Behind the Scenes

Yesterday was a wonderful photography mission in the land of Dandi. The Dandi ladies spent all day setting up and photographing 10 new looks to be revealed in the coming months. The whole experience was such a myriad of emotions, from the manic supplies shopping, to the precision flower arranging, and the calm setting of the table and the never ending ironing!

Here are some behind the scenes photos of the fun day we endured. Lets just say we all enjoyed putting our feet up at the end of the day and eating a post-shoot cupcake. We now also have some wonderful photographs to share with you in the coming months.

above image: props, props and more props!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Leezar and Mindi, styling and shooting

Caroline multitasking!

Retailer Watch: Home at Last, Milton NSW

On a recent weekend on the NSW South Coast Caroline stopped in for a visit to Dandi stockist Home at Last. Situated in the picturesque town of Milton in the Shoalhaven area, Home at Last stocks a beautiful array of gifts and homewares and is well worth the visit if you are in the area.

Pretty potholders hanging around

The Dandi range looked great amongst the bright red kitchen shelves in the store, and our bold printed Paper Napkins tied in nicely with the other homewares on display.

The beautiful product displays carry on through the entire store. It's easy to see why so many locals and tourists alike love the store. Dandi are thrilled to be present in the historic town of Milton and highly recommend it as a place to visit!

As Seen In: November Home Beautiful

We love this feature on table runners in the current edition of Home Beautiful Magazine. The natural colour palette is just beautiful and that long distressed wood table oh so yum. Thanks for including us 'in the running' !November Home Beautiful is out now.

Dandi Gum Leaf Tablerunner. Purchase here

DANDIFIED: Amelia's Lunch

Amelia has been a fan of Dandi for some time now, she recently organised a beautiful birthday lunch for her lovely mum, Belinda. Amelia used two Olive Branch Tablecloths and decorated the tabel with vases of protea flowers repeated down the centre. The Olive Branch designed worked wonderfully with the leafy surrounds of their courtyard. As a special touch Amelia hand made place cards for each guest. The Dandi ladies are so impressed and inspired by her efforts (and artistic photography!) that we are awarding Amelia with the first ever Dandified prize.

Pink proteas and Pistachio Olive Branch, a match made in Heaven

Place cards and repeated vases set and elegant scene amongst a leafy back drop

For sending in her pics Amelia wins an Olive Branch mini tote. If you have pictures of your Dandified space email them to us for inclusion on our Blog

Dandi on The Brightside Project

Today Dandi is featured over at The Brightside Project for a giveaway for 2 x $50 gift vouchers! You have until October 20 to enter online. All you need to do it answer the following question:

"At your perfect dinner party who would be your guest of honour, and which Dandi pattern would you choose for your napery?"

Post your entry here. GOOD LUCK!

Celebs Love Dandi!

So guess which celebs were recently dining with Dandi plain dyed berry tablecloths and napkins? The likes of Claire Danes, Madonna, Gwynnie, Valentino and Anne Hathaway! We wish!! But it looks very similar yes? To steal their style shop online now!

Image via My Look Book

Spring Lunch

A few pictures and a yummy recipe we made to celebrate Spring.

Dandi Spring Salad

Ingredients - Serves 4

350 g Farfalle

1 bunch Asparagus, ends snapped, cut into thirds

50 g Baby Spinach

¾ Cup Frozen or Fresh Peas

2 cups Broad Beans, unpeeled

80 g Feta (we used Australian), crumbled

½ bunch Mint, shredded

½ Lemon, juiced

¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Method:

Cook pasta in salted boiling water until al dente. Cook Broad beans and end and middle asparagus pieces in salted boiling water for 3 minutes. In the last minute add in the Asparagus tips and peas. Drain and refresh veggies in cold water. Drain and refresh pasta in cold water. Peel outer skin from broad beans. Place cooked veggies, pasta and spinach leaves in a bowl and toss with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper to combine. Sprinkle with feta and mint and enjoy the flavours of Spring.

Bon Apetit!

