See Shells on a Summer Tablescape

July 04, 2022 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

I used these blue shell plates on one of my early tablescapes eight years ago and then again two years ago but I have changed the other elements on the table for this Summer tablescape. This plate set is one of my favorites. The white polyester tablecloth probably came from Amazon or TableclothsFactory online a few years ago. I added my Waterford glass shell and a glass crab to the table for a bit of additional interest.

Bordallo Pinheiro Sea Shell Plates

I love the design of this blue shell salad plate. The raised design of all the shells and starfish really make these plates pop. I love the scallop shell surrounded by a rope in the center. Some of the salad plates in this pattern have a starfish in the center of the plate. They were made by Bordallo Pinheiro in Portugal and I bought them one at a time as I saw them on Ebay several years ago.

The dinner plate matches the salad plate except for the flat center of the plate. It took me a few years to get all the plates I needed in salad, dinner, and charger sizes. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying dinner plates here.

The charger plate has an additional circle of shells around the rim of the plate. I set them on a blue place mat that probably came from Pier 1 several years ago. To read about what you should be considering when you are buying chargers click here.

Reed & Barton Williamsburg Gloucester Shell Flatware

This seashell flatware set is special and one of my favorites. I love the shell designs on the end of the handles, there is a different shell for each of the four pieces. The flatware was made by Reed & 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. The shine on 18/10 flatware is amazing. I bought it a few place settings at a time over several months online at Amazon several years ago but it is still for sale online on other sites. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

Someone on Etsy made the blue shells napkins for me several years ago. I found the white shell napkin rings on Ebay a few years ago. 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 last year.

I love it when I buy two different tablescaping items at different times in different places and they end up matching each other. The plastic blue goblet on the left came from Pier 1 several years ago. I really like the height and shape of it and I have it in several different colors. Dollar stores sometimes have this style of plastic goblet for sale during the summer season in bright colors. Hubby found the glass blue goblet with a clear stem on the right at an estate sale a couple months ago, I wish they had had more for sale, I love this goblet. It is a perfect blue color and I predict I will be using it often. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying goblets (including the colors I use the most) for your tablescaping collection here.

I found this large shell bowl at HomeGoods several years ago. I have used it on six different ocean themed tablescapes over the years including this one. I filled it with flat blue glass marbles and a few white sea shells and I set it on a blue placemat. Every time I go to HomeGoods I wander around looking for ideas for centerpieces.

This tablescape reminds me of how much I love looking for sea shells and sea glass along the ocean.

To see 160+ other tablescapes that I have created including 11 other Ocean themed tablescapes 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 (or here) for more tablescaping tips and tricks.

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

A Row Boat Family Tradition on a Tablescape

June 27, 2022 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

This is a special tablescape. It honors a family tradition that is over 60 years old and that involves a mountain lake, a row boat, a magnet, and a rower with keen eyesight. Some of you readers may well have participated in our family tradition over the years decades ago because two sets of eyes are always better than one and it helps to have someone rowing and someone securing. It is a tradition that I still truly enjoy and hope to do again soon.

This family tradition started when I was about seven on this lake in the Eastern Sierra in California. This is a photo of me at about that age although our row boat is not in the photo. (It is a very old slide and the quality isn’t very good.) I learned to row a boat at that age. My father tied a long rope to one of those bushes and to the row boat and I would row the boat out to the end of the rope and then pull myself back in with the rope and repeat the process over and over. Soon after that I joined the family tradition. I actually got very good at rowing after a while, better than some of my brothers because I did it more often. That still applies to this day!

Our family did not fish for fish, we fished for lures. In those days lures were usually made of a magnetic metal. Fishermen would fish along the edge of the lake and lose their lures when they caught them on logs under the water. Luckily this lake and others nearby were shallow around the edge of the lake and the lures could be reached with a magnet on a long strong piece of heavy string. It was tricky because you had to position the boat over the lure so that you could see it well enough to touch it with the magnet. Sometimes the lure was stuck and you had to hit it with the magnet a few times to free it. The magnet we used was small, heavy, and very strong and we still use it. After a few years we sometimes took a long pole with us in the boat in case we had to dislodge the lure from the wood if it was really stuck. The row boat needed to be small and easy to move around. If the boat drifted away from above the lure’s location you had to maneuver it back into position. When I was alone I often had a oar in the water as well as the magnet on the string to help stabilize the boat and keep it from drifting.

