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Holiday Tablescape Ideas

November 15, 2016 by Barb 18 Comments

As November draws closer to December, I’ve been thinking about a few holiday tablescape ideas. It’s never too early to start planning and I hope some of my ideas might inspire you to try something different this year.

I often decorate in neutral tones, and lean toward a rustic country style. However, when I received this stunning bouquet from FTD, it set my to mind spinning, and all I could think of was gold and black, gold and black!

And notice the pumpkins! yes, this style of holiday tablescape will take you from Thanksgiving, through Christmas, and on into the New Year! I think the sky should be the limit when it comes to setting your holiday table, and it doesn’t have to be limited to what you usually do … this is where you can really let loose (in my opinion.)Holiday Tablescape Ideas, Keeping With the Times

To achieve a rich looking holiday tablescape, my best advise is to use layers. I like to have the table set when my guests arrive, and I pile it on.

Again, I pile it on!

You may not actually be going to use all the plates, and probably not the accent plate, but who cares? we’re going for the wow factor here. Guests will not be aware whether you used such and such a plate ;) or not! Some day I’m going to pile on even more plates if I can find varying sizes.

Start with a gorgeous charger like this natural beaded charger I’m using here. Add layers of plates and top with one small accent plate to add sparkle and interest.Holiday Tablescape Ideas, Keeping With the Times

For a Thanksgiving tablescape you cannot go wrong with the teeny white pumpkins that are everywhere this time of year. Cut out a few leaf shapes out of card stock, spray with gold paint, and use as placecards. Pull a few flowers from the main bouquet and place them in tiny bud jars around the table.Holiday Tablescape Ideas, Keeping With the Times

Holiday Tablescape Ideas, Keeping With the Times

At Christmas, replace the pumpkins with a little willow wreath that you can purchase in any craft store. Or try using a bunch of fresh herbs such as rosemary and thyme tied together with gold ribbon.

Instead of tall taper candles which may compete with a large bouquet, opt for small tea lights and place in pretty glasses. I love these simple, gold-striped water glasses, and with the tealight inside … well, again, can we say layers? and sparkle sparkle!Holiday Tablescape Ideas, Keeping With the Times

Holiday Tablescape Ideas, Keeping With the TimesThis time of year, gold spray paint can be your friend :)
Holiday Tablescape Ideas, Keeping With the Times

I couldn’t resist these fun, spiky accents which were originally intended as wall art …Holiday Tablescape Ideas, Keeping With the Times
Holiday Tablescape Ideas, Keeping With the Times

Holiday Tablescape Ideas, Keeping With the Times
Holiday Tablescape Ideas, Keeping With the Times

Holiday Tablescape Ideas

  • Stack several plates on top of each other to create layers, finishing up with one small accent plate on top.
  • The accent plates don’t have to all match. Check your local thrift shops for anything with a bit of gold. Even mismatched teacup saucers would work, especially since you are going to set some small item on top, such as a tiny pumpkin, or a leaf, or a handmade wreath made of herbs.
  • Obviously we all don’t have black walls, but we could all very easily use a black tablecloth.
  • Use table runners in creative ways. When I couldn’t find the exact runner to match my table, I used a scarf! Or, you could purchase bargain bin fabric and tear it into strips.
  • Use pretty drinking glasses to hold tea lights. It adds to the layer effect and adds extra sparkle.
  • If your floral arrangement is tall, try setting it a one end of the table, then position place settings across from each other. That way, the bouquet will not be in anyone’s line of vision. Alternately, you could move the bouquet to a side table during dinner (in full view of guests of course ;)

Disclosure: FTD generously offered to provide me with a holiday bouquet for this post, but all photos and opinions are my own, and I am truly very impressed with the quality and service from FTD. I wouldn’t say so if I wasn’t!!

 

holiday-tablescape-ideas

Filed Under: HOME DECOR, WORK WITH ME Tagged With: flowers, ftd, holiday tablescapes, tablescape

My Holiday Tablescape

December 9, 2013 by Barb 17 Comments

My husband and I are hosting Christmas this year and there is no group I am more excited to entertain than our family. The first thing I think about is “how am I going to set the table”? It’s a big deal to me and I always want to make it festive, elegant and family-friendly.

Golden Winter Tablescape, Tiny Prints, Keeping With The Times

I recently received an email from Tiny Prints and was inspired to create a tablescape using their invite as inspiration! I’m also pretty excited to share that they are featuring my tablescape on their blog today! Check it out here at blog.tinyprints.com!

When I saw the Christmas card design, I was immediately inspired! Don’t you just love the “Merry Christmas” word art?  I also love the gold snowflakes and simple gold border.

