Miss Blackbirdy's Valentine's Day Tablescape

February 09, 2026 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

This is the third tablescape that I have created using these Miss Blackbirdy plates, I did a previous one in 2023 and then before that in 2000. Each time I do a tablescape with these plates I change things up a bit. You can see those Valentine’s Day tablescapes and 300+ other different themed tablescapes that I have created on my blog here: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/tablescapes . I really love these plates and when I bought them I bought the matching tablecloth and table runner as well. I can’t remember where I purchased it all but if you google the name some things with pop up. They are currently available online at Heritage Lace. I put the matching table runner down the table on top of the tablecloth on this tablescape because the tablecloth has a white center.

This is a 6 inch bread and butter plate. I really love the intricate black line designs on these white ceramic plates. You can see the blackbirds on this plate that give the dish set their name.

Each plate has this design and phrase on the back of the plate. The small heart hanging over the rim of the plate is wonderful!

This is the 9 inch salad plate. The design is similar to the smaller plate but it does not have the added design element around the rim.

This is the 12 inch dinner plate or charger although if you use it as a charger the wonderful design will be covered. I just love the designs on this plate, the large vase, the hearts, the bows, the abstract flowers, and the birds including one singing blackbird. There are a few purses and one shoe as well. On the lower right at about 5 o’clock you can see where the design goes over to the back of the plate to connect with that heart on the back, (shown in an earlier photo). Such a clever tiny addition to a wonderful design. These plates also come with a similar design with white on black and I bought those large plates as well. I really love these plates!

This is the dinner plate in white on black, it is a striking plate with great contrast. I love the blackbird in the center of the plate. I have used this plate as a charger on a Halloween tablescape before although it doesn’t show that much.

I set the dinner plate on this black charger. This black glass Starburst charger is called Charge It and it was made by Jay. I bought them several years ago on Amazon. They are heavy glass and work well with many different color schemes. A black charger with a simple design is a good starter charger plate if you are thinking about starting a tablescaping hobby.

This flatware set 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 several years ago. I really like the marbleized design on the handles and the stainless quilted design. I liked this pattern and it was a really good sale so I have the same pattern in cream, amber, and dark aqua. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

I bought these black metal heart napkin rings at Pottery Barn online last year. I can’t remember where I bought the bright red cotton napkins but I love this shade of bright red!

These black metal heart place card holders came from Pottery Barn as well.

Hubby found these red glass goblets on the left at HomeGoods a few years ago. I think the red glass goblets on the right came from Crate and Barrel a few years ago too. I had been looking for some more simple red goblets and grabbed these when I saw them online. If you are thinking about starting a tablescaping hobby, a red goblet is a must, you will use them often during the year. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying goblets for your tablescaping collection including the colors that I use most often here.

I wanted a simple centerpiece for this tablescape so I decided to use red roses in a black vase. I collected pottery for several years and I have a small collection of vintage black vases of different sizes and designs. I really like the size and the matte finish on this black vase. The faux red roses came from Michael’s.

I really love the designs on the tablescloth too.

To see over 300+ different tablescapes that I have created please click here. If you are on Facebook, join my Table Settings and Tablescape Ideas Facebook group (4,000+ members) for lots of tablescaping inspiration! Just click on the Facebook Search box at the top of the page and type in Table Settings and Tablescape Ideas or click here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2553689988183392

For lots of other Tablescaping DIY tips and tricks click here: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/tablescapehowto

If you live in Southern California join our Facebook tablescaping group Southern California Tablescapers BTS Group, (270+ members) and click here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/440356398581157 We had a gathering for tablescapers last year in the Los Angeles area and we hope to have others in the future.

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

This blog post was featured at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage, https://www.mizhelenscountrycottage.com/ Please visit this blog for lots of great recipes!

A Sealed with a Kiss Valentine Tablescape

February 02, 2026 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

This Red Lips Valentine’s Day tablescape idea was supposed to be posted last year but other themes bumped it a year. As it was, I hadn’t found everything that I wanted to use on it until this year anyway. I found the S.W.A.K. (Sealed With A Kiss) tablecloth on Spoonflower on sale and I had to have it. There is a personal story about that phrase that I will explain later in this blog post. If you want to see the eleven other different Valentine’s Day tablescapes that I have done and 290+ other tablescapes of mine you can see them all on my blog here: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/tablescapes .

Last year I bought a salad plate with red lips on it to use on this tablescape but it also had pink stripes and I decided to use it some other time and concentrate on the colors red, black, and white for this tablescape. I couldn’t find a salad plate with red lips that I liked so I found these resin small red lips on Etsy and I set them on a small appetizer size black plate that I had. From time to time I have done this before, adding small items to a salad plate to help carry out the theme of the tablescape when I couldn’t find a plate that I liked that followed the theme. These plates are marked 10 Strawberry Street, Classic Black Porcelain. I probably bought them at HomeGoods.

