A Crabby Tablescape for Summer

July 03, 2024 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

We live about a mile and a half as the crow flies from the Pacific Ocean. During the summer months I seem to lean toward creating ocean and beach themed tablescapes. I really don’t do them any other time of the year so I save up my ideas from year to year for the summer months. I created my first red crab tablescape five years ago then I did another different one four years ago, and another different one three years ago. If you read my blog, you can see how they all changed in design over time. Last year I did a white crab tablescape. You can see that one here. It has a very different vibe from this one. This Crabby Summer Tablescape with red crabs is closest in design to the one that I did five years ago. I have wanted to repeat that tablescape with some changes for a while. I found the red and blue crabs tablecloth on Amazon five years ago. I love the wiggly looking legs.

Many years ago I bought three small vintage crab bowls at a garage sale. I used them on an ocean themed tablescape with other ocean elements. When we were in Virginia five years ago, we were at an antique mall and I found six more vintage bowls with a similar design and one larger matching bowl, all on sale, and I bought them too. These hand-painted vintage crab bowls are marked Made in PV Czechoslovakia. I really like the color and the crab leg design.

A great bowl to use to serve Crab Bisque!

Years ago I was looking all over for salad plates with an all over pattern of red crabs but every plate had one crab or the crabs were silly looking. I was googling crab plates and these popped up from Pfaltzgraff. They were on major sale and they are microwave and dishwasher safe. So the red crabs suddenly became blue crabs and the overall design of that tablescape was tweaked a bit. This happens sometimes with my tables, I can’t find what I need so I substitute something else and change the design.

I bought these large blue dinner plates online several years ago at Ballard Designs, 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.

This is a charger that Hubby bought at the Dollar Store for me last year 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 Milano Red flatware set is Ginkgo International LePrix. I have had this set for years but it is still for sale. Not sure where I bought it. I now have it in other colors as well. 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. Several years ago I looked all over for orange-red crab napkin rings with no luck. I found lots of metal and blue ones but nothing the right color. I had bought these small plastic crabs on Amazon to use as table scatter but they were shiny red when they arrived. Hubby was going to spray paint them orange-red for me and my daughter was over and I was telling her about my bad luck finding napkin rings and she suggested that I turn them into napkin rings, genius! So Hubby bought plain wood rings and spray painted the rings and the crabs and we glued the crab to the ring and viola, cheap napkin rings! To read about other ideas for homemade napkin rings please click here.

I love these metal red crab place card holders, I found them at Pottery Barn five years ago. They were a blue red and Hubby painted them orange red for me to use on a tablescape. To read about the what, where and how of place card holders, please click here.

The acrylic cobalt blue goblet on the left came from Pier 1 several years ago. Hubby found the red glass goblets on the right at an estate sale a few years ago. I think they are hand blown Ruby Red Bubble Glass Goblets made by Artland. 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 saw this large cast aluminum crab online at Grandin Road two years ago and I knew it would make a great centerpiece someday. I think it is supposed to be yard art. It had a weathered copper finish but Hubby painted it red for me. The crab centerpiece is sitting on a small wood stand I bought online at Pier 1 a few years ago. The stand was natural wood but Hubby painted it white for me.

I found this crab salt and pepper set on Ebay a few years ago. I like to add a bit of whimsy to my tablescapes sometimes. Ebay is a great place to find interesting salt and pepper sets.

Time to find a delicious crab bisque recipe!

To see 260+ other tablescapes that I have created including 25 other different 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 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 Starfish Summer Tablescape

May 02, 2024 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

Summer is just around the corner so it’s time for an ocean themed tablescape. I love starfish and I did a starfish tablescape four years ago but this one is a bit different. A couple of interesting facts about starfish; they can live up to 35 years and they have no brain and no blood. There are about 2,000 different species of sea stars (starfish). I found this starfish tablecloth at HomeGoods earlier this year. It was made by Sigrid Olsen Home.

I found these Akcam Iridescent Turkish Glass Starfish Plates on Ebay a couple of months ago. I love the different colors and they match the tablecloth too.

This is a Fiesta White dinner plate. I found them on sale in Salt Lake City on a trip there a couple of years ago.

This is one of my favorite glass chargers. I bought them when I first started tablescaping. They are a heavy blue glass and I love the color and the tweed like design in the glass. They are made by Villeroy and Boch and the pattern is Verona. Not sure where I found them online. I have this charger in a few other colors as well. To read about what you should be considering when you are buying chargers, please click here.

