A Red, White, and Blue Tablescape with Heart and History

 

Every time I set my table, I’m amazed by how much red, white, and blue dinnerware I’ve collected over the years. But it wasn’t always this way. In our previous home, my dining room was a vibrant showcase of jewel-toned dinnerware and stemware, proudly displayed in a vintage china cabinet. That changed when I inherited my mother’s collection of dinnerware and stemware, forcing me to part with some of my own pieces to make space. When we moved to our current home, I leaned hard into neutrals—a decision that led to letting go of treasures I’d later regret.

One regret stung more than most: my cobalt blue champagne flutes with their distinctive spiral design. For reasons I still can’t fathom, I included them in my dad’s estate sale. The moment they were gone, I missed them. I’d find myself poring over old photos of tablescapes where those flutes sparkled, feeling a pang of loss. Those glasses aren’t easy to find, but after a determined Google image search, I tracked down a matching set on eBay. Buying back something I’d let go felt a little wild, but when those flutes arrived, I couldn’t have been happier. They’re as lovely as I remembered, and I promise you, they’ll be gracing my table often.

That rediscovery inspired this year’s tablescape, along with a Mother’s Day gift to myself: a 16-piece dinnerware set by Pfaltzgraff in their “Kenna Red” pattern. Each piece is unique yet perfectly coordinated, creating a plate stack that looks effortlessly professional. The best part? The price was a steal for such a versatile collection. Dinnerware sets like this make it easy to mix and match colors and patterns for a polished, curated look.

This year, I’ve added several new elements to the table. A fresh “Fourth of July” tablecloth, three patriotic stars, and a vibrant artificial flower arrangement set the tone. Confession: that centerpiece took four sets of flowers from Amazon to get right.The first set was a letdown, so I ordered another, then another, and finally one more. Persistence paid off—I arranged them in a basket, securing the lid with a bit of wire for a festive, overflowing look that I absolutely love.

The napkins, from Pottery Barn, are a staple in my collection. Their linen offerings never disappoint, with stellar quality that elevates any table. The little blue plates holding the tarts are a happy accident—found years ago at an antique shop, they somehow escaped my dad’s estate sale. I’m so glad they did; they’re perfect for this setup. The bold red water glasses make a striking statement and are versatile enough for year-round use.

The Fiestaware pitcher, a decades-old treasure, still holds its own despite the style changing at least twice since I got it. The flatware I inherited from my mother, though you can find similar sets here. These pieces tie the table together with a mix of nostalgia and timeless appeal.

This red, white, and blue tablescape is as versatile as it is vibrant, perfect for patriotic holidays like Memorial Day, Flag Day, or the Fourth of July. It would also shine at a formal picnic, blending elegance with a touch of whimsy. Each piece tells a story—of lessons learned, treasures reclaimed, and new finds that spark joy. Here’s to setting tables that reflect who we are and the moments that matter.

 Many thanks to Rita of Panoply for organizing this Summertime Tablescape Blog Hop!

 Click on the links below for more summer table inspiration from my blogging friends: 

Panoply - Summer Tablescape: Stars, Stripes, Checks and Plaids Forever!

Home is Where the Boat Is - Lakeside Table with Thistle and Bees

Hyacinths for the Soul - Marching Into Summer

Everyday Living -  A Garden Table to Welcome Summer

Pandora's Box - A Berry Good Brunch

Celebrating Everyday Life - Poolside Patriotic Party

Life and Linda - Adventure in the Skies

The Cat's Whizkerz - Come Sail Away

My Thrift Store Addiction - Heavenly Honeysuckle Picnic in the Garden

The Little Yellow Corner Store - What is Growing in the Garden Tablescape

Belle Bleu Interiors - A Quiet Summer's Afternoon

Dinner at Eight - Summertime Blues on a Carefree Table

Thrifting Wonderland - Summertime...Living is Easy

Corner of Plaid and Paisley - Summer With a Cherry on Top

Mantel and Table - A Beautiful Red Table Setting - Roses Make It Easy

The Bookish Dilettante - Americana Tablescape for Summer

        

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This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday

Santa in the Snow Tablescape

 

This will be my last tablescape for 2024. It will not be the last table that I set, but with the holidays coming up, and all of the activity that surrounds them, I won’t be able to share any more. 

This one is a lot of fun. It started with the fabric that I absolutely fell in love with. I bought 2 yards of it, put it over the table, and went from there.

The “placemats,” for lack of a better word, I found a number of years ago at Pier One. I’m sorry that I only bought four of them because I love them so much. The nubby-edged red plates are also from Pier One.

