blue & yellow

The blazing, unforgiving heat of August in Kansas City just wilts me! Aside from blasting the A/C and sipping cool drinks, the best thing I can do to lift my spirits (next to shopping, of course!) is to surround myself with lots of bright color. I hosted a luncheon with a brightly colored tablescape and did just that!

I am a huge fan of classic cobalt blue which reminds me of the sea and sky, especially when paired with sunny yellow. A dose of white makes the brilliant colors in this tablescape really pop. This casual luncheon tablescape contains elements from Pier 1 Imports (“Mirandela” chargers, stemware, yellow crockery), Tuesday Morning (napkins, napkin rings, placemats), Macy’s (flatware), and one of my favorite haunts, Z Gallerie (centerpiece finials). Fun, wispy yellow spider & acid green button mums from Costco rounded out the look. (Click HERE to see the dishes in the same design as these chargers in another tablescape.)

A cup of rich, creamy broccoli cheese soup makes the perfect appetizer, followed by a (relatively) healthy chicken Caesar salad with freshly shaved parmesan for the main course.

The 3″ square yellow crockery was used to bake individual apple-walnut cakes that topped with cinnamon ice cream. These were the perfect luncheon size, and the presentation in the tiny crock made them a little more fun!

With my tummy full and my mind swimming with the feeling brought on by all the bright color…I think I’m back on track! Crisis averted!

Last night brought a close to my first class series, “The Art of Tablescaping – Buffet Styling” through Longview Community College. It was a night I simultaneously dreaded and happily anticipated. All told, I think it went pretty well for my first time at bat, and I’m looking forward to starting the second class series,
“The Art of Tablescaping – Sizzlin’ Summer Soirées” on June 12, 2012.

Photo by Sheri L. Grant

To cap this first class series off, everyone grabbed a little snack to munch on while enjoying a slide show of the wonderful buffet tablescapes created by each student. (Cobalt blue martini glasses from Pier 1.) They really did a good job, and their work really showed they had been paying attention! The evening ended with a sit-down awards dinner at a colorful Springtime table specially prepared for these fine ladies. Sure, a buffet meal would have been apropos, but I wanted them to relax after all the hard work and effort they put into their individual tables.

It may have been raining cats and dogs outside, but inside was all about sunshine and blue sky! The Tuscan-style table was decked out in bright cobalt blue and yellow. This would also be a wonderful tablescape for a Spring wedding rehearsal dinner or birthday, and would work just as well outdoors as inside!

Full-length white linens provided a blank slate for the brilliant colors on top. A lemon yellow cotton placemat from Bed Bath & Beyond, turned to drop vertically off the side of the table, hosted a white ceramic charger (Old Time Pottery) and beautiful “Mirandela” dinner plates from Pier 1, topped off with a white-rimmed yellow salad plate from Old Time Pottery. (Click HERE and scroll down to “Sun & Sky” to see these “Mirandela” dinner plates used in a luncheon table setting.)

Bright yellow cotton napkins from Bed Bath & Beyond are cinched at the waist with bold cobalt blue napkin rings (Tuesday Morning) that look very much like jewelry. The flatware is Hampton Silversmith’s “Patriot” in the mirrored finish.

The cobalt blue stemware is from Pier 1.

Scoops of whipped butter in miniature silver Revere bowls and tiny salt and pepper shakers fill in gaps down the table center.

Heavy cobalt blue votive holders bring both color and light to the table’s surface.

Aside from daisies, I just can’t think of a happier flower than the daffodil! Three chunky cobalt blue vases filled with the sunshiny yellow flowers are flanked by silver Revere candlesticks.

Congratulations to the first Art of Tablescaping “graduating class”!!! Desta, Denise, Linda S. 1, Linda S. 2, Marie, Natalie, and Ty…you ladies did a fantastic job! Thank you for making it fun for me, and I hope you have acquired some techniques, skills and knowledge that you can carry with you for a lifetime of buffet-style tablescaping!

To see more posts on this site using cobalt blue:
“Peony Power“
“Brilliant Italian“
“Blue & White 30th Birthday“
“Summer Blues & Greens“
“Surf & Turf Dinner“

For more information or to enroll in “The Art of Tablescaping – Sizzlin’ Summer Soirées”, contact the Community Education Department at Longview Community College, 816-604-2030.

Please be sure to join me for Tablescape Thursday again this week. I’m also joining a new blog party this week over at Cuisine Kathleen’s called “Let’s Dish“. Check it out!
Happy Spring, everyone!!! 🙂