It's time to join all the other dishaholics in blogland and play with the dishes for Tablescape Thursday - brought to us week after glorious week by the Queen of Dishland herself, Susan of "Between Naps on the Porch"! I missed last week because I was on vacation -- but believe me, I was enjoying all the dishes in Sanibel, FL -- dishes of shrimp, dishes of blackened fish and dishes of key lime pie! But all good things come to an end and we're home again (good for my waistline).
Welcome to the table. This week's tablescape is all about May flowers the April showers brought.
And you know that I always set a special place just for you!
An overview of my pink and green tablescape - a favorite color combination of mine. My last tablescape was bright pink and green -- today's is a much softer more subtle shade of pink and green.
An overview of my centerpiece -- a basket of pink azaleas -- these are my last blooms of the season (and actually past their prime).
A basket of flowers all tied up with a green checked bow.
A closer look at my fading blossoms -- I love the pink azaleas!
I've enjoyed using this basket for several tablescapes -- it's actually a nice height for dining. I believe I got it at Marshall's last Spring.
Sitting on an antique depression glass dessert plate.
These are the pink goblets I found on eBay right around Valentine's day -- they didn't make it in time for that tablescape, but I've used them several times this spring.
Let's look at the place setting layer by layer. First we have my pink glass bowl. I also purchased these from eBay for a luncheon three years ago.
From the side, you can see the design -- it goes well with the goblets.
The pink plates (also an eBay purchase from a couple of years ago) are not as clear as the bowls and goblets. In the center is a rose design -- (pink roses are also my favorites - bet you wouldn't have guessed that!)
The vintage placemats came from a local antique store. I've had these a couple of years and never used them. They sort of remind me of the Franciscan Rose china pattern that so many of you have.
A couple of closer looks at the beautiful handwork on these placemats.
I found these napkins at an antique store a couple of weeks ago and thought they would go nicely with the placemats, even though they're not an exact match -- I liked the unexpected blue trim.
Now I'm going to show you my newest vintage find. This silverplated flatware. Sometimes I want to set the table with nicer than stainless, but not my antique silver. I decided that I also wanted to mix up the patterns. So two weeks ago, I went to eBay again and for less than $50 was able to get silverplate settings for six. I thought that was a good price and it's all in quite good shape. I doubt I would have been able to find a complete set of matching silverplate for that amount....
....but, I sort of like the mismatched look. How about you? So for the price of a set of stainless...I got silverplate! These are all patterns from the 1920's to 1940's. Here they are piece by piece....
... First we have the salad fork monogrammed with a B -- my maiden name starts with a B -- perfect! But honestly, I wouldn't have cared.
Next we have the dinner forks.
Dinner knife.....
....last, but not least, the teaspoon. What do you think? Do you think my mis-matched silver blends well? I'm thinking I just might look for some soup spoons and iced tea spoons and a few serving pieces to add to this collection as well.
A tabletop view of the tablescape.
Two more photos of our May flowers tablesetting.
And as the sun sets....
....the tea lights are lit. Can you see the beginning of the "blue hour" sky?
Good night from my May tablescape.
I decided to take a few photos of the evolving "blue hour". Here's the sky just as the sun is setting.
....and a bit of blue sets in...
....and oh so slowly.....
....the progression of the "blue hour". I'm going to have to keep working on this - but it is quite amazing!
Be sure to stop by Susan's porch to see lots of amazing tablescapes this week.
See ya!
