A California Poppies Tablescape

June 12, 2024 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

I have always loved California Poppies and I have wanted to create a California Poppies tablescape for several years now but it took me a few years to gather it all together. I found this California Poppies tablecloth at Spoonflower online a few months ago. You can find tablecloths with poppies on them but California Poppies have a distinctive look, color, and shape, and I was so happy to find this tablecloth at Spoonflower online. I love Spoonflower tablecloths but this is the last one I will buy there. They have recently raised their prices and their tablecloths are now just too expensive.

I have looked for six salad plates to match this design for a few years now. I need six settings for my tablescapes and I just couldn’t find the last two plates with this design. If you look at the entire table closely you will see that a few of the plates don’t match the others. I finally found a fifth plate that was larger than the other four, (it is shown here) and another plate larger than this one with handles and I decided to go ahead and do the tablescape with them. Sometimes if you look closely at my tables there is an odd plate or two in the back of the photo that doesn’t exactly match the other salad plates when I can’t find six that match. If you look closely at the first photo here you can see the three different salad plate designs. One plate is smaller than the plate in front and the other one in the back left has handles. All the plates have a hand-painted poppy design on them and they are signed by the artist. This one is signed K. Obet and on the back of the plate it is labeled P.T., Bavaria, California Poppy, Handpainted. It is vintage 1920. The other salad plates are marked the same or Nippon, Handpainted. These plates are not to be used for food, they are just for show and they would be removed before the food is served.

This is a Fiesta dinner plate and the color is Butterscotch. I bought them a few years ago on sale at Smith’s in Salt Lake City. I bought six and now I wish I had bought more. I have this dinner plate in several different colors now and they are in constant use on my tablescapes. You can read about what you need to think about when you are buying dinner plates here.

I bought these iced glass sage colored chargers at Pier 1 several years ago after I saw them on another blog. I love using them in the spring and the fall. To read about what you should be considering when you are buying chargers click here.

I am using my Madeline Green flatware on this table, I bought it at World Market several years ago. I really like the frosted design on the handles. It is one of my most used flatware sets. If you are developing a tablescaping collection be sure to find some flatware in a green color like this set. You will use it often! You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

I think I bought these green cotton napkins at either World Market or Pier 1 several years ago. I can’t remember where I found these orange wood napkin rings but it may have been Ebay. To read about the What, Where and How of napkin rings please click here.

I decided to use my Oleg Cassini clear glass place card holders on this tablescape so that the tablecloth colors would show through. I bought them at HomeGoods several years ago when I first started tablescaping. They are heavy and solid and I really like the simple design. It’s handy to have a clear place card holder to use when you don’t have one to match your colors and theme. Whatever color or colors the tablecloth is will show through. To read about the what, where and how of place card holders, please click here.

The green acrylic goblet on the left came from Pier 1 several years ago. 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 found the California Poppies glass on the right at an antique mall in Cayucos on a trip up the coast a few months ago. I saw two in one store and I was so disappointed that there weren’t six so I moved on but at the next store, suddenly there were six for sale together! Serendipity! I really don’t think that they are vintage but I love them.

I found these California Poppies at Silk Flower Depot online. It was the only place I could find poppies that actually looked like California Poppies. The large white pottery vase is one of a pair that I inherited from my mother. She received them as a wedding present in 1938. I have used this vase several times on my tablescapes and it is very special to me.

I have a funny story about California Poppies. They are wildflowers and they can grow everywhere. In the spring the California hills can be full of them. And you can find them on the side of the road, in sidewalk cracks, a patch of dirt, anywhere, they just seem to grow wherever. I love them and I have tried to plant them from seed several times with absolutely no luck, no luck at all. It has gotten to be a family joke. They are everywhere but I can’t grow them. So, instead I created a tablescape full of them!

To see 260+ 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.

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!

Anchors Await on the Tablescape

June 05, 2024 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.

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

This blog post was featured at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage, https://www.mizhelenscountrycottage.com/ and My Wee Abode, https://myweeabode.com/ Please visit these blogs for lots of great ideas!

A Countryside Summer Tablescape

May 29, 2024 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

I found this glass bottle and metal centerpiece on a long weekend trip we took up the coast earlier this year. It was in a garden gift shop in Cambria. I had seen one before online on a tablescape and I loved it so when I saw this one I grabbed it! I think I bought the sage green tablecloth online on a tablecloth site several years ago but I can’t remember where.

I found these barn salad plates at a local store recently. They are marked Market Square. There were a few different barn scenes on the plates but I just bought this one. I love old barns.