Golden Winter Tablescape, Tiny Prints, Keeping With The Times

However, I wanted to use it as a menu, so I decided to create our Christmas Dinner Menu in Photoshop and then upload it just like it was a photo (in a jpeg format). I chose a simple font so as not to clash with the greeting and added tiny snowflakes between the courses to pick up on the snowflakes that were already around the edges of the card.

Did you know that you can pick a colour off the web? Yes, you can! I sampled the gold on the card at the Tiny Prints site and used it when I created the extra snowflakes and menu title.

Golden Winter Tablescape, Tiny Prints, Keeping With The Times

I was having fun with the gold theme and went searching for treasures. While browsing HomeSense I came across these gold beaded chargers. I’m pretty sure they originated at Pier One… but they were 1/3 of the price. They are surprisingly heavy but as a result they lay nice and flat. How pretty and sparkly…

Golden Winter Tablescape, Tiny Prints, Keeping With The Times

Golden Winter Tablescape, Tiny Prints, Keeping With The Times

Golden Winter Tablescape, Tiny Prints, Keeping With The Times

Golden Winter Tablescape, Tiny Prints, Keeping With The Times

Golden Winter Tablescape, Tiny Prints, Keeping With The Times

Golden Winter Tablescape, Tiny Prints, Keeping With The Times

The gold theme made me think of this water pitcher that I inherited from my Mom. It has to be at least 60 years old – a treasure for sure.

Golden Winter Tablescape, Tiny Prints, Keeping With The Times

And here is the actual Christmas card that I chose. You probably can’t read the fine print but it says “From the Lake | 2013” and that would explain the loon. It’s the quintessential northern icon and a familiar sight in our parts!

Golden Tablescape, Tiny Prints, Keeping With The Times

Anyway, I hope you are still with me and that you enjoyed the plethora of photos of my golden winter tablescape!

Now I’m off to get my Christmas cards written up, and in the mail…

Thank you so much for stopping by, and have a wonderful day!

 

Filed Under: HOME DECOR Tagged With: home decor, tablescape, tiny prints

Autumn Tablescape With Warm Whites

September 29, 2013 by Barb 27 Comments

Fall is such a gorgeous time! I love the bright colours it brings; the oranges, the reds, the browns, and the golds. But there is  a lighter side to it as well. This is when the soft pink Autumn Joy is blooming and I find it amazing that it comes into its own, just as the days get shorter, and the nights get colder.

I also love the white pumpkins that are so popular right now. I couldn’t find any, but I managed to snag these wonderful white, odd-shaped gourds from a farmer who was about to plow them under. He said they were just an experiment, were kind of weird, and he couldn’t see how anyone would want them! Ummm, just a minute, I’ll take a few (dozen)…

autumn, tablescape, decor, keeping with the times

For my autumn tablescape this year, the only new things I bought were the wicker chargers, and the cloth serviettes, all from Pier One. I chose a patterned serviette, and a plain one, put one on top of the other, shaped them into a loose cone, and slipped on a big silvery jewel ring. I already had the rings since I had bought them at a garage sale a few years ago for $1.00/ea.

Autumn-Tablescape 2

I’m not usually into sparkly stuff, but for some reason, these really grabbed me.

Autumn-Tablescape 3

All my other stonecrops are still growing beautifully as well. My pots are full of soft blue-green whorls, bright mossy-looking mounds, and tiny grey-green leaves. I plan to bring them all in for the winter, and I’m hopeful that they will do well in the sunny south window in my basement.

Autumn-Tablescape 4

Pink, and green, and white. Light and airy.

Autumn-Tablescape-4-copy

Hmmmm, I think that pear needs to be poached…

Autumn-Tablescape-8-copy

… but it’s so pretty…

Autumn-Tablescape-7-copy

…don’t forget a few candles…

Autumn-Tablescape-9-copy

… and a white cotton tablecloth.

Autumn-Tablescape-5-copy

My dining room has some wonderful light, and I managed to capture this sunburst off the wineglass!

Autumn-Tablescape-6-copy

I hope you liked my autumn tablescape. I don’t have any sage advice to pass on, except maybe to pile on the layers. Layers of plates, serviettes, plants, candles… use lots of stuff! I used the same concept when I created my “Pier One Inspired Tablescape” when I was in Arizona. In fact, I find that Pier One is one of the best places for inspiration!

Thank you for dropping by!

 

Filed Under: HOME DECOR Tagged With: autumn, home decor, photoshop, tablescape

Pier One Inspired Tablescape

April 28, 2013 by Barb 9 Comments

On one of our last days in Arizona, hubby decided he wanted to go check out a golf superstore and look what we came home with…

Pier One Inspired Tablescape

Should I feel guilty?

pier one

It just so happened that there was a Pier One across the parking lot and I thought it would be the perfect place to spend an hour or so.