The holly leaf salad plates I got from Pottery Barn last year. I really like these because, with such a simple design, they can be paired with almost anything, and yet they have a big impact.

On top of them is a Fitz and Floyd Santa mug (that you last saw here), doing double duty as a candle holder. It was a snap to put this together. I used a bit of floral foam in the bottom to hold the candle in place, then it was just a question of adding some dried Spanish moss, some greenery, a few berries, and I was done. I think it makes a nice impact considering the minutes it took to put together.

 The script greeting at each place setting I found here. The clear snowflake Irish coffee-style mugs that I fell in love with are new this year. I found them here. They will get a lot of use this year holding hot drinks and boozy coffees.

 

The wooden snowflakes are favorites, and are used all over the house during the holidays, including on the tree.

 

The deep green stemware makes a nice impact here. When you have a table covering as bold as this one, you have to have equally bold dinnerware.

I found the red napkins here, and struggled to decide which type of flatware to use. I tried, McKenzie-Child’s “Courtly Check,” gold, and ultimately ended up with this very versatile black flatware that makes a statement while being understated.

The Santa in the center riding the bicycle I inherited from my mother. She used to collect Santas of all kinds and had them running down the center of her dining table. I have all of them, of course, but tend to use just one at a time. The tree I’ve had forever, it is illuminated with tiny string lights.

 

I hope this finds you all thoroughly enjoying your holiday prep. Don’t wear yourselves out!

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 This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday

When Witches Go Riding Tablescape

 

Does this table surprise you? Well, it surprises me! I had no intention whatsoever of doing a Halloween table this year. This came about when my aunt and my cousin came over to join me for lunch to celebrate my birthday earlier in the month. My cousin brought the napkins made out of Halloween fabric, as well as the spider tea light candleholders. She said now that her children are grown (they’re both in high school) she no longer sets tables to celebrate Halloween, and wanted to know if I would like these items. Would I? Yes, I would! The next day I took down my neutral fall table (that I really enjoyed during the month of September), and set about creating this one.

 

I started by topping the table with fabric by J. Wecker Frisch; it is not a Halloween fabric, per se, but one that lends itself quite well to the holiday.I topped it with black placemats, and Italian green chargers (that I brought forward from last week’s table). On top of the chargers, I placed bright yellow Waechtersbach ceramic dinner plates. To complete my plate stack, I added vintage Halloween plates, that I got a number of years ago from Williams-Sonoma.

I was trying to decide what flatware to use, and at one point was considering gold to pick up the gold elements in the plates (that may not be visible to you, but are very much so in person), but ultimately decided to go with that pop of orange, and I’m happy with my choice. You can find the orange flatware here. 

Witch broom handled mugs, ample enough to hold soup, a latte, or a big cup of cocoa topped with whipped cream, got a number of years ago from Pier One. The owl stemware is new this year and I found it here.

 

I paired my cousin’s luncheon size napkins with solid green dinner size napkins to pick up the green elements in the fabric and give the table some added interest.

The skeleton hand napkin ring holding the napkins can be found here. The spider votive candleholders hold green tea lights.

 

The skeleton candlesticks I got it Michael’s a couple of years ago, the candles are from Colonial Candle of Cape Cod.

 

In the center I have a vintage look pumpkin from World Market filled with fresh flowers and fern fronds.

 

Beverages (Serpent’s Venom and Cauldron Cola) are from The Potion’s Cauldron. They have a variety of fun flavors, and bottles to match.

 Considering that I wasn’t planning a Halloween table at all, I’m very pleased with the way that this one turned out.

 BOO! And Happy Friday the 13th!

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This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday

"Morning Mist" Tablescape

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Don’t ask me why I decided to name this tablescape “Morning Mist,” because I honestly don’t know. Those are two words that happened to pop into my head while I was setting it, and I decided to go with it.

When I have one person for lunch, we always dine in the conservatory. It’s my favorite room in the house, and it soon becomes the favorite of any and all who visit. Those who dine with me do have to agree to sit down with a plant or two, sometimes hovering over their plate, when they come dining. While I have tried to reign myself in over the past couple of years, I recently couldn’t stop myself from buying a small vanilla plant (in the white pot on the pedestal to the left) in the hopes that I live long enough to see it flower and (dare I dream?), bear.  I do have blossoms on my coffee plant, so who knows what’s going to happen?

  I also found this little face vase, irresistible, and had to have it as a vessel to hold terrarium plants that I decided to take out of the terrarium because I was finding it a bit overgrown. Doesn’t she have the sweetest face?

