Parrot Tulip Tablescape

I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to finally have some garden flowers for centerpieces.  I have decided to cut tulips each week and do a quick easy table to match. 

These tables are the 10-minute variety. You won't find me working all week on a table.  As an empty-nester, I only have to set weekday tables for two (sometimes only one).  Even my more elaborate guest tables are less than one hour.  I have too many other things to do and I bet you do, too!

But just because we lead busy lives, does not mean we have to sacrifice a nice dinner table.  I already had this bright parrot tulip centerpiece on the table.

All I had to do to complete the dinner setting was find some matching dishes. Since the flowers were in a cobalt blue vase, it was an easy choice-- cobalt blue dinner plates. The red/white flowered salad plate went with the flower theme.

My favorite red-flowered bowl glasses seemed to work just fine.


I recently made the chalkboard section of this menu pig, so I decided to use him, too. If guests were coming, I would have changed his tie to somthing with red and yellow (tiny details really impress guests).    :)

Quick and simple for a weeknight meal!

There is no need to sacrifice a pretty table when they are this easy to do. Bon Appetite!

Cinco de Mayo Tablescape

I love to work with bright colors, so this was another fun table.

I have had the fabric for years, but never seem to remember it for Cinco de Mayo.  I was thrilled that I finally remembered to use it.

I was happy to find dishes in almost the same colors as the fabric.

The sombreros I used as napkin rings look a tad too blah for me. They were a last minute addition. I had no time to embellish--they really could have used some bright ribbons tied around the brim.

The bright yellow daffodils from my garden worked well with the big paper flowers that I hung upside down from the chandelier.


Don't you just love these paper flowers? My friend at work made them. She is the Food & Beverage Director and she needed big flowers for one her bar parties. These were sitting in the liquor room for the past year and she let me borrow them for last night.  I think they made the entire table pop!

Are you wondering what that yellow snake-like thing is? 

We like hard shell tacos and that thing is what holds them upright on the plate. I use them everytime I have tacos. After I had put them out, I realized that I had the stand alone shells, so I didn't really need them.  

DH likes his on a wedge of lettuce sans shell. 

We really enjoyed our quick Mexican dinner at this fun table. The only thing missing were the Margaritas!

I am linking to Tablescape Thursday today.

Mikasa Leopard Dishes and Pink Polka Dot Tablescape

I know this is my second table in a row to use leopard dishes, but I wanted to show how versatile they are. I wanted to try pink polka dot and leopard.

I think I like the combo. What do you think--have I totally flipped?

The end settings have a gold and a pink glass and the center settings have gold/green glasses. I like to use different colors on the two ends. I originally used all green because I started with a very wild tablecloth (I will show that at the end of this post).

The little pink birdhouses with cheetah skin tops are whimsical name holders. I have found that people just love to see their name on the dinner table. 

It also alleviates guests standing around and asking where they should sit.

This is the tall candle in the center.

Here is the original tablecloth that inspired the color scheme.  I love this animal print/floral tablecloth!

Unfortunately it was just too busy (even for me!) and I had to take the whole table apart to swap it with the solid pink cloth you saw above.

Maybe I could use the leopard dinner plate and top it with a solid color............I do have some solid orangish salad plates shaped like a flower......I wish I would have thought to try them before I tore this table apart! 

I am Linking to Marty's Tabletop Tuesday.  So head on over there with me to see what everyone else has for this week.

May next table will be a Cinco de Mayo table -- I love working with those bright colors!

Now What Can I do with This?

Believe it or not, this pile of stuff is the beginning of my next tablescape.  I should have time to post about it later this weekend. 

I hope you will check back to see if I can do anything with it--you have to admit it's an electic bunch of stuff!

I am Liking This!

If you follow my other two blogs, you know that quilting is one of my serious hobbies.
After work today, I started to make a placemat for the Mikasa leopard dishes.

I still need to add some batting and quilt it, but I think this mat is going to be purrrfect for these big
cat-print dishes!

I will do and post a full table after I finish making 4 of these placemats. In the meantime, I am still working on the hot pink/leopard table. I have not really done any "work" on it, but I have given it a thought or two. :)

Mikasa Leopard Dishes Tablescape

I love these chic animal print dishes. This is the first set of square dinner plates I have owned. I like how the soup bowl is round, but the dinner and salad plate are square.

I angled the salad plate to give each setting more interest.

 I tried some brown-handled flatware, but in the end, I decided that my gold flatware worked best with these dishes.

I had fun making my own wine label.

I just printed it on an Avery label and stuck in over the original label of this white wine... just a little touch that makes your dinner party more special.  Notice that tree on the right side of the artwork?

That tree inspired my centerpiece. I was having some difficulty coming up with a centerpiece to go with these dishes.   I wanted to use only items I already had. While  looking out the kitchen window I noticed the Sedum Autumn Joy and thought, why not give it a try.Do you see the resemblance of the tree and this dead sedum Autumn Joy that I picked from my garden?  I added some dead silver artemesia to give it a bit of spark.  Seriously, this is a bunch of dead flowers that overwintered in my garden-- I would normally toss these on the compost heap!  It's amazing what can be done with just a bit of  thinking outside the box!

What a stroke of luck--I had glasses that seem to be made for these leopard dishes!

Just look at the perfect color of that martini glass stem!

I added the small gold liqueur glass because it matched the gold-beaded place mat and the flatware.

I also made a menu - it's amazing how easy all of this is with computers!

Did you notice that I added jewelry to the lotus candle holder next to the menu?  Jewelry is not just for the body. I use it all the time on my tables.  I used one of my favorite necklaces on the wine bottle. Did you catch that? Look at the wine bottle. I wear that necklace all the time!

Just for kicks, here is a sepia-toned picture of my table. 

This table was so much fun! I am planning to do another table with these same dishes.

I am thinking leopard and hot pink! I think these Mikasa leopard dishes are going to be very versatile. I may even do a third table and mix them with my zebra dishes.

I received these dishes from  Lifetime Brands, Inc.  a nationally branded kitchenware, tabletop and home décor resource.  They asked me to set a table and do a candid post about their dinnerware.  I have done exactly that and I hope you enjoyed seeing these unique dishes.

I have linked to Marty's Tablescape Tuesday at a Stroll Thru Life. Check out all the inspirational posts over there.

Mikasa Leopard Dishes

Last week I was contacted by someone who had seen my zebra table and asked if I would like to do a tablescape with these Mikasa Leopard dishes.

Are you kidding?

I immediately emailed them back and said, YES, I would love to attempt a tablescape with these gorgeous dishes!

The company said they would be sending the dishes out immediately. I half expected it to be a scam.

But lo and behold in less than a week these dishes arrived. I was thrilled. They are a good quality stoneware from Mikasa.  At the moment I have no idea how I will set the table, but  I will post later in the week with the tablescape I come up with. So please stop by later this week to see what I do with these dishes.