This is a Fiesta salad plate in the color Scarlet. They are part of our everyday dish set. We bought them when we remodeled our kitchen a few years ago because our kitchen is red and white. It would be a great choice if you need a basic red salad plate for your tablescaping collection. We bought these plates at Macy’s. I added a fourth plate to the plate stack on this tablescape because I wanted a certain color sequence.

These black porcelain dinner plates match the black appetizer plates that are on this tablescape. These plates are also marked 10 Strawberry Street, Classic Black Porcelain. If you plan to start tablescaping, buying a basic black dinner plate is a must, you will use it often. I probably bought these plates at HomeGoods or on Ebay several years ago.

This is a Mikasa Color Spectrum Charger in the color Alpine White. I have this charger in several different colors and I bought them all on Ebay as I saw them over a few years. The Internet says that this pattern was only made between 1992 and 1993. I am not sure that is true but in any case they are no longer being manufactured. I have been trying to get six of this pattern and color for years with no success until a few years ago when I suddenly found six of these chargers at different places online after occasional google searches. You need to have patience when you are looking for things for tablescaping, that’s for sure!

I was planning to use red flatware on this tablecape but when I tried it, it just didn’t look right so I changed to white flatware. I bought this frosted white flatware set on sale online at Wayfair several years ago, it was made by Cambridge. It is 18/0 instead of 18/10 so the fork tines are a bit sharper than I would like but I really liked the frosted color. I use this set often. If you are going to buy colored flatware, white is a good color to start with and then I would buy red, black, and green. Those seem to be the flatware colors that I use the most. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

I can’t remember where I bought these white napkins, I have had them for a while. These ZXFINTV metal red lips napkin rings came from Walmart last year. To read about the What, Where, and How of napkin rings please click here.

I found these GlikCeil wood red lips place card holders on Amazon last year. They were gold but Hubby painted them red for me. To read about the what, where, and how of place card holders, please click here.

I think the red glass goblet on the left came from Crate and Barrel a few years ago. I had been looking for some simple red goblets and I grabbed these when I saw them online. I only bought six and I wished I had bought more but Hubby found six other red glass goblets at HomeGoods that are so similar you can’t tell the difference. The goblet with the black bowl and clear stem on the right was made by Classic Touch and it is called V-Shaped Water Glass, Black With Clear Stem. I bought them at Houzz online a few years ago. These goblets are both tall goblets and I like that because my table is large and I think taller goblets look better on it. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying goblets for your tablescaping collection including the colors that I use most often here.

I bought the red lips resin bookends that I am using as a centerpiece on this tablescape on Amazon. I set them on a small black cake stand that I had, I think I found it at HomeGoods several years ago. They were made by ZXFINTV. I can’t remember where I bought the smaller red lips planters that I set white candles in but if you google red lips planter something similar might pop up. When I saw the handcrafted cast iron XOXO metal letters on Amazon I decided that I would add them to this tablescape too. They were a black gray color but Hubby painted them white for me.

I met my husband when I was a freshman in high school and he was a sophomore. We grew up in a small town and everyone knew everyone. (We had danced together once in a dance class when I was in 7th grade and he was in 8th grade but that is another story!) We dated for a year starting at the end of my freshman year and then my parents divorced and I moved with my mother and brothers to Southern California after my sophomore year. My husband had another year of high school left. We saw each other from time to time and wrote letters to each other several times a week until he started attending a college in Southern California about an hour away from where I lived. We both saved the letters and cards we sent to each other over the years and there are a few hundred of them. I would write S.W.A.K. on the back of some of the letters that I sent him, I can still remember doing that. We pulled them down from a shelf up in the garage last week and I want to reread them before they go to the recycle bin. Hubby is having fun rereading all the funny cards that we sent each other over the years. When high school sweethearts end up marrying each other there are lots of long time great memories, that’s for sure!

For lots of other Tablescaping DIY tips and tricks click here: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/tablescapehowto

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

This blog post was featured at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage, https://www.mizhelenscountrycottage.com/ Please visit this blog for lots of great recipes!

A Winter Snowman Shenanigans Tablescape

January 26, 2026 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

I love snowmen and I try to create a new Snowman Tablescape every winter season when I can. You can see the three other Snowmen tablescapes that I have created together with 300+ other tablescapes that I have created on my blog here: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/tablescapes I bought the black and white plaid waffle weave tablecloth on Amazon. If you read my blog you saw some of the same elements that are on this tablescape on my Penguins Tablescape a few weeks ago. I tend to use some of the same color combinations on my tablescapes over and over and red and white and black are one of the color combinations that I like so if you read my blog you will have seen those colors together on my tablescapes from time to time.

These red and white snowman appetizer plates were sold by Crate and Barrel between 2006 and 2007 but I bought them on Ebay. I just love the bold red and white graphics on this plate.