 I decided to do something slightly girly, thanks to the vase, and went with the color scheme of pink and green. The chargers, as you all know, undoubtedly by now, are Bordallo Pinheiro geranium leaf chargers. Topping them are new Kate Spade dinner plates from the "Make It Pop" Collection. I love the green surround, deeper green border, and pink ring in the middle. On top of them are Bordallo Pinheiro Majolica Green Geranium Leaf salad plates.

Continuing the plate stack are these wonderful Longchamps wine label appetizer plate, topped with lightly floral soup bowls from Hartstone Pottery, part of a snack, set, that I inherited from my mother.

 

 The floral napkins are from Pottery Barn. The pink stemware is from Amazon; the green water glasses are by Villeroy and Boch.

The hammered flatware is Mikasa "Opulent" (a new favorite) also found on Amazon, as is this super cute little cream pitcher (that comes as a set of two for a fantastically low price). Isn't is darling?

The silver salt and pepper shakers belonged to the late Mr. O-P’s maternal grandmother (!!).  I discovered these when I was digging around in a box of things in the belly of the beast. Honestly, I just never know what I’m going to find. I fell in love with them on sight, and they have been a fixture on the Conservatory table ever since. If you look closely, you can see the initial "K" because his grandparents' last night was Keogh.

If you’re ever in the area, stop by and join me. A table is always waiting.

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 This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday

 

Ho! Ho! Holiday Luncheon!

Back in my youth, I would host multiple holiday gatherings, enjoying each one of them. As I got older, the number dropped but at least, in my opinion anyway, the quality soared. This year I decided to host a holiday luncheon. I spared no expense. There were four of us, including me, and we were all looking forward to it. I worked for weeks in preparation, cleaning, decorating, planning the food, making the food, ordering fresh flowers and greenery…you get the idea. It was originally scheduled for Saturday, December 10, and then due to illness of one of the guests, I was lucky enough to be able to change it to Sunday, December 11. All systems were go until 9 o’clock that morning when I learned that one of the ladies had fallen, and the other had taken her to the ER. What was it that Robert Burns said about the best laid plans? Yeah.

On the plus side, the house is clean, it looks lovely, and I have a lot of delicious food. Truth be told, as many of the dishes that can freeze, will be frozen, I have plenty for some future event. But just because it can’t be enjoyed in the way in which it was originally intended, does not mean that I can’t share it with you.

This table went through numerous changes before I decided upon this final one. On top of the checkered tablecloth are black and cream placemats that you can’t see in the picture, but would be able to see during dinner because the leafy green placemats (that look like greenery surrounding the plates), are surreptitiously removed when the diners grab their plates to hit the buffet. There’s no way I’m going to insist that my guests hack their way through greenery to get to their food.

Originally I had tin chargers under the greenery and pine cone plates (that I got at Pottery Barn years ago), my intention being to match the tin to the reindeer vessel that made up the centerpiece. Later I discovered that the red charger plate with embedded rhinestones looked much brighter.

 

The Santa plate on top I inherited from my mother. It is from Fitz & Floyd 1989. It would be removed and later used to serve dessert. The flatware is from Cabela’s, and has a pine cone design to match the pine cones in the plates.

 I tried a number of different cups, saucers, and mug combinations, deciding that the white mug was the best as it picked up the white in Santa’s beard making things brighter. The emerald green water glasses I inherited from my mother. They have made many Christmas appearances. The wine glasses are from Mikasa and in the “Park Lane” pattern.

 The darling wooden Santa napkins rings were, again, my mother's; the napkins are from Pottery Barn.

 The candle holders that look like trees I inherited from my mother as well. I always admired them on her table, and am now thrilled to have them on mine.

 The little ceramic baskets with holly leaves at each place setting, holding a Lindor milk chocolate truffle, I inherited from my mother as well. They are bone china from the Philippines, 1986. I always like to have a little goodie at the table. In addition to this little treat, each diner was going to go home with a can of hot chocolate mix from local chocolatier, Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate.

 The centerpiece I have mixed feelings about. I had ordered this requesting the “Premium” (read: the absolute BEST and most expensive) size, and paid the premium price. This looked a little puny compared to what I was expecting. On the plus side, the vessel is darling, and I intend to make my own arrangement for future years that I guarantee will look much showier than this one.

 I had covered the serving area with fresh greenery, and used place card holders to display the names of the dishes. I find that people really enjoy knowing exactly what they’re digging into.

  The champagne flutes were a new edition this year, intended to be used for serving the house “Poinsettia” cocktail, a tasty mixture of cranberry juice, Cointreau, topped off with champagne.

 

Whatever you do for the holiday season, and however you do it, I wish you great success!

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 This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday