A Vintage Spring Flowers Tablescape

I am reposting a tablescape that I did six years ago, I love these dishes! Everything on this tablescape is vintage except for the flatware, the place card holders, and one goblet set. Well, the faux flowers aren’t either but you get the picture. The light green tablecloth and napkins are a vintage damask set I found on Ebay several years ago. It’s not easy to find a vintage damask tablecloth with matching napkins and I was fortunate to find this set. The tablecloth is just barely long enough. When I iron and use damask table linens it always makes me think of my mother who loved white damask tablecloths. I actually enjoy ironing good vintage damask because with a steam iron it is so easy to get the wrinkles out, the iron just glides over the fabric. And yes, I will remove the centerpiece so people can see each other while they eat and chat.

These plates were made by Schumann-Bavaria. The factory was founded in Arzberg, Bavaria, Germany in 1881 and went out of business in 1994. The pattern is called Empress, Dresden Flowers. The plates have different markings on the back and some say Germany US Zone, they were made in the 1940’s. The first time I saw this pattern I loved it, and I bought a few plates at a time over the years on Ebay. I love all the different colored flowers and the raised design on the rim with the gold accents.

There are different flower designs on the center of these plates as you can see on the previous salad plate and this dinner plate.

This 11” charger plate is difficult to find. As you can see, the center design is different on this one than the previous two plates. The flowers around the rim are so colorful here and I love the green leaf accents.

I think this china pattern dictates a more formal table setting so I used folded napkins without napkin rings. The gold flatware matches the gold rim on the plates. This gold plated flatware set was a Christmas gift from Hubby one year. I had bought a cheap set of gold flatware several years ago. It was poor quality and the gold started flaking off. You get what you pay for! We found this set on major sale at Macys. It is made by Wallace and the pattern is called Mikasa Duchess Gold. It is brighter than this photo shows and it is heavy. I love the design on the handle.

I was looking for a gold place card holder and found these inexpensive ones on Amazon. They are made by Gray Bunny.

I tried different colored goblets on this table but they all looked a bit overpowering so I ended up with clear glass goblets. My wedding crystal, a Waterford Lismore goblet is on the right. On the left is another Waterford goblet but a less expensive pattern. It is Marquis by Waterford and the pattern is called Brady. I bought them at HomeGoods. Just as plates have increased in size over the decades I think some goblets have as well.

I wanted to add a bit more interest to the table so I raided my china cabinets. This rose bowl is one of my most cherished possessions. It was my mother’s, I think it was a wedding gift to her in 1938. I can remember it sitting on a shelf while I was growing up and I have always loved the hand-painted flowers. The bottom says, “Made in Czechoslovakia”. It has some of the same colors that the plates have. I have it tucked away in a china cabinet for safe keeping.

Hubby found this Fenton Thumbprint ruffled glass bowl at an estate sale and brought it home for me. It had a sticker with a name and 1940 on the bottom. When I looked for the name on Ancestry I found a woman who died in Wisconsin in 1953. How it got to Southern California, I don’t know!

Just for fun I added a cut glass cream and sugar set.

And a cut glass salt and pepper set too, I love the cut glass patterns on the bases of this set.

This large white pottery vase is one of a pair of vases that I inherited from my mother. She received the pair of vases as a wedding present in 1938.

As I was finishing writing this post, the sun was setting and shining on the table from the front living room windows that face west. I love how that looks, the light and shadow.

In my book, vintage never grows old!

To see over 300+ different tablescapes that I have created please click here. If you are on Facebook, join my new 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. (200+ 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 sometime in the future.

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!

Geraniums on a Spring Tablescape

I have several different colors and varieties of geraniums in my garden and I love them all. Geraniums are easy to grow in our Southern California climate and I love all the different colors. I bought them at a local nursery and also online because there is a much greater variety online. Because I love geraniums I bought this vintage Geranium tablecloth several years ago on Ebay but I have never used it on a tablescape before. I have another geranium tablecloth that is larger and I used it although it was a bit short also. I decided to use this one with a white tablecloth under it to cover the shortage. To see my 300+ other tablescapes, please click here: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/tablescapes and please join my Facebook group, Table Settings and Tablescape Ideas, https://www.facebook.com/groups/2553689988183392 to see mine and the tablescapes of others.

A vintage geranium tablecloth that I bought on Ebay several years ago.

I bought this set of Bordallo Pinheiro Geranium Leaf ceramic plates on Ebay one or two at a time as I saw them over several years. It took a while to get the matching chargers, dinner plates, and salad plates!

The dinner plate has a plain center without the leaf design.

I love these geranium leaf chargers. They could easily be used on lots of other spring and summer tablescapes. The green color is perfect for those seasons.

I wanted to add some red accents to the table to play off all the green on the table so I am using this red flatware set. The set is called Milano Ginkgo LePrix. I have had this set for many years but it is still for sale. Not sure where I bought it. If you google it you can find it. I have it in a few other colors as well now. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

The green cotton napkins came from World Market several years ago. When I started tablescaping I bought several sets of napkins at World Market in different colors because they were inexpensive then. All the faux red geraniums came from Michael’s.

This clear acrylic vase napkin ring came from Amazon a few years ago. They were made by Deco-Mate. I love being able to add small flower bouquets to these napkin rings depending on what is on the tablescape. To read about the What, When and How of napkin rings please click here.

I really love these small white vase place card holders. They often appear on my Spring tablescapes. I bought them on Amazon a few years ago. To read about the What, How and When of place card holders, please click here.

