A Sailor-bration Summer Tablescape

July 27, 2025 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

I bought this vintage embroidered sailor themed table topper on Ebay many years ago and it has just been sitting in a drawer. Then I found the vintage sailor napkin rings a few years later but it has taken me a long time to pull this tablescape together. I created it in honor of my father-in-law who was in the Navy. The sailors on the table may not all be in U.S. uniforms but I think it all works anyway. When I want to use a small table topper tablecloth I just place it on a larger one, in this case a simple white cotton tablecloth.

These salad plates came in a set of four, with anchor, ship’s wheel, sailboat, and lighthouse designs but I decided to just use the anchor and the ship’s wheel plates on this tablescape. The bottom of the plates says Euro Ceramica and the pattern is called Ahoy. I found them at Home Depot online.

I like simple designs like these plates.

I am using my Fiesta white dinner plates on this tablescape. When I need a simple dinner plate in a basic color I look at my Fiesta plates first because they are a good size for a plate stack and their simple design works well with any salad plate.

This charger was made by Mikasa and the pattern was called Color Spectrum. They came in several different colors and this color was called 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 needed. I have this charger in other colors as well.

Because the centerpiece sailors had burgundy accents rather than bright red I decided to use this flatware set. The flatware is made by D & D Inox in Italy and the pattern is called Roma. I bought them at Neiman Marcus or Bloomingdales during a major sale several years ago. There are similar patterns available online now. I really like the marbleized design on the handles. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

If you read my blog you know that I have a weakness for napkin rings. When I saw these vintage sailor napkin rings on Ebay several years ago I just had to have them. They are so cute! They are porcelain and they were made by Enesco. The red polyester napkins came from Amazon, probably last year.

I love the life preserver on the wave and the S. S. Napkin name! To read about the What, Where and How of napkin rings please click here.

I wanted to use small sailor figures as place card holders on this tablescape and I found a few different small vintage ceramic sailors on Ebay. Some of them are salt and pepper sets. They are mid-century and they were made in Japan. I set them on my clear glass Oleg Cassini place card holders. 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 holder items. If you read my blog you have seen them several times being used as a stand for something that I am using as a place card holder. To read about the what, where and how of place card holders, please click here.

The glass goblet on the left was made by Fostoria and the pattern was called Virginia in dark blue. They were made between 1980 and 1986. I can’t remember where I bought them. I bought the blue goblet on the right on Ebay, you can still find them for sale there sometimes. They were made by Libbey in the 1970’s and the pattern was called Tulip in Dusky Blue. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying goblets (including the colors that I use most often) for your tablescaping collection here.

While looking at local estate sales online earlier this year I saw these two resin sailors and I told Hubby to buy them if they were a good deal. They were much taller than this but I knew Hubby could probably cut them down for me so I could use them as a centerpiece on a tablescape. If you look closely at about knee level you can see where he cut them down and reglued the legs together. He did a great job on them! When he got them home I found old HomeGoods stickers on the bottoms so they originally came from there at some point. I really like the detailed design on the faces.

This tablescape reminds us of our Navy veteran when we look at it and all our military veterans as well.

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. 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!

A Zesty Summer Tablescape

July 20, 2025 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

Sometimes when I see a tablecloth I immediately start thinking about using it on a tablescape. That is what happened when I saw this tablecloth. I love the large bright oranges, lemons, and limes on it. It is perfect for a meal on a summer day. The tablecloth is made by Ambesonne and I found it on Amazon three years ago. I seem to do at least one fruit themed tablescape every year. You can see seven other fruit themed tablescapes that I have done here: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/tablescapes (Scroll down to the Summer section.)

These citrus fruit themed salad plates probably came from Michael’s. They are melamine and I bought the lemon yellow ones also although I didn’t use them on this tablescape because of all the yellow that is on the table already.

I am using my Fiesta dinner plates in the color Sunflower on this tablescape. I can’t remember where I bought them. I think I now have Fiesta dinner plates in almost all the colors that are available.

I love this bright green glass charger but when I use my glass chargers I always have to add a placemat in the same color because the charger picks up whatever is underneath it and this patterned tablecloth would not have worked with it. This charger was made by Bormioli Rocco and I think the pattern was called Inca. It is good quality and a heavy glass. I bought it in a few other colors as well over the years. I found them on Amazon several years ago.