When I entered the store, the salesclerk asked me what brought me in. I started to say “well, my husband is over shopping at the…” when she put up her hand and said “say no more!” and we both had a little chuckle.

Pier One Tablescape

I started out simply admiring the beautiful displays and began to wonder what it was that made them so amazing (apart from the delicious dishes). I spent 15 minutes just staring at all the different table settings, thinking, thinking.

Then I realized that it was the layering! Tablecloths, placemats, chargers, large plates, medium plates, small plates. And the serviettes! I had never thought of putting two serviettes in one holder. An “aha” moment…

pier one

The wheels were turning. I already had a set of white dishes so I could have a little fun here! All I needed to find were a couple of small plates with some white in them. These blue, white, gold, and green ones were just the ticket! I love green so I rummaged around and found two wicker placemats that I really liked–perfect! Of course everything in the store is coordinated so it wasn’t difficult to find two different types of serviettes, and some pretty holders.pier one tablescape

Do you like my wildflowers and my target vase? So simple, but so perfect.

pier one tablescape

I love these colours…

pier one tablescape

 

If you didn’t see the tour of our “little get-away” in Arizona, check it out here.

Hubby didn’t get his golf clubs. But no worries… he’s going to get them here at home. He said he was just getting ideas. :)

 

The Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush

 

Filed Under: HOME DECOR Tagged With: arizona, flower, photoshop, tablescape

Autumn tablescape 2012

September 17, 2012 by Barb 15 Comments

I love to host Thanksgiving! All the gorgeous colours and textures are so inspiring!

I love to set a pretty table but I don’t want to spend a lot of money and I try to use what I have on hand. I already had the perfect dishes (I got them at Costco quite a few years ago), so the only things I had to buy for this table setting were the little blocks that say “give thanks”, and the pumpkins.

I was pretty happy with my centrepiece. I used a glass tray that has two ‘levels’ and put the candles on the top level. After I had it arranged, I sprinkled green rocks over everything and added a few willow balls for extra texture.

Autumn Tablescape

Can you believe that I found these beautiful wild purple asters growing in the ditch! Love that!

autumn tablescape

So perfect with the purple dishes…

autumn tablescape

Purple, green, gold…

autumn tablescape

… burgundy…

autumn tablescape

… leaves cut from scrapbook papers…

autumn tablescape

… same for the serviette holders… with a spring of fresh thyme…

autumn tablescape

So much to give thanks for!

autumn tablescape

Thank you for dropping by, and checking out my tablescape!

autumn tablescape, purple asters, thanksgiving, keeping with the times

Filed Under: HOME DECOR Tagged With: autumn, home decor, tablescape

Table decor

December 2, 2011 by Barb 37 Comments

I took an afternoon and set up my table the way I want it for Christmas Day ‘a practice run’ so to speak. I now have everything tucked away and organized so that on the Big Day I will be able to pull it all out and set it up without even having to think (much). I know I’m going to have a lot of other things needing my attention and this will be a huge help. So, here it is . . .

My Christmas theme this year is a little bit country, a little bit woodland, and a little bit elegant. We are hosting Christmas at the lake and I want to set a nice table. It started with a new set of dishes. Pure white Denby aptly named ‘White’. I purchased this set in October at Home Sense for less than a third of it’s original price. I didn’t know exactly why I was buying them but I simply could not walk away. When is a white set of  dishes not perfect? I used my red cotton tablecloth (kind of wrinkly and rustic) with matching serviettes. I used thick twine to wrap the napkins and added a little painted pine cone. I had painted them many, many years ago to string along our banister – am I ever glad I saved them! It was also serendipitous that I found candles that look like pine cones (Home Sense). I used a roll of green burlap and I love the rustic beauty it adds when used instead of placemats. I cleaned and rubbed the water glasses and silverware until they were sparkling. I was pretty happy with my creation when I suddenly decided I should have a bit of fresh greenery on the table. What to do? I’m half an hour from town and it’s freezing and snowing outside. Hmmmm, I went and got my garden shears, took a walk around the yard and snipped a few branches from our fir trees. I said thank you to my trees and told them they had just contributed the final perfect touch for our upcoming Christmas celebrations. I’m so looking forward to Christmas with my family.

 

Filed Under: HOME DECOR Tagged With: photoshop, tablescape, wreath

Welcome! I'm Barb, and this is where I practice my mantra to "learn something new, try something different". It's my hope that something I do here may inspire you! Read More…

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