The best time to fish for lures was early on a sunny morning when there was no wind and the lake was like glass. The lure would be reflected and shine in the sunlight and they could easily be spotted under the water even from a distance. I hold the record for the most lures found on one day (on two lakes), 101 lures. I also hold the record for the most found on one day on one lake, 50. (I think those days were at the very beginning of fishing season or at the very end when lots of lures had been lost.) We had a journal that we kept when we were at the cabin and all lure gathering numbers were carefully documented often with a witness counting. My family had a small mountain cabin within walking distance of two lakes and we had a small wooden row boat on each lake for fishing for lures. We were lucky because you need shallow water to fish for lures and both these lakes had shallow water that went out a distance before the lake got deep.

This is a slide photo of me as a teenager fishing for lures. (We used that net as a pole too.)

We ended up with over 1,000 lures and we displayed them by type on cork board in the cabin as the collection grew. We gave some away from time to time to make more room. (Someone gave us a jigsaw puzzle with lures on it and you can see it in this photo too.)

Six years ago on one of my special birthdays my brothers bought me another small white boat. This photo is of me using it for the first time and yes, I did have the magnet, and I did get two lures! The boat is stored at our mountain cabin and the tradition continues! Now back to the tablescape.

As soon as I saw the row boat on this salad plate at Bed, Bath & Beyond online earlier this year I flashed back to fishing for lures and I knew I had to do a tablescape to honor our family tradition using row boats to fish for lures. This plate is called Blue Speckle Sleep In Accent Salad Plate and it is labeled Everyday White Porcelain by Fitz and Floyd.

There are two different plate designs in this series, this is the other one. It is called Blue Speckle Lake Explore Accent Salad Plate and it is labeled Everyday White Porcelain by Fitz and Floyd. This image really reminds me of one of the lakes near our current mountain cabin.

I bought these blue plates online a few years ago at Ballard Designs, I think they are called Southern Living. They are about 11 1/2” in diameter, a good size to be either a dinner plate or a charger. I love plates that will work for either! You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying dinner plates here.

I didn’t like the shade of any of my red chargers on this tablescape so Hubby went to the Dollar Store and bought six chargers and spray-painted them the perfect red color for me. We have done this before and it is an inexpensive way to create a charger that is the perfect color for your tablescape. To read about what you should be considering when you are buying chargers click here.

I seem to be in a rut with this red flatware set. I have used it on my last three tablescapes and now this one too. It is often in use during July (as well as other months too). The set is called Milano Red Ginkgo International LePrix. I have had this set for years but it is still for sale. I am not sure where I bought it. I use it often when I need a more informal red flatware set for a tablescape. You can see it on a Grinch Tablescape that I did for Christmas here. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

The red, white, and blue plaid napkins came from either Pier 1 or HomeGoods several years ago. The fabric is kind of a seersucker material. Hubby was a great help with this tablescape including these napkin rings. We found the small boats and then the small oars on Etsy and he painted them and then glued them together for me. I had some napkin rings that I didn’t like so he took them apart and glued that white ring to these row boats. They turned out really cute I think. This navy blue polyester tablecloth probably came from TableclothsFactory online a few years ago.

These tiny row boats came from Party Swizzle online. When I saw them, I knew I could use them as place card holders on this tablescape.

I used this red glass goblet on my last three tablescapes too and now this one as well. I can’t remember where I found it last year. If I were starting a tablescaping collection, a red goblet would be one of my first purchases. I use them often. The blue acrylic goblet on the right came from Pier 1 several years ago. I really like the height and shape of it and I have it in several different colors. Dollar stores sell them sometimes in different colors in acrylic and in glass. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying goblets for your tablescaping collection here.

