Anchors Await on a Summer Tablescape

July 08, 2020 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

I have been wanting to use these anchor salad plates in a tablescapes but it has been a struggle to match them with anything. The background of these salad plates has the same color as the dinner plates but the phone camera changes all the blue and green tones so that it looks like the various pieces don’t match. I definitely need to move away from tables with turquoise, seafoam, teal, or aquamarine colors for awhile! The phone camera just doesn’t portray the colors accurately. I think I tried four different tablecloths and none of them were the correct color shade so I ended up with white. I have found several simple polyester tablecloths in various colors on Amazon including this one.

I bought these anchor plates at HomeGoods a few years ago. They are heavy melamine and they were made by Cynthia Coulter Home Designs. They appear on Ebay from time to time still. During spring and summer there are so many different cute plate designs available in melamine now.

This dinner plate is a much prettier color than this photo shows, it is a beautiful turquoise green color. I bought them at HomeGoods several years ago. They were made in Portugal.

When I saw these place mats online at Pier 1 a few years ago I immediately thought of all my beachie and ocean creature dishes and I knew these would match some of them. How I miss our Pier 1 store!

I bought this set of plastic bamboo flatware online somewhere several years ago after I saw it in a tablescaping blog. I can’t remember where I bought it but I have seen similar sets online at various sites. It’s a fun set to use on Summer table settings.

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 outside napkin came from Pier 1 a few years ago. The colors really match the colors in the place mat. I found the anchor napkins on Amazon a few years ago. The background is more green blue than this photo shows.

Can’t remember where I bought these anchor place card holders. They were originally gray and I bought two sets and Hubby painted one set white and one set black for me.

The acrylic goblet on the left came from Pier 1 a few years ago. I can’t remember where I found the one on the right but it may have been Pier 1 as well.

The larger white anchor came from HomeGoods a few years ago. I am always on the look out when I go there for larger objects that I can use as centerpieces. The next larger anchor came from Hobby Lobby online a few years ago. It was a dirty distressed beige with a tattered rope winding around it but Hubby cleaned it up and repainted it for me. The small anchor was part of a three piece tea light holder set but Hubby unscrewed it from the base for me and repainted it too. I put it on another glass tea light holder for more height. I can’t remember where I found them. When I started tablescaping, I knew I was going to be creating many beachie tablescapes so for a few years I collected various beach and ocean related items so I would have them when I needed them. The anchors are all sitting on a wood stand I bought at Pier 1 a few years ago. It was natural wood but Hubby painted it white for me. Can’t remember where I got the turquoise netting but I think it may have been Amazon because that is always the first place I look for things.

I can’t remember where I bought these small tea light holders. When I started tablescaping I bought many of them and I have a whole cupboard full. I tend to forget that I have them!

Some of the tablescapes that I create are ones that I love and some are ones that I like. This one is definitely a like one but I am already thinking about next week’s!

Anchors await a seafood dinner maybe!

To see 220+ other tablescapes that I have created including 18 other Ocean and Nautical themed tables 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.

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 next year in January.

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

A Crab Bisque for Dinner Beach Tablescape

July 01, 2020 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

I saw this large cast aluminum crab online at Grandin Road earlier this year and I knew it would make a great centerpiece someday. I think it is supposed to be yard art. It had a weathered copper finish but Hubby painted it red for me. This table is a repeat of a crab table I did last year, see that one here . But I changed several of the design elements. The tablecloth was made by Tommy Bahama and I bought it at HomeGoods a few years ago.

I loved these small crab bowls the minute I saw them on Ebay a few years ago. I love the claws and the tiny face. The bottom is marked PV and Made in Czechoslovakia.

I was googling crab plates and these popped up online from Pfaltzgraff last year. They were on major sale and are microwave and dishwasher safe. The orange-red border is a fun addition to the plate design.

I bought these blue melamine plates at Crate and Barrel a couple years ago. I have them in red also.

Using my Cambria stoneware charger from Pottery Barn as a dinner plate on this table. I love this plate, I also have it in pale blue and sage green. It is the perfect size to be either a dinner plate or a charger plate. I love plates that have that kind of versatility. I use this plate several times a year on tablescapes.

Not sure where I found the blue glass chargers. I have had them for several years. They are good quality and a heavy glass. I like the design in the glass.

I bought the frosted white flatware on sale online at Wayfair a few years ago, it is made by Cambridge. It is 18/0 so the fork tines are a bit sharper than I would like but I really liked the frosted color and the simple design.

