Tablescaping DIY, Part 5, Storage-Napkin Rings and Place Card Holders

July 20, 2021 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

Writing Tablescaping DIY posts a bit out of order, skipped to Storage for this one, will get back to writing about the different parts of the tablescape later. Since I started tablescaping and posting tablescaping photos online many people have asked me how and where I store everything. My system evolved as my collection increased in size. This is a photo of a corner of my study. While it isn’t a particularly pretty area, it works very well for me and I am the only one who comes in here most of the time. I spend a lot of my time in here on the computer doing genealogical research and planning tablescapes. Online you will see gorgeous photos of shelves with perfectly staged minimalist decor, that’s not me. I like to be surrounded by all my bits and pieces. This room was my daughter’s bedroom until she grew up and moved out, it isn’t very large. We added custom built in floor to ceiling book shelves mostly for all my genealogy books but many of them were out of date so I weeded the collection to create space for my napkin rings and place card holders. I use clear shoe box sized plastic containers and I label the end. I like them because I can see what is inside. We bought them on Amazon and at The Container Store. If I were a perfectionist I would create and print out labels to use but I just wanted to get them organized quickly so I could find things. Before they were scattered all over the house and I wasted a lot of time looking for things.

We had the custom book shelves turn the corner and had them put a large desk area in the corner for me so I could spread out all my paperwork when I am doing genealogy research. It created a large space underneath and to the right you can see more containers of napkin rings and place card holders. To the left are boxes of table scatter and other miscellaneous table decorations. To the left of the boxes are my containers of flatware. I will talk about them in another post. I feel lucky that I have this space that is out of the way but easily accessible.

The containers are arranged by holiday, theme, or color. These are my Christmas napkin rings and place card holders. Keep in mind I have been tablescaping for 10 years, lots of stuff!

Above Christmas you can see some nautical and ocean themed containers and some containers arranged by color or metal.

I have inventoried all of these napkin rings and place card holders. Each one has a photo and a record of how many I have. I have the information stored in folders on my computer. The folders are arranged by holiday, theme, or color. I can easily look at the photos and think about the tablescape that I want to create. I am still working on inventorying other tablescape items. People often ask me how many I have of things and I always say I don’t know. Once I have inventoried them I do know but I don’t say!

Hope this gives you a few ideas about tablescaping storage!

To see over 260 different tablescapes that I have created please click here. If you are on Facebook, join my new Tablescape and Table Settings Ideas Facebook group for lots of tablescaping inspiration! Just click on the Facebook Search box at the top of the page and type in Tablescape and Table Settings Ideas or click here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2553689988183392

If you live in Southern California join our Facebook tablescaping group Southern California Tablescapers BTS Group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/440356398581157 We are planning a gathering for tablescapers in January in the Los Angeles area..

Don’t miss the Tablescape How-To tab at the top of my blog for DIY tips and tricks.

I put a new tablescape on my blog every week, please check back!

See Shells on a Summer Tablescape

July 15, 2021 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

I did a tablescape two years ago using these shell plates but I wasn’t blogging then and the photos weren’t that good so I decided to pull it together again but this time with a few changes. The polyester navy blue tablecloth probably came from Amazon or a site online that sells tablecloths, there are a few of them. I have had it for a while. I love this sea shells theme because I can use my shells flatware, one of my favorite sets.

The white salad plate shaped like a scallop shell was made by Bordallo. I bought them a few at a time on Ebay a few years ago. I see them for sale there from time to time. I love finding different shaped salad plates, they add special interest to a themed tablescape.

Here is the matching dinner plate. I bought them on Ebay also. I have a larger charger size too but I have only found four so far so I couldn’t use them on this tablescape.

I am using two chargers on this tablescape, one sits just inside the other one. This blue one was made by Mikasa and the pattern was Color Spectrum in Royal Blue. If you read my blog you have read about my Color Spectrum chargers before many times. I have them in several colors and I love them. The size, shape, and colors are perfect for my tablescapes. I bought them all a few at a time on Ebay over several years.