I bought this small row boat on Amazon a few months ago but it looked very different then. It was a distressed white color and was partly draped with a net and sea shells. Hubby removed all that for me and painted it. He actually made the oars out of pieces of wood and then painted them as well. I added some small white rocks to the table for the boat to sit on.

I added some red glass salt and pepper sets to the table as well.

Here’s wishing I was out on a lake fishing for lures right now, with the perfect conditions though, no wind and plenty of sun!

To see 260+ 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 (or here) for more tablescaping tips and tricks.

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

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 2025.

This blog post was featured at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage, https://www.mizhelenscountrycottage.com/ Lots of great recipes there, check it out!

Parties on a 4th of July Tablescape

June 21, 2022 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

I have been wanting to do this tablescape for about 15 years. I bought the donkey and elephant small pitchers (left of the centerpiece and partly hidden in this photo) about 20 years ago at a local gift shop that is now closed. Once I started tablescaping I started looking for what else I could add to a table setting with them. It has taken me this long to pull it all together. I am only posting this tablescape on a very few sites, I don’t want to create drama for anyone. Please, no political comments, let’s all just enjoy all the red, white, and blue together. The white cotton tablecloth may have come from HomeGoods several years ago.

The only political parties ceramic plates that I could find were really expensive so I decided to buy donkey and elephant patches on Etsy and just put them on a simple white salad plate for a fun accent. I bought these plain white salad plates at HomeGoods when I started tablescaping several years ago because I knew I would need some white plates of various sizes. The back of the plate is marked Gibson Elite bone china.

I am using our everyday Fiesta Scarlet dinner plates on this tablescape. I have this dinner plate in a few different basic colors now. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying dinner plates here.

Mikasa Color Spectrum Chargers

This charger was made by Mikasa and the pattern was called Color Spectrum. They came in several different colors and this color was Royal Blue, I love this shade of blue. I bought them on Ebay several years ago, a few at a time as I saw them until I had the number that I needed. I used this charger on my last two 4th of July tablescapes last week and the week before. You can see those tablescapes here and here.

This red placemat probably came from Pier 1 many years ago. I have this one in several different colors.

Milano Red Ginkgo International LePrix Flatware

This flatware set is called Milano Red Ginkgo International LePrix. I have had this set for years but it is still for sale. I am not sure where I bought it. I use it often when I need a more informal red flatware set for a tablescape. You can see it on a Candy Cane Christmas tablescape that I did here. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

Republican Napkins

I found the Republican and Democrat napkins on Etsy last year, just what I was looking for for this tablescape. The white metal star napkin rings came from Amazon last year. The set came with red and blue stars also, six stars to a set.

Democrat Napkins

Democrat Place Card Holders

I found the donkey and elephant photo/balloon holders online at Christmas Central online. As soon as I saw them I knew I could use them as place card holders.

Republican Place Card Holders

I love the colors of these goblets for a 4th of July tablescape. I can’t remember where I found the red glass goblet a couple of years ago. I found the blue plastic goblet on the right at HomeGoods last year. They were made by Rachel Zoe. They are the perfect color for this tablescape but I can’t recommend buying them because it took a great deal of effort to get the labels off of the outside of the bowl and the bottom. Usually I can soak things in water for a bit and the labels will come right off but these goblets took Goo-Gone and lots of elbow grease to get the labels off, very time consuming, and a real pain! You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying goblets (including the colors I use the most) for your tablescaping collection here.

Republican Table Setting

Democrat Table Setting

Uncle Sam Centerpiece

I was looking for a neutral type centerpiece and remembered my Uncle Sam nutcracker. I have had him for many years, not sure where he came from. He always comes out around the 4th of July.

Political Parties Pitchers

These small political party donkey and elephant pitchers are what started the idea of a political parties tablescape. They came from a wonderful local gift shop that has been closed for several years now unfortunately. They are labeled Gift Gallery by Fitz and Floyd.

Jim Shore Political Parties Figures

These guys caught my eye several years ago and because we are a two political parties household, I knew they had to come home with me. I can’t remember where I found them. They are from Jim Shore’s Heartwood Creek 2015 collection and they are called Patriotic Pride.