Dandi's dining essentials - How to Set the Perfect Table

DO:

- Place utensils in order of use, outside in
- Use order of letters in the the word FORKS for a simple guide to start your table setting. From left to right: F for fork, O is the shape of the plate, K for the knife and S for the spoon. (you forget the R, but apart from that your on the way to the perfect table setting)
- Place dessert utensils tp the right of the knives or above the plate.
- Face the knife blade towards the plate
- Do this simple but easy step for the placement of bread and drinks. Hold your hands down in front of you and touch your fore finger and thumb together on each hand. The 'b' shape is for bread and butter on the left and the 'd' shape is for drinks on your right.
- Place the napkin to the left of the fork or on the plate. Dandi loves the napkin on the plate leaving a blank canvas in the middle of your setting for creative decorating!
- Get creative with napkin folding, place cards and table decorations and centre pieces

DON"T:

- Overdo the decorations

- Place more than three utensils on either sides of your plate, leep it simple and ensure no guest is confused!

- Have too many glasses on the table, as it will become overcrowded. Try to limit it to a water glass and an alcohol glass. Should guests change drinks or have coffee or dessert wines new glasses can be stowed nearby.
- Feel you have to have a bread plate, it's completely up to you
- Have a centrpiece which overcrowds the table and blocks one side of the table from the other.
- Get too tied up with formalities, keep it simple, fun and creative to ensure your guests have a good time.

Dandi's Tips

- Try sticking to a theme, such as a season. You could go out into your garden and use feathers, fresh herbs, flowers or leaves. These could be used as a centrepiece or a simple decoration on each napkin

- Use cool colours for light meals and rich colours with texture for warm, hearty meals.
- Look around your kitchen for decorating ideas, use fruit, vegetables, vases or interesting bottles

- Try mixing colours for contrast and use patterned with plain dyed napery

- Fold your napkin in an interesting way, try placing utensils or a menu in the napkin fold.

HAPPY SPRING!

Feels sweet doesn't it?

Chocolates and Neutrals

Winter is set in and we are all rugging up with lots of layers and textures to warm ourselves, so why not use these same principles in fashion trends for your table settings at home.
Start with a dandi plain dyed chocolate tablecloth as your base, then fold a chocolate olive branch tablecloth into a square shape and layer over the top. For something more casual create the layers using our rick rack runners or placemats.

Once you have the tablecloth set up, carry out the earthy theme and use dinnerware made from natural materials such as stoneware or bamboo. Using wooden accessories, such as the dandi bamboo range, not only look great with your wintry setting, they're good for mother nature too.

A big trend this season is to bring the outdoors in. When you're out on your morning walk or pottering around the garden keep an eye out for fallen branches and leaves to use for styling your table. We demonstrated this a fee weeks ago when Caroline brought home some goodies from the Kanagaroo Valley. Click here to view our post.

Inspired by the Kangaroo Valley

A recent weekend away in the Kangaroo Valley had Caroline inpsired to bring nature indoors when setting her table and styling her lounge room. The branches pictured above were found on the ground and dried out, making a great arrangement for an indoor vase.

Dried red and brown leaves combined with simple kitchen string make for easy yet effective napkin decorations.

Some cute snaps taken by Kylie, Caroline's sister inlaw, at Christmas. The oilcloth table cloth worked perfectly outdoorsand was a breeze to clean up! Thanks for sharing these with us, we love it!

Some Fresh Ideas for the New Year

Well, its been a while between posts but we are well and truly rested and ready to kick into the new year at full speed! We thought we would start by sharing a few pics from Christmas with different ideas for table settings. Given that its still great entertaining weather we hope you are able to use some of them!

 Top and Above: Caroline's Gorgeous Red Christmas Setting

Dandi awarded as finalists

Dandi are please to report we are finalists in the 2008 Home Beautiful Awards. The winner of our category went to Royal Doulton, for the Terence Conran by Royal Doulton Bird Jug. As you can imagine we're pretty happy to be selected as a finalist along side such prestigious and large brands such as Royal Doulton. All finalists will be published in the December issue of Home Beautiful so keep an eye out for our Bamboo range.