Sultry Summer Nights Tablescape

 

This tablescape came about with the discovery of the centerpiece. Centerpieces always seem to be the bane of my existence. I can easily build a table, but coming up with something for the center often perplexes me. When I ran across this pineapple hurricane in the belly of the beast, I had to get it out, clean it up, and put it immediately into service.

 This hurricane has quite a storied past. I bought it about 35 years  ago when I was still married to my first husband, back in the days when American country and Williamsburg-style decor were at their peaks. I loved it not only just to look at, but for the beautiful glow it gave off when the candle was burning. It went with me to a new house and a new husband, spent a good bit of time out on the back porch, and was one of the few survivors of the tornado that ripped through our yard in April 2011. It ended up getting packed away, when we moved out to the house I live in now, and I had forgotten all about it until I recently found it in the bottom of a box. 

It was like seeing an old friend. Number two son, who came by and spotted the pineapple, remembered it being on the back porch; it’s just special. The pineapple is also the symbol for hospitality, and this is a table that is most hospitable. 

 I wanted to go with something a little more masculine and subtle, so I went with largely neutral colors, and those that reflected the coloration of the pineapple. I chose Water Hyacinth placemats topped with gold chargers because I wanted to replicate the pineapple glow.

  I matched the chargers with gold flatware to continue that theme and add a bit of sparkle. Dinnerware (plates, dessert plates, and mugs) are by Tabletops Lifestyles in their “Bora Bora” pattern.

   

The pressed glass, crescent-shaped salad bowls have been with me forever, and always prove popular. It is a wonderful way to serve a salad on a table where space is limited. 

I wanted an additional touch of green, so I chose the salt and pepper shakers that used to be on the table in my parents’ kitchen. 

Napkins are by Pottery Barn; the glassware I inherited from my mother.

 

The black fans add a bit of drama, and are wonderful to use to fan oneself when overcome with the vapors.

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This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday

St. Patrick’s Day Tablescape

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It’s going to be a socially-distanced party of three for St. Patrick’s Day this year, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not going to be festive. Quite the contrary, as you can see from these photos I went for drama.

Whereas I would normally opt for layered plates in white and green, I decided to go with the boldness of black. Water Hyacinth placemats are topped with Bordallo Pinheiro geranium leaf chargers on top of which are square black plates from Rachael Ray. The square plaid plate on top of that was a local find; the bowl another Bordallo Pinheiro find is their cabbage leaf design. In each bowl is a Guinness Irish Soda Bread Muffin. Each place setting will have its own special vintage postcard reproduction plaque. You can use regular postcards to do the same. You might consider hand writing a recipe from the dinner on the back.

The flatware once belonged to my mother, the pitcher an older, but much loved and often used, design from Fitz and Floyd. The leprechaun salt and pepper shakers are a part of that set, and a real treasure.

The large shamrock wine glasses with the Happy St. Patrick’s Day greeting that turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, are from Pier One. Despite my every effort to follow the care instructions to the letter, i.e. washing them carefully in lukewarm water, by hand, the letters spelling out the greeting were improperly adhered, and most of them floated right off, or into the next letter to create some garbled message of dubious meaning. Grrr. The glass that you see in this picture is complete only because I don’t use it, and haven’t washed it, because it has a chip in the rim. Sigh.

There always has to be a pot of gold somewhere, and each place setting has its own, but instead of the gold-wrapped chocolate coins that I have used in the past, this year I chose the festiveness of green mint M&Ms.

I hope you’re celebrating as well as you are able. But if not, at least treat yourself to a special dinner and toast yourself for how well you’ve done the past year under difficult circumstances

Sláinte.

This post is linked to:

Tablescape Thursday