Frost and Fur, a Winter Polar Bear Tablescape

There’s a story behind this Polar Bear Tablescape. My husband loves polar bears and he collected them for many many years. Even now he usually gets a small one of some kind every Christmas as a gift. He has so many polar bear ornaments that we put a polar bear swag up around the door to his den sometimes at Christmas. This year our daughter gave him a polar bear tracking gift that actually tracks a live polar bear on a map. Right now it is in the middle of the Hudson Bay (the Bay is frozen over), it’s fun to watch it move around. I did a polar bear tablescape five years ago, and another one three years ago, but I changed this one a bit from those. I bought the white polyester tablecloth on Amazon several years ago. I bought the small centerpiece snowflake quilt table topper on Etsy several years ago. I love supporting small businesses on Etsy that sell unique items.

When I saw these melamine polar bear salad plates at Crate and Barrel several years ago I knew I had to add them to my collection of dishes because of Hubby’s love for polar bears. I love the polar bear face design on these plates. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying salad plates here.

This stoneware charger or dinner plate came from Pottery Barn several years ago. I love this plate, I also have it in several other colors. The pattern is called Cambria. It is the perfect size to be either a dinner plate or a charger plate, I love plates that have that kind of versatility. A simple red dinner plate is a great addition to a tablescaping collection, you will use it often. You can read about what you need to think about when you are buying dinner plates here.

This Milano Red flatware set is called Ginkgo International LePrix. I have had this set for several years but it is still for sale. Not sure where I bought it. I now have it in several other colors as well. I like the simple informal design on this flatware set. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

I bought these DII spun red polyester napkins recently on Amazon and I am really happy with them. They are a true red color. I found the wood polar bear napkin rings on Etsy several years ago. To read about the What, Where, and How of napkin rings please click here.

These polar bear place card holders came from Crate and Barrel several years ago. The red place cards are from Amazon. To read about the what, where and how of place card holders, please click here.

If you read my blog you saw these goblets on my Valentine’s Day tablescape last week. Hubby found these red glass goblets at an estate sale several years ago. I think they are hand blown Iris Ruby Red Bubble Glass Goblets made by Artland. You can find them for sale online from time to time. 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 this ceramic Polar Bear cookie jar several years ago at Cheryl’s Cookies online, a retail cookie site. I just love him with his knitted cap, scarf, and sweater and his hot chocolate mug. It is a bit hidden but there is a seal on the mug. He is the perfect kitchen decoration to sit out all winter long.

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 (270+ members) here: 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 Life and Linda, https://www.lifeandlinda.com/ Please visit this blog, you will enjoy it!

A Silver Valentine's Day Tablescape

I have carried this tablescape idea around in my head for several years. I bought the centerpiece years ago and didn’t find the other things that I needed for the table until the past few weeks. This silver and red Valentine hearts tablecloth was designed by Rachel Zoe and I found it on Ebay. I had seen one at HomeGoods but passed it by and then later when I wanted one I had to go to Ebay to find it. Some people are in the business of buying inexpensive things at HomeGoods and then raising the price and selling them on Ebay. I try not to get involved in those buying situations but sometimes I have to because I didn’t buy things when I saw them the first time.

The silver items on this tablescape are difficult to photograph because of all the reflections. This is a prettier small silver dish than the photo shows. These small silver titanium finish heart dishes were made by Pampa Bay and I found them at Berings online recently.

These melamine red heart salad plates came from Crate and Barrel a few years ago.

This gray stoneware charger or dinner plate came from Pottery Barn a few years ago. I love this plate, I also have it in other colors. The pattern is called Cambria. It is the perfect size to be either a dinner plate or a charger plate and I love plates that have that kind of versatility.

I know the rule is don’t put a placemat on top of a tablecloth but I do it sometimes. In this case I wanted more red on the table and a certain color sequence on the place stack so I added red placemats to the table. I bought these placemats in several colors many years ago at our Pier 1 store before it closed.

This Milano Red flatware set is Ginkgo International LePrix. I have had this set for several years but it is still for sale. Not sure where I bought it. I have it in other colors as well. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

I bought these red polyester napkins on Amazon this week because I realized that I didn’t have simple napkins that were this shade of red. The silver aluminum heart napkin rings came from Ebay a few weeks ago. To read about the What, Where, and How of napkin rings please click here.