I looked all over for orange-red crab napkin rings with no luck. Found lots of metal and blue ones but nothing the right color. I had bought these small crabs on Amazon to use as table scatter but they were shiny red when they arrived. Hubby was going to spray paint them orange-red and my daughter was over and I was telling her about my bad luck finding napkin rings and she suggested that I turn these into napkin rings, genius! So Hubby bought plain wood rings and spray painted them all and glued the crab to the ring and viola, cheap napkin rings! The red napkins probably came from HomeGoods several years ago. I found the ocean print napkins on Etsy earlier this year. Etsy is a great place to find themed napkins in all kinds of different designs. I love the way the plate stack looks in this photo. The red placemats came from Pier 1 many years ago.

I love these crab place card holders, I found them at Pottery Barn last year and they were red but Hubby spray painted them for me so they would be more of an orange red tone.

I used my red Waterford Marquis Brookside goblets for this table setting. I bought them at HomeGoods several years ago. If you read my blog you have seen this goblet in many tablescapes. They are for sale on Ebay from time to time. As I have said before, if I were starting a tablescaping hobby, a set of red goblets would be one of my first purchases. They can be used several times a year. The dark blue acrylic goblets came from Pier 1 on sale a couple months ago. It’s difficult to see but they have a rope design around the top of the goblet. So sad that Pier 1 is closing.

The crab centerpiece is sitting on a small wood stand I bought online at Pier 1 last month. I covered the stand with one of the ocean design napkins to add more interest. The stand is natural wood but I think I will have Hubby paint it white for me.

I found this crab salt and pepper set on Ebay a couple years ago. I like to add a bit of whimsy to my tables sometimes. Ebay is a great place to find interesting salt and pepper sets.

Now to find a delicious crab bisque recipe!

To see over 50 other tablescapes that I have created, click here

I add a new tablescape to my blog every Thursday so please check back!

Amanda Peoples Gardner and the paper trail she left behind that defined her

June 30, 2020 by Beth Wilson in Genealogy

This is a photo of my Great-Great-Grandmother on my father’s paternal side, Amanda Peoples Gardner. It is a tintype, a kind of photography that was introduced in the United States in 1856 and was popular until about 1867. This was probably taken in the late 1860’s or early 1870’s when Amanda was in her thirties. Amanda had a short life and the small paper trail she left behind provides more questions than answers about her.

Amanda Peoples was born 8 July 1838 in Jefferson County, Ohio, the daughter of Robert and Anna (Palmer) Peoples. By the 1850 Census (see above) the family was living in Rome Township, Athens County, Ohio. Amanda was 12 and attending school, the second youngest of 9 children. There is no indication of any physical or mental problem listed for her in the far right column where it would be posted.

Amanda married James Monroe Gardner 15 December 1859, in Meigs County, Ohio after her family moved there from Athens County. She was 21.

Meigs County, Ohio Marriages, Volume 2, page 342.

In July 1860 James and Amanda were living in Lebanon Township, Meigs County, next to James’s Aunt Frances (Gardner) Smith and her family. James was a successful farmer with land and personal property worth $1200. Their first child, William Sidney Gardner (my Great-Grandfather), was born in January 1861 at Guthrie Mills, in Orange Township, Meigs County. Their second child, Lucinda Haddasa Gardner, was born in Bowling Green, in Warren County, Kentucky in June 1864. James’s aunt Lucinda (Gardner) Bolla was living with her family in Bowling Green in 1860 and her husband William Henry Bolla started working for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad before 1865. James and Amanda may have been visiting them at that time or James may have been traveling while Amanda stayed with them. Although James started as a farmer, he ultimately became a bridge builder for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad which meant he must have traveled quite a bit working on the Railroad. The L & N Railroad was finished in 1859 with 187 miles of track in use and by 1861 the Railroad had 269 miles of track. James’s uncle by marriage, Henry Bolla, may have helped him obtain the Railroad position. James and Amanda’s third child, James Clinton, was born in Ohio in February 1867 but he died about a month later in March 1867. He was buried in the Keno Cemetery in Meigs County, where Amanda’s mother was buried and later, her father as well. This was undoubtedly a very difficult time for Amanda with the death of a child and her husband gone much of the time and apparently she was suffering from some kind of mental illness.

On 2 August 1867 John Q. Adams who had been married to Amanda’s sister until she died in July 1867 brought Amanda into Court after the Court sent him a warrant ordering him to do so. One wonders where James was at this point although with his work he must have traveled quite a bit. Family stories say that he kept the railroad tracks working during the Civil War and was captured more than once and then released when they found out what his work involved. The Court declared Amanda insane and said it was of less than 2 years duration. The Court determined that she was a legal resident of Chester Township and was not dangerous. A doctor was ordered to file his certificate as medical witness and his records and the records of the Court were to be sent to the Superintendent of the Central Ohio Lunatic Asylum.

On the 14th of September in 1867 on motion made by __________ Gardner the Court said that he was a suitable person appointed to take Amanda to the Central Ohio Lunatic Asylum and he was ordered to do so “with all convenient speed”. It is not known whether this was James or another Gardner. By the summer of 1868 Amanda must have been back home again because their fourth child, son Harry was born in Louisville in early May 1869.