I have a tall stack of this placemat design in many different colors. I bought them online from several different places when I started tablescaping. I have used this bright green one several times.

With so much yellow on the table I decided to add more orange for balance. I have this Ginkgo International Le Prix flatware set in black, dark green, red, and yellow. I added this color called persimmon a few years ago. It is a great color for Halloween tables. I can’t remember where I bought the set online but if you google it, something will probably pop up.

I found these oranges napkin rings on Etsy a few years ago. The orange color was off but Hubby saved the day by painting them a better orange color. I think these cotton orange napkins probably came from Pier 1 or HomeGoods several years ago. I love the bright orange color, it is the perfect color to use on Halloween tablescapes. To read about the What, Where and How of napkin rings please click here.

I found these plastic faux orange, lemon and lime slices on Etsy a few years ago. I knew that I could use them as place card holders. To read about the What, Where and When of place card holders, please click here.

I bought the green spiral glass goblets at Pier 1 many years ago and they are some of my favorites. I use them often during the year. 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 I immediately bought them. I love the color and the size of them. I don’t know who made them or what the pattern is called. They are not Artland because those goblets seem to have a different stem design. 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 go to HomeGoods every couple of weeks or so just to wander around and invariably I find something that I must have. This stoneware orange slices bowl was just that. I have done fruit themed tablescapes before and I knew I would be doing them again and I would need another centerpiece, and here it was. I set it on a small white plastic cake stand that I have had for many years. I asked Hubby to pick up tangerines, lemons and limes to stack in it for this tablescape. While I write this I am really enjoying all the bright colors on this table setting.

I have a weakness for salt and pepper sets and I am finally taking inventory and photographing them. I have way too many sets but when I need a certain subject, like citrus fruit, I always seem to have what I need. I can’t remember where I bought the sets on this table but I often see sets at HomeGoods so they may have come from there.

This is definitely a zesty tablescape!

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/ Please visit this blog, you will enjoy it!

A Summer Birthday Tablescape

June 19, 2025 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

Lots of birthdays this month so I decided that it was time for another birthday tablescape. I did a birthday tablescape two years ago but that tablecloth had some brighter colors. You can see that tablescape and 270+ other tablescapes that I have created here: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/tablescapes . This polka dot tablecloth has a label that says Envogue, I think that I bought it at HomeGoods several years ago.

These melamine birthday themed salad plates came from a Hallmark shop online, they are marked Hallmark. I like the four different rim colors, green, yellow, orange, and pink and all the birthday themed images are really fun.

I added another slightly larger salad plate to this plate stack. These plates were hand-painted and made by ND Exclusives in China. I think that I bought them at HomeGoods. They are a great match for the tablecloth, serendipity!

Yellow is such a happy color so I added a Fiesta dinner plate in the color Sunflower to this birthday celebration tablescape.

I found these resin type bright green chargers at Michaels last year I think.

I have thought about mixing flatware colors on a tablescape but I have never done it before until now. While I was thinking about what color flatware to use on this table I was looking at all the colors on the table and I realized that I now had Mepra Inox Fantasia flatware in colors that matched some of the colors on this tablescape. I love how festive this mix of flatware looks on the table. I bought these sets and a few other sets on sale on various sites online where the price was the lowest and there are still colors that I want. I have never seen a flatware set with more colors available! You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

I can’t remember where I found these bright yellow linen napkins. I found the enamel birthday cake napkin rings on Ebay last year. I love the candles on them.

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

These birthday hat place card holders make me smile every time that I look at them. The tulle, the pink color, and the polka dots just say celebration to me. They are from Kate Aspen and I bought them at Michael’s last year. To read about the What, How and When of place card holders, please click here.

I realized that I often use the color combination of yellow and green on my tablescapes. I like the way these colors complement each other and this tablescape is a good example of that. I am using some of my favorite goblets on this tablescape. The green glass goblet on the left came from Pier 1 several years ago. I have used this goblet several times over the years on my tablescapes. I love the bright green color. 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 the right on Etsy a couple of years ago I immediately bought them. I love the color and their size. I have goblets that are a similar shape in red, blue, and purple as well. 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 this wood cake puzzle toy in the 1980’s for my children to play with. I think I found it in a Lillian Vernon catalog. I always liked it and when I finally packed it away it was missing a piece of the cake and a candle but I saved it anyway. We finally pulled it out again and Hubby actually made replacement pieces and painted it. I really can’t tell where the replacement pieces are, he did a great job! I am very sentimental about it because I can remember the kids playing with it when they were little. I have it sitting on a Pottery Barn green drink dispenser stand that I often use to elevate centerpiece items on my tablescapes to make them a bit taller.