These red dinner plates are made by Fiesta and the color is called Scarlet. This pattern and color are actually our every day dishes and I use them often on my tablescapes. You can read about what you need to think about when you are buying dinner plates here.

This is a Mikasa Color Spectrum Charger in the color Alpine White. I have this charger in several different colors and I bought them all on Ebay as I saw them over a few years. The Internet says that this pattern was only made between 1992 and 1993. I am not sure that is true but in any case they are no longer being manufactured. I tried to find six of this white color and pattern for years with no success until suddenly I found six at different places online a few years ago after occasional google searches. You need to have patience when you are looking for specific items for tablescaping, that’s for sure!

If you read my blog you have seen this Milano Red flatware set by Ginkgo International LePrix on many of my tablescapes. I have had this set for many years. I am not sure where I bought it. I now have it in other colors as well. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

I love these bright red cotton napkins, I can’t remember where I found them. These snowman napkin rings are a Johanna Parker design, I love her products! They match the snowman cookie jar centerpiece, To read about the What, Where and How of napkin rings please click here.

I found these snowman place card holders at Michael’s a few years ago. The ribbon was a tartan design but I bought a buffalo check ribbon on Amazon and changed it out. To read about the what, where and how of place card holders, please click here.

The white glass goblet on the left came from HomeGoods last year and it had a label that said Barsk Original. It’s difficult to find white goblets so I was happy to find this one. I found the hand-painted snowman goblet on the right at HomeGoods last year too. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying goblets for your tablescaping collection including the colors that I use most often here.

This wonderful Snowman cookie jar is another Johanna Parker design and it matches the snowman napkin rings on this tablescape. I love his top hat and his scarf and the red cardinal that he is holding. I set him on a small white cake stand to make him a bit taller.

I added a Mosser white milk glass salt and pepper set to this tablescape that I bought online from Everything Kitchens.

I added a red salt and pepper set by Brighter Barns to the tablescape that I found on Amazon.

For lots of other Tablescaping DIY tips and tricks click here: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/tablescapehowto

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

A Winter Snowy Day Tablescape

January 20, 2026 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

I tend to create a snow themed tablescape of some kind every winter. You can see the other winter themed tablescapes that I have done before together with 290+ other themed tablescapes that I have created here: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/tablescapes . I found this white tablecloth with a small blue snowflakes design at Spoonflower online.

I found these blue and white snow scene salad plates at HomeGoods. They remind me of the snow falling in the winter at our cabin. They are marked Intesa Home, premium porcelain, and they were made in Turkey. The phone camera makes them look more gray than they actually are.

The dinner plates had the same design as the salad plates so I decided to buy them as well.

I have a few different white chargers but this is the one that I seem to have used many times on my tablescapes. The beaded rim design always adds an additional bit of interest to a plate stack. This white beaded charger came from Williams Sonoma and it is called Antique Beaded. It was one of the first chargers I bought many years ago when I started tablescaping. I chose it for this tablescape because the beads around the rim of the plate have a gray tone and I knew that would work with the snow scene plates. A basic white charger is always a good purchase when you are starting a tablescaping collection.

My flatware photos always show the design on the tablecloth up close so it can easily be seen. I bought this frosted white flatware set on sale online at Wayfair several years ago, it was made by Cambridge. It is 18/0 instead of 18/10 so the fork tines are a bit sharper than I would like but I really liked the frosted color. The frosted handles remind me of snow. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying a flatware set here.

I can’t remember where I bought these white napkins, I have had them for a while. I can’t remember where I found the shiny metal snowflake napkin rings online either but a Google search will turn up several similar designs. To read about the What, Where, and How of napkin rings please click here.

I can’t remember where I found these silver metal snowflake place card holders but they are perfect for this tablescape. I found the place cards in my place cards drawer. I have place cards in all different sizes and colors now. To read about the what, where, and how of place card holders, please click here.

I can’t remember where I bought these blue goblets. I think they are hand blown Iris Blue Bubble Glass Goblets made by Artland. You can find them for sale online from time to time. I found these white goblets at Walmart online several years ago. They were made by Artland and the pattern was called Veranda. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying goblets for your tablescaping collection including the colors that I use most often here.

I saw the taller white trees in the background on this centerpiece online at Michael’s. I have been looking for some white trees for a while to use on my winter tablescapes so we bought them. The shorter trees in front came from Ballard Designs online on sale but when they arrived they were full of crazing, you can see it in the photo, and the online photos don’t show any crazing. I left a negative review, needless to say! Hubby found the silver metal tray at an estate sale.

For lots of other Tablescaping DIY tips and tricks click here: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/tablescapehowto

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

This blog post was featured at The Cottage Market, https://thecottagemarket.com/ and Life and Linda, https://www.lifeandlinda.com/ . Please visit these blogs, you will enjoy them!