This is another well used charger in my dish collection. I have used it nine times on tablescapes in the last two years. It was called Antique Beaded and it came from Williams Sonoma several years ago. It was one of the first chargers I bought when I started tablescaping. I love the beaded edge and it adds something different to the plate stack.

I bought this green place mat at Pier 1 many years ago. I have this place mat in many different colors that I bought at Pier 1 or World Market over the years. I know one is not supposed to put a place mat on top of a tablecloth but I am not one to follow all the formal rules for table setting when I want to create something different. I wanted to add another color to this tablescape in addition to blue and white and green adds a bit of bright color.

This is one of my favorite stainless flatware sets. When I first saw it some years ago I knew I had to have it and I bought it on Amazon a few place settings at a time until I had twelve. I love the shell design on the end of the handles, there is a different shell for each of the five pieces. The flatware was made by Reed and Barton and the pattern is called Williamsburg Gloucester Shell. It is 18/10 stainless and heavy, a really good quality set. Once you hold stainless that is 18/10 nothing else will come close in quality.

Someone on Etsy made the napkins and runner for me several years ago. The scallop shell design on the napkins matches the shape of the plates. I found the white shell napkin rings on Ebay last Spring. There were four different shell designs in each set. They were marked Knobler Taiwan.

These bone china white scallop shell placecard holders came from Ebay earlier this year.

The acrylic cobalt blue goblet on the left came from Pier 1 several years ago. The green glass goblets on the right came from Pier 1 as well several years ago. I use them several times a year. I like how tall they are and the simple spiral design.

This large white clam shell is sometimes my go-to centerpiece for my ocean themed tablescapes. I found it at HomeGoods several years ago. It usually sits on a shelf in the family room. If you read my blog you have seen it on a few tablescapes already. I put a small towel in the bottom for filler and then covered it with blue and green flat glass marbles that I bought on Amazon. I added a few white shells too.

I love walking along the ocean looking for shells and sea glass. We have rented a house on the beach up the coast for several days in September. I can’t wait!

To see 100+ other tablescapes that I have created please click here. If you are on Facebook, join my Tablescape Ideas group! Just click on the Facebook Search box at the top of the page and type in Tablescape Ideas. Don’t miss my Tablescaping How-To section at the top of this blog post for more tablescaping tips and tricks.

I put a new tablescape on my blog every week so please check back!

Anchors Await on a Summer Tablescape

July 08, 2021 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

I did an Anchor themed tablescape last summer but the colors were turquoise and white. I had in the back of my mind that I wanted to create one with navy and white this summer. I found this navy and white anchors tablecloth on Amazon a few weeks ago. It’s polyester and it was made by DII. I really like their tablecloths and it was exactly what I was looking for. I like the simple anchor and rope design.

I couldn’t find a salad plate that I liked with a navy anchor on it so I used the trick I did on my Musical Tablescape in May and I bought small unfinished wood anchors on Etsy and Hubby painted them navy blue for me and I set them on a white salad plate.

These white salad plates were made by Wedgwood. They are bone china and the pattern is Intaglio. I bought them at HomeGoods a few years ago. I like the design around the lip of the plate.

These thin melamine red, white, and navy dinner plates with nautical designs on them came from an unlikely source. I was looking online last month for clothes at Talbots end of season sales and found these plates there and I couldn’t resist buying them. I love the strong colorful designs and the anchors are a perfect match for the tablecloth.

These red chargers were made by Juliska and the pattern was Ruby Berry and Thread. Several years ago I bought these chargers a few at a time over several months from various places online until I had the number I needed. I like the simple design on the rim and it is a bit larger than some of the other chargers that I have. The design on the rim reminds me of the rope on the anchors on the tablecloth.