I love a red and green color combination, it is one of my favorites. The green goblet on the left came from Macy’s a few years ago. It is called Qualia Glass Meridian. I like the height and the beautiful green color. I think the red glass goblet on the right came from Crate and Barrel a few years ago. I had been looking for some simple red goblets and I grabbed these when I saw them online. I only bought six and I wished I had bought more but then Hubby found six other red glass goblets at HomeGoods that are so similar you can’t tell the difference. 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 knew that I wanted a bouquet of geraniums to use as a centerpiece for this tablescape. I put them in my Fiesta Scarlet vase. I bought it online a few years ago but I can’t remember where.

I decided to add a Mosser Glass red salt and pepper set to this Geranium 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. If you read my blog you have seen their goblets on some of my tablescapes.

Because the tablecloth is vintage I decided to add my vintage Depression Glass green Circle pattern salt and pepper set to the table. They are vintage and well loved.

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 (4,000+ 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 are planning another gathering later this year.

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!

A California Poppies Tablescape

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!

A Petal Power Tablescape for Spring

I have had this cotton tablecloth for many years and I have wanted to use it on a tablescape for a long long time. I finally decided that it was now or never. Many years ago I collected vintage tablecloths and I found most of them on Ebay. This one probably came from there. I don’t think that it is vintage. It has a label that indicates that it may have been made in Brazil.

The colors on the tablecloth dictated what colors I used on the tablescape.

I knew that I wanted to use three different colors of plate stacks on this tablescape to match the tablecloth but I wanted the top plate on the plate stack to be the same plate on each setting and I wanted it to be a plate that was full of flowers. Luckily I had this plate already with the right colors on it. I used it two years ago on another Spring tablescape. I like to check the Sur La Table website online from time to time, I have bought salad plates and napkin sets from there on sale in the past. Sometimes they have really cute plate designs. I found these small Jardin Floral porcelain appetizer plates there two years ago and they looked just like Spring to me. I like all the different flower colors and designs.

Two of the table settings on this tablescape have yellow items. The dinner plates on this tablescape are all Fiesta plates in different colors. This color is called Sunflower. I have this plate in several different colors now and I use them often.

How I love the bright yellow on this charger. If you read my blog you have seen many chargers in this pattern in different colors over the years. This is a Color Spectrum charger by Mikasa, the color is Sun Yellow. I bought these chargers on Ebay a few at a time several years ago because I loved the quality and the colors. I have this pattern in several different colors.

I really like this flatware set, it is well made and a strong bright yellow color. The knife is marked MEPRA INOX. I found the set at Pottery Barn a few years ago. Pottery Barn calls it Fantasia Italian. The set is made in Italy and is 18/10 stainless. Pottery Barn has this set in fourteen other colors and I have my eye on a few of the other colors if they go on sale for a good price. It is difficult to find flatware that is good quality in different colors. The five piece place setting also include a much smaller spoon. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

To make things easier I decided to use colored flowers on the napkin rings and place card holders. I found all the faux flowers at Michaels. The clear acrylic vase napkin rings came from Amazon last year. They were made by Deco-Mate. I love being able to add small flower arrangements to these napkin rings depending on what is on the tablescape. The red plaid napkin is marked DII (Design Imports) for the Home. I think I bought them at HomeGoods a few years ago.

I picked these white vase place card holders for this tablescape so that I could put faux flowers in them as you can see here. I really love these small vase place card holders. They often appear on my Spring tablescapes. I bought them on Amazon four years ago.

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 two years ago I immediately bought them. I love the color and the size of them. I suspect that they are vintage but I am not sure of the maker or the pattern. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying goblets for your tablescaping collection here.

Two of the table settings on this tablescape have red items. This Fiesta Scarlet dinner plate is one of our every day dinner plates. We bought them when we remodeled our kitchen a few years ago.

This is a charger that Hubby bought at the Dollar Store for me last December and I had him spray-paint it a bright Christmas red to use on a Christmas tablescape. To read about what you should be considering when you are buying chargers, please click here.

This red flatware set is Ginkgo LePrix in Milano Red. It was one of the first flatware sets that I bought when I started tablescaping several years ago. I can’t remember where I bought the set. I use it often when I need a more informal red flatware set for a tablescape. I have this set in other colors now as well.

These red glass goblets match the yellow goblets on this tablescape except for a slight difference in the shape of the stem and the color. These goblets might be made by Artland and called Iris Ruby Red. I think Hubby found them at an estate sale.

Two of the table settings on this tablescape have blue items. I wanted to add Cobalt Blue Fiesta dinner plates to my tablescaping collection for a while and I finally bought some online at Everything Kitchens LLC four years ago. This pattern was our everyday dishes pattern before we remodeled our kitchen a few years ago. They were really worn so we replaced them with red ones after we finished the kitchen because the kitchen design is white with red accents. I knew that they would be a good match for this tablescape.

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 wanted.

This flatware is labeled SR Made in Italy, Inox. It was made by Zaffiro and I think I bought it on sale online at Horchow several years ago. I have the set in a few other colors as well. I love the intense deep cobalt blue color. Over the years I bought six different colors because I love the way it looks.

In this photo you can see the hole in the napkin ring where flowers can be placed.

These acrylic cobalt blue goblets came from Pier 1 several years ago. I have this goblet in several different colors made in both glass and acrylic and it is one of my favorite goblet shapes and size.

I went to Michael’s recently and found red, blue, and yellow faux flowers for the centerpiece on this tablescape. 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.

I added a Fiesta salt and pepper set in the color Scarlet to the tablescape.

I also added a Fiesta butter dish to the table in the color Cobalt Blue.

Can you tell that I love bright colors?

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!