Once Upon A Tablescape

I have been ready to post some Halloween tablescapes for a few weeks but I think that it is just a bit too early so I was scrambling to figure out some themes to do in the meantime and I remembered this children’s books tablecloth that I found on sale on Spoonflower earlier this year. I love the colorful children’s book spine graphics. It all came together fairly quickly.

I just love the variety of children’s titles and colorful graphics on this tablecloth.

Originally I was going to use my white book shaped plates on this tablescape but the white color was just too overpowering on this tablecloth so I pivoted and decided to use black square plates instead. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to find a salad plate with a children’s book cover design on it so I had Hubby make small rectangular paper scans of some of the book covers and laminate them for me to set on a small black appetizer plate. I found the black plastic appetizer plates on Amazon this week.

This is a Fiesta square dinner plate in the color called Green Meadow. I love Fiesta dinner plates. They come in lots of great colors. According to online information Fiesta is a line of ceramic glazed dinnerware manufactured and marketed by the Fiesta Tableware Company of Newell, West Virginia since its introduction in 1936 with a hiatus from 1973 to 1985. Fiesta is noted for its Art Deco styling and its range of often bold, solid colors. In the years since Fiesta was first produced, there have been a total of 47 colors in the line. Today, The Fiesta Tableware Company introduces one new color each year. Over the years some colors are retired as new ones are added. Most of my dinner plates are round but I do have a few that are square. I bought these dinner plates online but I can’t remember where.

I needed a basic square black charger and I found these on Amazon a few years ago. They are melamine and they are made by American Atelier. I think you can find them in other stores too. If you are a tablescaper, it’s a good idea to have basic plates in neutral colors that you can use over and over again. To read about what you should consider when you are buying charger plates please click here.

This photo is a nice closeup of the tablecloth design. This flatware set is called Madeline Green and I bought it at World Market several years ago. If you google frosted flatware and add the color you are looking for you might find similar sets. I use this green flatware often in the Spring and the Fall. You can see it here on a Fall Pumpkin tablescape. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

I have some black napkins but a few years ago I wanted some new ones that hadn’t faded out. I found these cotton ones at Crate and Barrel. I used the same idea for napkin rings that I used on the salad plates, attaching laminated scans of children’s book covers to a black napkin ring that I have. Each place setting book cover was a different book matching one of the books in the centerpiece. When I was in 5th grade our teacher read The Secret Garden to us, a bit every day, and I was in love with that book. It remains a special memory for me.

I added the same scans to a bronze place card holder, not sure where I bought these place card holders.

The acrylic sage green goblet on the left came from our Pier 1 store before it closed several years ago. I have black goblets that are shorter than this black goblet and black goblets that are much taller than this goblet but I wanted goblets this height that were all black. I was delighted to find these black plastic ones on Amazon a few years ago. The advertisement said that they are disposable but I plan to keep them for a while until I can find some black glass goblets that are the same height. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying goblets for your tablescaping collection here (including the colors that I use the most often).

I knew that I wanted to use this set of book ends with children reading books on this tablescape. I bought them several years ago at a gift shop in town that is now closed. They are usually on a shelf with books in the family room. I started my librarian career as a children’s librarian before I moved into management and they say once a children’s librarian always a children’s librarian. I still buy children’s books to enjoy once in a while. I knew that I wanted children’s chapter books that had colorful book covers for this centerpiece and I found this Illustrated Junior Library series of books on Ebay that were published by Grosset and Dunlap. Grosset & Dunlap published these books from the 1940's until the 2000's. The original series included 45 titles and four different series (or editions) were published through the years. The book cover designs are wonderful and they are great matches for the book spines on the tablecloth.

These book ends are some of my favorite possessions because to me they represent my career as a librarian.

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 (4,400+ 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. (290+ members) https://www.facebook.com/groups/440356398581157 We had a gathering for tablescapers last year in the Los Angeles area and we are planning to have another one in November in Riverside.

Don’t miss the Tablescape How-To tab at the top of my blog for DIY tips and tricks. That link is here: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/tablescapehowto

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