I bought these silver heart place card holders at Pottery Barn several years ago. To read about the what, where and how of place card holders, please click here.

Hubby found these red glass goblets at an estate sale several years ago. I think they are hand blown Iris Ruby Red Bubble Glass Goblets made by Artland. You can find them for sale online from time to time. 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 this silver colored heart at HomeGoods several years ago and I knew it would be a good size for a centerpiece. I set it on a red drink dispenser stand from Pottery Barn that I bought several years ago.

I decided to add a Mosser Glass red salt and pepper set to this 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.

A bit of a change from my usual red and white Valentine’s Day tablescapes but I like it.

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 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 The Cottage Market, https://thecottagemarket.com/ and Miz Helen’s Country Cottage, https://www.mizhelenscountrycottage.com/ . Please visit these blogs, you will enjoy them!

Hearts and Roses on a Valentine’s Day Tablescape

This was going to be a black and pink Valentine’s Day tablescape. As you can see, it ended up as something very different. That is often how things go with tablescaping. I found the tablecloth on Amazon several years ago, Ambesonne Shabby Flora Tablecloth, and I loved the pink roses so I bought it. My mother loved roses and I have a soft spot for them myself although I only have a few miniature roses. My garden is mostly full of geraniums and day lilies because they are really easy to grow.

I was searching online a few years ago for a pink heart salad plate and this one popped out. It was made by Pfaltzgraff and the pattern was called Tea Rose. As soon as I saw it I decided to go a different direction with this tablescape and I dropped the black idea and added roses to the theme. I remembered the roses tablecloth so I pulled it out to use.

If you read my blog you have seen my red Cambria chargers from Pottery Barn several times. They are one of my favorite chargers to use on my tablescapes. I think Pottery Barn is discontinuing this pattern so over the past few years I have added these chargers to my tablescaping collection in a few other colors including this celadon color. It is a somewhat neutral green color that goes well with several other colors including pink. It actually is serving as a dinner plate on this tablescape.

This pink frosted flatware set was made by Bugatti for Vietri and the pattern was Aladdin. I bought the set at Macys several years ago. I have several sets of frosted flatware, I really like the frosted design.

I bought the green napkin rings at Pier 1 a few years ago before the stores closed. The pink magnolia napkins are by Kate Spade, I found them on Ebay a few years ago. They actually don’t match the tablecloth but the colors and pattern are so similar that they work well together.

I found the small pink heart boxes online at Oriental Trading Company a few years ago. They could be used alone to lean a place card against or they could be used to hold party favors or both. I decided to use them as a stand for my rose place card holders to add some height to them. I bought these small pink rose place card holders a few years ago on Ebay. I love searching for vintage place card holders on Ebay, I have found some great ones over the years. These were called Georgian and according to the label, they are fine bone china. The mark on the bottom stands for Marks & Rosenfeld, a US giftware distributor in the 1950's and 1960's who commissioned their own range of ceramics and gift ware.

The green acrylic goblets came from our Pier 1 store before it closed several years ago. I looked for tall pink goblets for a couple of years and suddenly World Market had these a few years ago. They sold out quickly so others must have been looking for them too.

Hubby picked up these faux pink roses at Michael’s for me. I put them in a vintage pink pottery vase. I collected vintage pottery for a few years many years ago and this vase is part of that collection.

A bit of a change from my usual red and white Valentine’s Day tablescapes but I like it.

To see over 270 different tablescapes that I have created please click here. If you are on Facebook, join my new Table Settings and Tablescape Ideas Facebook group 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

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 The Cottage Market, https://thecottagemarket.com/ and Modern on Monticello, https://modernonmonticello.com/ Please visit these blogs, you will enjoy them!

Three Snowmen Tablescapes for Winter

I am reposting three snowmen tablescapes that I did in 2021, 2022, and 2023 because I am still behind a bit from our Southern California Tablescapers BTS Gathering this weekend. It has been cold here, at least cold for us this time of year, so snowmen seem to be an appropriate theme for this week’s tablescape.

This is the first Snowmen tablescape that I did after I started tablescaping. This blue and white gingham cotton tablecloth came from Amazon. I have bought many tablecloths on Amazon, I often look there first. These snow people salad plates were illustrated by Susan Winget and the series was called Snow Friends. There were four different salad plate designs in the series. They have been discontinued but they sometimes appear on the secondary market.

