02 | July | 2014 | Tablescapes at Table /Twenty-One

INSPIRATION: A set of 4 striped Pier 1 plates found at a thrift store.

INSPIRATION: A set of 4 striped Pier 1 “Marea” dinner plates found at a thrift store.

This quick post might help out with your 4th of July table planning by just adding a few small flags. It’s fairly easy to put together and makes a casual fun summertime tablescape. (I created this tablescape last year just days before my Dad got so sick, but forgot about it and never posted it.)
(Click any photo, then click again to enhance/enlarge it.)

This table for four looks to celebrate the wonders of the beach and sea. It starts with a 108-in. white tablecloth from LinenTablecloth.com and it topped with an 85-in. navy square. If you prefer less of a drop for your top cloth, LTC has a navy one in a 70-in. and a 54-in. (Pictured is a 48-in. table, so decide according to the preferred drop and the size of your table. I wanted the white to just barely peek from beneath like a crinoline petticoat, so I used an 85-in.) The table is finished off with a fishnet to add to the nautical/beachy look.

The place setting begins with a white ceramic charger from Old Time Pottery. Next comes the “Marea” blue striped dinner plate from Pier 1 that I found in a local thrift store. All four for just $2 with nary a scratch on them!!! (“Nary”?!?!? Who am I…Grandma Moses??!?! 🙂 ) A blue melamine salad plate from Target and a fun dessert plate with a ship’s wheel motif finishes off the stack. As my dear blog friend Cherry Kay of Entertaining Women pointed out in her most recent post, “Soft Summer Blues”, don’t even go there when it comes to trying to perfectly match blue tones. The range is just too vast and you’ll only end up crying in a corner somewhere, reeking of cheap wine and low self-esteem! 🙂 The flatware is from TJ Maxx, and I added a seafood picker (essential for getting to that sweet meat hidden deep in the claws!) that I picked up at World Market.

I found these beautiful silver (plastic!) lobster napkin rings at Z Gallerie a few years back on clearance at 75% off. There were only 9 of them, and I swooped in like Batman to claim every one of them as my own! The little aluminum pails came from the $1 aisle at Target, and the seafood crackers are from World Market.

Simple clear glass stemware for water and the obligatory wine!

I bought this beautiful raised cylinder from Pier 1 many years ago…on clearance. It was marked all the way down to about $12. I wept with joy. The silver bottom is sturdy, and the open-ended clear glass piece on top just raises right off. Here the cylinder is filled with lots of pretty seashells deliberately arranged to show off details of some of the most interesting ones.