This red flatware was made by D & D Inox in Italy and the pattern was called Roma. I bought them at Neiman Marcus or Bloomingdales during a major sale a few years ago. There are similar patterns available online now if you Google frosted flatware. I really like the red marbleized design on the handles.

I bought these white anchor napkin rings at Bed, Bath, and Beyond online a few years ago. They were a distressed white and Hubby painted them white for me. I am not a fan of distressed paint on anything! The navy blue napkins came from HomeGoods I think, I have had them for a long time.

I can’t remember where I bought these white anchor place card holders. I have had them for a few years now. They were originally gray and I bought two sets and Hubby painted one set white and one set black for me.

The acrylic blue goblet on the left came from Pier 1 a few years ago. The rope design around the goblet reminds me of the rope on the anchors on the tablecloth. If you read my blog you have seen this goblet on my tablescapes before. The blue glass goblet on the right came from Ebay several years ago, you can still find them for sale there. They were made by Libbey in the 1970’s and the pattern is called Tulip in Dusky Blue.

This large navy blue anchor centerpiece came from Hobby Lobby online last summer. It was a dirty distressed beige with a tattered rope winding around it but Hubby cleaned it up and repainted it white for me last year for my turquoise and white Anchor Tablescape. You can see it here on that tablescape. He repainted it navy blue for this tablescape. Remember you can reuse tablescape items in new ways with different paint colors. The anchor is sitting on a white Rhodes drink dispenser stand from Pottery Barn to give it more height.

Definitely need to serve some kind of fish with this tablescape!

I put a new tablescape on my blog every week so please check back!

Another Whale of a Tablescape

July 01, 2021 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

I did a Whale Tablescape two years ago and I have been wanting to redo it so that I could take better photos. I made a few changes to it this time too. I saw this tablecloth on Amazon a few months ago and it reminded me of ocean waves so I knew I could use it on this tablescape.

This melamine appetizer whale plate was made by Vineyard Vines. The back says, “Every day should feel this good”. They were sold at Target a few years ago but they sold out quickly. I bought them on Ebay.

This whale design melamine dinner plate was made by Vineyard Vines too, part of the set of whale table items at Target a few years ago. It also has “Every day should feel this good” on the back. They sold out quickly as well and I bought mine on Ebay. I love the whale silhouette at the top.

The charger is my Antique Beaded Charger that I bought at Williams Sonoma several years ago. I use this charger constantly on my table settings. If you look back through my blog at my tablescapes, you will see it often.

This FishStix flatware set is really fun. It was made by Galleyware. I bought it a few years ago online but I can’t remember where. I love the fish head designs in the bowls of the forks and spoon and the fish tail handles. The knife has a shark face on the side. I think the set has been discontinued.

These metal white whale napkin rings were also part of the Vineyard Vines whale set from Target a few years ago and I bought them there. I had someone on Etsy make the whale napkins for me.

The clam shell place card holders were made by Andrea by Sadek. I bought them online several years ago but I can’t remember where. If you read my blog you have seen them before on some of my other ocean themed tablescapes.

The white goblet on the left came from Walmart last year. They were made by Artland and the pattern is Veranda. The dark blue acrylic goblets came from Pier 1 on sale last year before our store closed. It’s difficult to see but they have a rope design around the top of the goblet. I often use them on summer ocean themed tablescapes.

We saw this whale in a gift shop on a long weekend up the coast a few years ago but it was too expensive. After we came home, I found one online that was a second and it was a good price so I bought it. I added faux white carnations to this centerpiece that I found on Amazon a couple days ago. I bent them and poked them into a vintage blue flower frog that shows just a bit in this photo because I wanted the flowers to bunch together. They remind me of the air and water that a whale blows out their blowhole when they come to the surface of the ocean.

I have always loved whales. Decades ago Hubby and I used to drive out to the end of the Peninsula near here and watch whales pass by during their annual migration. This table brings back wonderful memories of seeing those beautiful creatures.

I put a new tablescape on my blog every week so please check back!