I love these snowman napkins rings. They were called Sweet Shoppe Christmas and they were made by Sango and designed by Susan Lipkin. I found them online at Replacements, Ltd.

I used my red Waterford Marquis Brookside goblets for this table setting. The dark blue acrylic goblets came from Pier 1 on sale several years ago 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.

I bought this snowman cookie jar at Target several years ago. He is sitting on a red Pottery Barn drink dispenser stand. During the Christmas season there are lots of snowmen cookie jars for sale and I must admit I now have about five of them that are different styles. I love all my cookie jars because they are the perfect size and make great centerpieces but they take up too much space in my storage areas!

More information about this Snowmen Tablescape here: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/blog/2021/1/10/a-winter-snowman-tablescape

This is the second tablescape that I put together, this one in 2022. Tablescaping in January can be a challenge. The holidays are over and Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day are off on the horizon. I wanted to post a snowman tablescape but finding snowman designs that don’t have any Christmas elements on them can be difficult. I finally found these snowman salad plates several years ago but I didn’t have a chance to use them on a tablescape until this tablescape. This sage green tablecloth came from Amazon several years ago. I love it and it washes and irons beautifully. I went back and bought a few other colors as well. It is called maxmill Jacquard Table Cloth Swirl Design.

These cute Snowman salad plates are made by Pfaltzgraff and the pattern is called Evergreen Ernie copyrighted by Diane Arthurs. They come in a set of four salad plates with four different designs. I love the blue, green, and brown colors, they are perfect for a winter tablescape and the birds are a cute addition.

The green acrylic goblet on the left came from our Pier 1 store before it closed several years ago. I think I bought the blue goblets on the right at Pier 1 several years ago too. When I started tablescaping I didn’t pay attention to the height of the goblets that I was buying and I soon learned that I like them to be taller like these two.

These tree candles all came from Crate and Barrel over the years. I can’t remember where I found the snow people candle holder, I have had it for many many years. It is labeled Center Street Design, Snow Couple.

This flatware set is labeled 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.

More information about this Snowmen tablescape here: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/blog/2022/1/14/a-snowmen-winter-tablescape

I created this Snowmen tablescape two years ago. I knew that I wanted to create a snowman themed tablescape after the Christmas season was over and I decided to use a buffalo check design. I found this black and white buffalo check tablecloth on Amazon. It is heavy cotton and it is really easy to iron with a steam iron.

I looked for a salad plate design that had a snowman with black and white buffalo check and couldn’t find anything. When that happens I often start looking for something to set on a solid colored salad plate and I always check Etsy. This is a circle of aluminum that has been painted. It was sold as a large ornament for a wreath but it was the perfect design for this tablescape. I set it on a square black glass salad plate. We found these black glass plates somewhere in Virginia while we were visiting our son and his family a few years ago. They were made by Luminarc France. They are salad or tidbit plates.

I turned to Etsy again to find a black and white buffalo check snowman design to use for a napkin ring. This design is custom printed on hardboard. I think I was lucky to find it! I just taped it temporarily to a simple white porcelain napkin ring that I had. These basic cotton black napkins came from Crate and Barrel.

This black flatware is Ginkgo International LePrix. I have had this set for several years and it came from Overstock.com. I have this set in a few different colors now.

I knew that I wanted black and white goblets for this tablescape. The goblet with the black bowl and clear stem on the left was made by Classic Touch and it is called V-Shaped Water Glass, Black With Clear Stem. I bought them at Houzz online several years ago. I have very very tall white goblets but I had been looking for shorter white ones for a long time. I finally found these white goblets at Walmart several years ago. They were made by Artland and the pattern is called Veranda.

I found this snowman cookie jar at Hobby Lobby a few years ago. I decided to set it on a small black cake stand that I had but it didn’t fit flat because of the rim on the stand so I turned the stand upside down and I actually love the way it looks.

There is more information about this Snowmen Tablescape here: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/blog/2023/12/30/snowmen-on-a-winter-tablescape

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

If you live in Southern California join our Facebook tablescaping group Southern California Tablescapers BTS Group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/440356398581157

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

I was recently asked to provide content for an article about entertaining guests for the Apartmentguide blog, https://www.apartmentguide.com/blog/how-to-make-guests-feel-welcome/ . Even if you are not an apartment renter you should check out this blog for great lifestyle articles. I enjoyed reading recent articles about entertaining for Super Bowl Sunday and Valentine’s Day.

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