Although it doesn’t show in this photo the glass candlesticks that I added to this tablescape are a light green color. My camera sometimes does weird things to the colors that I photograph using it. This Venezia Smoke Green glass candle holder came from Crate and Barrel online last year. It comes in three different sizes and other colors also but I bought the shortest green ones. They are really delicate glass and I love them.

Time to celebrate a birthday!

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 Tool Time Tablescape for Father's Day

June 11, 2025 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

This is a special Father’s Day tablescape. The tablescape includes items that were used by three generations of men in our families. The idea has been a few years in the making. I thought of the idea a few years ago but I couldn’t figure out how I wanted to create it. With Father’s Day coming, I decided to try to develop the theme for a Father’s Day tablescape this year. Before I get comments about dirty tools on a dining room table please understand that the tool box will be removed before food is put on the table. This tablescape is in honor of my husband, our fathers, and grandfathers. There are items on the table that belonged to them. I was going to clean up the tools but Hubby wanted them displayed as is, showing their use by our families for three generations. (Hubby made the tool box for this tablescape.) I bought the beige tablecloth at HomeGoods a few years ago. It has a slight brownish tweed design in the fabric that I love.

One reason why I didn’t do this tablescape before is the fact that I couldn’t find any tool themed salad plates. I finally decided to do what I have done before and I added a flat image to a solid color salad plate to help carry out the theme of the tablescape. In this case I used AI with the help of my son and my husband to create an image of three tools to set on the salad plate. My son is in marketing and he says that AI will change our world completely in the next five years, and I am beginning to see what he means, and how it will impact my blog, and our lives.

When I started thinking about this tool themed tablescape I knew that I wanted to use the colors brown and beige to go with the colors of the tools that I would be displaying. I bought these Fiesta 6 1/8” appetizer plates in the color Chocolate online from Replacements, Ebay, and Etsy. No one site had all the six plates that I needed. The color Chocolate was produced between 2008 and 2011 and Fiesta products in this color can be difficult to find.

This is also a Fiesta plate but in the dinner plate size and the color is called Linen. The color was introduced this year and I was glad to see it because I didn’t have a basic beige dinner plate. I bought them at Macy’s online.

One of the cheapest ways to get chargers in the color that you need is to do what I have done here. Buy chargers at a dollar store and spray paint them whatever color that you need. (Hubby is in charge of painting chargers and he does a great job. He has painted several for me including these brown ones.)

You can really see the tweed design in the tablecloth in this photo. This flatware 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 of the lucite handles 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 really sharp fork tines and they can cut your lip! You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

I am using my favorite red cotton napkins on this tablecape. I can’t remember where they came from. I have had them for a long time. I finished most of the table and it looked a bit bland to me so I added more red to the table with these napkins because of the red on the place card holders. I was looking online for something that I could use as a tool themed napkin ring and I found these miniature socket sets with wrenches on Etsy. Everything can pop out of the tray, kind of amazing. I taped the tray temporarily to a red plastic napkin ring that I had. I love miniatures! We have a doll house shop here in town and it is such fun to look at all the things in miniature that they have there!

The miniature red tool box came from Etsy last month, and the miniature wood tool box with individual tools came from Amazon last month also. I set the wood tool box on a small square metal place card holder that I had.

The brown glass goblet on the left was made by Lenox between 1966 and 1985. It was called Antique Brown. I bought them on Ebay several years ago. It is difficult to find a true brown colored glass goblet, these are the only ones that I have ever found. I think that the amber glass goblet on the right came from Pottery Barn 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 was looking for a vintage small tool box to use as a centerpiece on this tablescape and I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted so Hubby built this one for me and I love it! It has tools in it that belonged to Hubby, his father, my father, and my paternal grandfather, and as you can see, they were well used.

I wanted to add something on each side of the toolbox centerpiece and I decided to use these brass candlesticks that Hubby’s maternal grandfather made in 1918. He signed his initials on the bottom with the date. We cherish them!

I really enjoyed gathering things for this Tool Time Father’s Day Tablescape that had belonged to men in our family for three generations.

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 Modern on Monticello, https://modernonmonticello.com/ Please visit this blog, you will enjoy it!