This is one of my basic white dinner plates and I use it when I need a simple white plate. These dinner plates were made by Ralph Lauren and I found them at HomeGoods several years ago when I first started tablescaping. The back is labeled Ralph Lauren Club Porcelain. You definitely need a simple white dinner plate for your tablescaping collection. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying dinner plates here.

I wanted to use a brown charger on this table setting and I remembered these bronze hammered charger plates that I bought at Williams Sonoma several years ago. I really like the hammered design and they are a nice weight. To read about what you should be considering when you are buying chargers click here.

This flatware set is marked SR Showroom Italy. It was made by Zaffiro and I think I bought it on sale online at Horchow several years ago. The color is called Smoky and it looks like it has been discontinued. I really liked the simple design so I bought it in other colors as well. It is 18/10 stainless and a nice heavy set. The pieces are really longer in length than normal flatware. I have mentioned this before. If you are buying flatware and it isn’t 18/10 stainless always check the fork tines to make sure they have been filed enough and aren’t too sharp. Cheaper flatware often has this problem. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

Several years ago when I started tablescaping I bought napkins in several different colors at World Market and these green napkins came from there then. I bought the brown concave wood napkin rings at Pier 1 several years ago before our store closed. To read about the What, Where and How of napkin rings please click here.

I wanted to add a bit more color to the table so I decided to use these small white vase place card holders so I could add flowers to them. The flowers came from Michaels. The vases and the green place cards came from Amazon a few years ago. To read about the what, where and how of place card holders, please click here.

I just wanted simple goblets for this tablescape so we pulled these two. Hubby found the handblown green glass goblet on the left at an estate sale a couple of years ago. I joined estatesales.net and estatesales.org and I get emails every week that tell me what estate sales are going on in my area and it includes photos of everything that is for sale. I saw these green goblets for sale and Hubby got them for me, he likes going to estate sales. The clear glass goblet on the right is handblown as well. I can’t remember where I found them. 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 faux leaves and flowers at Michaels today. I think you can find the bottles centerpiece at Walmart right now.

I really love that glass and metal centerpiece!

I was asked to provide content for an article about summer interior design for Rentblog. Even if you are not a renter you should check out this blog for great lifestyle articles. I enjoyed reading recent articles about backyard design and pantry organization.

To see 220+ 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!

A California Dreaming Summer Tablescape

May 22, 2024 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

After last week’s Los Angeles tablescape I decided to do another tablescape with a vintage tablecloth, this time a vintage California souvenir tablecloth. Many years ago I collected vintage tablecloths for a few years and this California tablecloth was one of them. I probably bought it on Ebay. Because it is a small size I put it on top of a larger white cotton tablecloth that I have had for a long time.

I love the bright colors on this tablecloth. Some of my other California tablecloths are faded but this one has held more of its bright colors. I love the design and the graphics. It probably dates from before 1947 when the name of Boulder Dam was changed back to Hoover Dam.

I used my Fiesta Scarlet salad plates on this table setting. We use these plates every day. I bought them a few years ago when we remodeled the kitchen and changed it to white with red accents. I think I bought them at Macy’s.

This cobalt blue dinner plate appears to be Fiesta but it is unmarked. I can’t remember where I bought them online. I bought them in the last year or two. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying dinner plates here.

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

I am not sure where I bought this red Ginkgo Le Prix flatware set. I have had the set for several years and I have this pattern now in other colors as well, orange, black, yellow, and a darker moss green. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

I can’t remember where I bought the cotton royal blue napkins, I have had them for several years. Over the years I have shopped for napkins at HomeGoods, Pier 1, and World Market so they probably came from one of those stores. The napkin ring is a California magnet that I found at Amazon online. I attached it temporarily to a red plastic napkin ring that I have had for several years, I can’t remember where I bought them.

To read about the What, Where and How of napkin rings please click here.

I saw these small plastic palm trees on Amazon a few years ago. I decided to use them as place card holders on this table setting. Palm trees speak California to me. Our neighbor has a few palm trees in their yard.

To read about the what, where and how of place card holders, please click here.

Hubby found the red glass goblets on the left at an estate sale three years ago. I think they are hand blown Ruby Red Bubble Glass Goblets made by Artland. It can be difficult to find yellow glass goblets that don’t have a gold tint to them so when I saw these yellow goblets on Etsy three years ago I immediately bought them. I love the color and the size of them. They are similar to the red goblet but the stem is different. I have not been able to identify them. 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 found the vintage style California post cards that I put on the salad plates on Amazon.

Because I didn’t want to cover up anymore of the tablecloth than I had to on this tablescape, I used a simple centerpiece with a Fiesta blue vase and faux blue, yellow, and red flowers from Michaels.