossoms that bloom when you add boiling water. The clear Teaposy teapot, which comes in many shapes and sizes, like the Daydream Teapot, shows off the delicate blossoms and the wonderful color of the tea. Forget the after dinner coffee and give your guest this brilliant tea. It's beauty and taste like i've never seen before; it is sure to amaze any dinner guest.

The blossoms are made of premium silver needle white tea leaves and natural herbal flowers that come fresh from special tea farms. The white tea is one of the rarest teas and has such an exquisitely soft and delicate flavor. The flavor of the white tea is combined with others to create many other flavors and bloomsto choose from including, "Falling Water," "Lady Fair," "Let It Snow," and "Red Song" Teaposies. Your tea drinking experience doesn't have to end after the first teapot; each Teaposy brews up to 80 ounces of tea and after use, you can keep the Teaposy bloom in a glass container with cold water to enjoy the bloom for a couple more days. Click here to discover the gift of original art and flavor with the Teaposy, available at Sallie Home.

There's Alot to Offer Your Table with the Hemisphere Limoges Porcelain Collection by J.L. Coquet

In my opinion, simplicity is best, especially when it comes to selecting fine china. It is like the little black dress of tabletops. You can change the whole look of the china just by adding accessories or accent pieces; something as little as a napkin or glass. It is very versatile; you can make it formal one day then casual the next. This is why I love the Hemisphere Collection by J.L. Coquet, a French manufacturer of Limoges porcelain.

The Hemisphere Collection is simply white porcelain that is enhanced by its texture and its rim, which comes in many different colors. One can choose from the Hemisphere Cream, Matte Gold, Matte Platinum, or White; all of which are simple yet elegant. If you are interested in something more unique or ornate, I suggest looking at Hemisphere's Transat or Gold Stripe pattern.

The dinnerware in this collection is great, however, my favorite part of the Hemisphere collection is the service pieces and the simple accent pieces of the dinnerware. The rim soup plate comes with a lid which adds a lot to the presentation and also to the bowl's function by keeping the food hot. The service pieces are really spice up this collection's simple look, making it more unique and avant-garde. Some of the pieces, like the teapot or the creamer, separate themselves with their unique form and shape. Other pieces, like the sugar bowl and another teapot appear classical in style except they have interesting metal accents as handles. In J.L. Coquet's Hemisphere Limoges Porcelain collection it's all in the delicate details. Click here to check out all of J.L. Coquet's Collection available at Sallie Home.

A Gift From Your Heart: Steuben Glass Hearts

This Valentine's Day, why not give your loved one your heart. Well not literarily your heart, but a symbolic representation of it in the form of an exquisite glass heart created by the world's finest glass producers, Steuben Glass. The Dancing Heart by Steuben Glass is the perfect Valentine's Day gift.
And when giving away your heart, why not also toast your Valentine with two Steuben Champagne Flute? Steuben Glass is (up until Valentine's Day) offering two of their Champange Flutes for free with the purchase of any of their glass heart-The Dancing Heart or Two Hearts.

Show Your Valentine how special they are with this ever-lasting, unique gift of love. Each and every piece of Steuben Glass is made with such care and precision. They use state-of-the-art melting to make sure the glass is pure and free of even the tiniest imperfections. The Dancing Heart is a work of percision; it carefully balances on its axis, allowing light to shine off its smoooth beveled edges. It is sure to brighten the heart, home, or office of any loved one. Click here to view other gifts by Steuben Glass which are available at Sallie Home.
Two Hearts

Art Deco Tea For Two: From F. Scott Fitzgerald's Butler Pantry

When I saw this tea set, my mind went straight to the 1920s. It was just so classic, so sleek and so elegant, just like the times; it was almost as if it was right out of a F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. Surprise, surprise, it was. The Art Deco Tea for Two, which is part of the Zelda Butler Pantry Collection, was inspired by the author F. Scott Fitzgerald. This collection is based on the author's love of the 'Roaring Twenties', entertaining, wealth, elegance, sophistication, and romance; all of which embodies this classic tea set.

The Art Deco Tea for Two set includes a tea pot, a sugar pot and a creamer pot. Each piece is hand made out of nickel silver to replicate the craftsmanship and the architectural look of the era. Like the era, this piece is made of lasting material, guarenteeing it for life, and there is no need for polishing. Impress your dinner guests by bringing this tea set out atop the Solid Mahogany Butler's Tray. Click here to go directly to see the available products from F. Scott Fitzgerald's Home Collection at Sallie Home.

Anna Weatherley Colours Fine China: Simply Anna

Anna Weatherley is widely known for her hand-painted, very detailed flowers, fruits, butterflies and bugs strewn on fine white porcelain dinnerware and tableware. However, these classic Anna Weatherley pieces are not classical porcelain patterns. Despite this, all the artisans trained by Anna Weatherley are still taught in the classic painting tradition. They utilize their traditional porcelain painting training for such collections as Simply Anna and Colours. Both these patterns may seem simple and boring compared to Anna Weatherley typical dinnerware collections, such as Spring in Budapest, but both of these patterns showcase just how skillful and beautiful the classical form can be.

Simply Anna is a classic pure white imprinted porcelain with a gold scalloped rim. Colours comes in four colors-celadon, purple, bright green, and moss green-and all have a gold scalloped rim. The Colour dinnerware collection is colorful, playful, elegant and stylish all in one. Both of these china patterns are perfect for any table, they work for any occasion and are timeless. If you ever want to liven things up or create a more ornate table, just add a salad or bread plate in one of Anna Weatherley's more well-known botanical patterns. Click here to check out all of Anna Weatherley's dinnerware and tableware collection available on the Sallie Home website.

Hearts of Glass: Annie Glass

It's February, love is all around. Valentine's Day is right around the corner and it's the time for love ones to come together, spend time together and enjoy each other's company. While you're spending this time together, there is a perfect dish to accentuate your tabletop this holiday. Annie Glass Heart plates and bowls are guaranteed to steal anyone's heart. The plates and bowls come in a variety of shapes and sizes, making it easy to mix and match and customize any table. The dessert heart shaped plate is a wonderful way to end any meal, especially if you just add some chocolate.

The Annie Glass Heart bowls are versatile; they would be perfect during any meal or as the cutest gift for a friend or loved one. The bowls can be used as decoration for your home; just add some heart-message candies. Or use them all year around as a coin or jewlery dish. Handcrafted in the United States, these dishwasher safe, vibrant bowls and plates will add love to any room. Click here to go directly to Annie Glass's Heart bowls and plates available at Sallie Home.