I have had this frosted blue flatware set for a few years. It is labeled D & D Inox in Italy. It was made by Vietri and the pattern is Aladdin Brilliant in light blue. (Don’t mix it up with Aladdin Antique, that stainless set has a darker matte finish on the stainless.) I bought this set at Neiman Marcus or Bloomingdales during a major sale several years ago. There are similar frosted patterns available for sale online now. I have other frosted flatware sets from different companies and I use them often. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

I have several different blue napkins but often I don’t have the right shade for a table setting. It took two tries on Amazon before I got this color right two years ago. I needed this color for my napkin collection anyway. I wish computer monitors were better at showing colors correctly. I found these silver finish metal napkin rings at Bella Coastal Decor online a couple of months ago. Hubby painted them blue for me and I didn’t realize that they would be a perfect match for the napkins.

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

I found these white starfish place card holders on Etsy last month. I was going to paint them blue but I decided to leave them as is. The 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’m not sure where I found the blue glass goblet on the left but I love this shade of blue. The blue and green glass goblet on the right was one of the first goblets that I bought when I started tablescaping and I can’t remember where I found them. The pattern is called Bormioli Rocco Bahia. The blue and green color goes perfectly with this tablescape. I see this pattern on Ebay 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 think this starfish stack came from Michaels. It was a white gray color and Hubby painted it blue for me. I really like the design on the stars. I set it on a white wood cake stand and added some small starfish and sea glass to the base.

This is the thirtieth ocean themed tablescape that I have done over the past ten years. Because we are about a mile and a half as the crow flies from the Pacific Ocean I seem to be drawn to that theme sometimes.

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!

This blog post was featured at The Cottage Market, https://thecottagemarket.com/ Please visit this blog, you will enjoy it!

Crabs on a Summer Tablescape

July 16, 2023 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

These white crab shaped shallow bowls were made by Bordallo Pinheiro and it took me five years to find six of them one at a time on Ebay. (As it is, one arrived broken and we had to glue it together.) I have been saving them for a few years to use on a tablescape. I have done two other crab tablescapes in the past few years but I used red crabs on those tablescapes.

This teal dinner plate matches the teal color in the tablecloth although the photos don’t show the accurate colors as well as they should. It is a brighter color. I bought these plates at HomeGoods several years ago. They were made in Portugal. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying dinner plates here.

This white charger is part of one of the first charger sets I bought when I started tablescaping. The pattern is Antique Beaded and I bought them at Williams Sonoma several years ago. I use this charger constantly on my table settings. If you look back through my blog at my tablescapes, you will see it often. A simple white charger is a great first purchase if you want to create more interest in your table settings. To read about what you should be considering when you are buying chargers please click here.

I have had this frosted aqua flatware set for a few years. The flatware is labeled Bugatti for Vietri and the pattern is Aladdin Brilliant in Aqua. I bought the set at Neiman Marcus or Bloomingdales during a major sale several years ago. I have frosted blue, gray, and pink flatware sets in this same pattern also. There are similar frosted patterns available online now in different colors. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

I bought these wood white crab napkin rings on Etsy a few years ago. They were red but we painted them white for this tablescape. I bought the napkins at our Pier 1 store before it closed. I love the multi-colored design because I seem to have many different shades of turquoise, teal, and blue dishes and these napkins match many of them. I often chose them for ocean themed tablescapes. To read about the what, where and how of napkin rings please click here.

I found these plastic crabs online somewhere, I can’t remember where. They were red and we painted them white. I set them on a Oleg Cassini clear glass place card holder. I bought the place card holders at HomeGoods several years ago when I first started tablescaping. They are heavy and solid and I really like the simple design. I often use them as a stand for place card items. To read about the what, where and how of place card holders, please click here.

The turquoise acrylic goblet on the left came from Pier 1 several years ago, I have this goblet in several different colors in both glass and acrylic. I really like the height of these goblets. The blue glass goblet on the right came from Hobby Lobby a few months 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 saw this large cast aluminum crab online at Grandin Road three years ago and I knew it would make a great centerpiece someday. I think it is supposed to be yard art. It had a weathered copper finish but Hubby painted it red for me for a tablescape that I did a few years ago and white for this tablescape.

Now to find a delicious crab bisque recipe!

To see 200+ other tablescapes that I have created including 20 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!