The 1869 Louisville City Directory shows the family living at 335 13th Street and James is a bridge builder for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad.

As shown above in the 1870 Census, the family was living in Louisville and doing very well. James was a bridge builder and had $6,000 worth of real estate. Amanda is apparently well and at home. The next page of the Census shows a cook and Ella Peoples, aged 15 living with the family. Ella was probably a niece of Amanda’s. In 1871 Amanda lost another child when son Edwin was born in Louisville in February 1871 and died in June of that year. Daughter Mary Eliza was born in March 1872 in Louisville but by the time son Robert was born in September 1874 the family was living in Dover, Lee County, Iowa. James bought land there in 1875. The last child John was born there in February 1877.

In the 1880 Census taken on June 3rd in Franklin Township, Lee County, Iowa, Amanda is listed as “In Insane Hospital” suffering from “Mania” So she must have been sent away again.

James and Amanda’s children including my Great-Grandfather, William Sidney Gardner, on the back left. Photo taken about 1885.

Amanda Gardner died 7 March 1884 at the age of 45 and was buried in the Clay Grove Cemetery in Lee County, Iowa near the farm where her family lived. Her tombstone is next to her husband and her father-in-law and mother-in-law. They all died within a few years of each other.

Her obituary said her “mind has not been just right for the last 16 years” but she died at home with her family. James apparently was out of state when she died and he remarried one month later. One has to wonder about those circumstances. James died two years later and his will stated that the younger children were to stay with their step-mother but the older children soon bought out their step-mother and she apparently left. James’s will also stated that the children were not to be under the control of Amanda’s two maiden sisters so there must have been some ill will there as well. These two sisters stayed close to family members and moved to Nebraska where William and his family later relocated.

This obituary written by Amanda’s sister a few months after her death said that “She was troubled with weakness of mind for some years and was an inmate of Mt. Pleasant Asylum. This was caused by opposition to her religious faith.” What that all means is impossible to determine now and one can only wonder about the other events of her short life.

A Let's Bee Happy Tablescape

June 24, 2020 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

I have been wanting to redo my Bee tablescape from last year for a while. You can see it here. I wanted to use a yellow tablecloth and I found this yellow seersucker tablecloth at Macys this month. The bright blue placemats came from Juliska online a few years ago. I wish they still had them in different colors because they are well made.

I found the bee salad plates at HomeGoods last year. They have no label except made in china. I didn’t like the brightness of the white circle so I found bee table scatter (tiny wood bees) on Amazon and scattered them on the white circle, problem solved. I love the wicker pattern and the added flowers and bee designs are just enough.

The dark blue plate is by Ballard Designs, Southern Living. I think I bought them online at Ballard Designs a few years ago. I love the ruffled edge on these plates, I love plates that have an unusual rim design.

These sunflower dinner plates are made by Fiesta and I bought them at Macys about 6 years ago when I started tablescaping. I have these plates in a few different colors because they are a good plate to use for tablescaping as a basic dinner plate in a plate stack.

This is a Color Spectrum charger by Mikasa, the color is Sun Yellow. I bought these chargers on Ebay a few at a time because I love the quality and the strong colors. I have them in several colors now.

I saw this bee flatware on another tablescaper’s blog a few years ago and I finally decided that I had to have them. They are one of the reasons why I designed this tablescape originally. They are made by Wallace, pattern Napoleon Bee, and they are 18/10, really good quality. I love the bees on the end of the handles.

The yellow and white checked napkins came from Sur la Table, they sometimes have good sales on their table linens online. I found the blue napkins on Etsy. I was looking for napkins with a bee design and as soon as I saw the tiny bee design on these, I knew they would be perfect. I found the bee napkin rings after googling bee napkin ring, sometimes that really works when I need something special. They were made by PC Fallon Co.. The colors on these napkin rings work perfectly on this table.

The cobalt blue glass goblets came from The Vermont Country Store. They are made by Mosser in the United States and the pattern is Georgia. They are really heavy glass and very good quality. I have bought a few at a time over the years. I also have them in a beautiful dark green that I often use at Christmas time and they come in red as well. The yellow glass goblet was made by Noritake, it’s called Yellow Perspective. These were made between 1970 and 1983 and I found them on Ebay. I have this goblet in a cobalt blue and sage green.

Using a cookie jar for a centerpiece is such an easy choice. I found this bee hive cookie jar at HomeGoods in February before things changed and we couldn’t go shopping. It matched the plates that I bought last year. I have a tall pitcher and some other dishes in this pattern as well.

I bought this salt and pepper set last year when I bought the plates. I have a weakness for cute salt and peppers! I have had the small glass bee for many years. I started collecting glass animals when I was a child and continued until I ran out of room. This is part of that collection.