I love decorating for the 4th of July! I have created several different Fourth of July Tablescapes during the past several years. You can see other 4th of July tablescapes that I have done here.

To see over 270 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

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, click here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/440356398581157 We are planning a gathering for tablescapers in January in the Los Angeles area..

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

Lady Liberty on a 4th of July Tablescape

June 20, 2022 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

I was working on two other ideas for Fourth of July tablescapes when I saw this ceramic Statue of Liberty figure online at Michael’s a few years ago. We went down to the store and they still had one and I decided that I would try to create a tablescape around it. I am not sure where I found the white cotton tablecloth, I have had it for several years.

As I do with every new tablescape theme that I am developing I started googling the subject that I was looking for, Statue of Liberty plates, and I found these dinner plates a few years ago. They are Corelle made by Corning. The plate says 1991 but I am not sure if that is the year that they were made or not. I bought a few on Ebay and a few on Poshmark. Because I didn’t want to cover up the design on this dinner plate I didn’t add a salad plate to this table setting. I like the red and blue stripe around the rim.

Mikasa Color Spectrum Chargers

This red placemat probably came from Pier 1 many years ago. I have this one in several different colors.

Milano Red Ginkgo International LePrix Flatware

I found these plastic white Statue of Liberty figures on Etsy a few years ago, they are actually ornaments, but I knew I could use them on this tablescape. I temporarily taped them to a red ceramic napkin ring that I have had for several years. I can’t remember where I found them. I had someone on Etsy make the napkins for me last month. I told her I wanted a Statue of Liberty design and she found this material. I love it!

I found this Statue of Liberty paper designa few years ago on Etsy too. It was a section of a larger card that opened to a 3-D Statue of Liberty and I was planning to use the Statue part but when it came, it was the wrong shade of blue and didn’t match and it looked weird with everything else so I decided to just use this section. It is standing on a crystal place card holder that I bought at HomeGoods several years ago when I first started tablescaping. They were made by Oleg Cassini. They are heavy and solid and I really like the design.

I can’t remember where I found this red glass goblet. I found the blue plastic goblet on the right at HomeGoods a few years ago. They were made by Rachel Zoe. They are the perfect color for this tablescape but I can’t recommend buying them because it took a great deal of effort to get the labels off of the outside of the bowl and the bottom. Usually I can soak things in water for a bit and the labels will come right off but these goblets took Goo-Gone and lots of elbow grease to get the labels off, very time consuming, and a real pain! You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying goblets (including the colors I use the most) for your tablescaping collection here.

Ashland Statue of Liberty from Michael’s

I have seen lots of Lady Liberty figures over the years and often the details are poorly executed. I really like the design elements on this one. It was made by Ashland and it is very well done. It is sitting on a dark blue drink dispenser stand from Pottery Barn that I bought many years ago.

Mosser Glass Red Salt and Pepper Set

I love red glassware so I decided to add a Mosser Glass red salt and pepper set to this 4th of July tablescape. I bought this set online at The Vermont Country Store a few years ago. The Mosser Glass Company was established in 1971 and it is located in Cambridge, Ohio. They sell high quality American made glassware and I love their products. I have a few sets of their goblets and a few cake stands too and if you read my blog you have seen their goblets on some of my tablescapes. You can see photos of one of the green Mosser goblets that I own on a tablescape here.

I can’t remember where I found this dark red glass salt and pepper set but it was probably Ebay a few years ago. A reader tells me that they were made by Avon, their Cape Cod collection.

Just for fun I added a photo with an embroidery that I found on Ebay many years ago that I had framed when our family room was decorated with Americana. That room’s decor has changed but this is still hanging in a corner of the room because it is a favorite of mine.

I have been listening to Neil Diamond singing America while I wrote this, very appropriate I must say!

I love decorating for the 4th of July! I have created several different Fourth of July Tablescapes during the past several years. You can see several other 4th of July tablescapes that I have done here.

To see over 270 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

If you live in Southern California join our Facebook tablescaping group Southern California Tablescapers BTS Group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/440356398581157 . We had a gathering in January 2025 and we plan to have others as well.

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