daffodils

For the first time in two years my health is such that I could actually create an Easter tablescape to share with family and friends. This is a “souped up” version of what it will be using lots of greenery, wreaths and other accessories I bought at one of my favorite home accessories boutiques, Home Finishings, in Lee’s Summit, MO, where we live. (My buddy, Mary Beth, owns Home Finishings, and if you want to get lots of fabulous ideas for free, Like the Home Finishings Facebook page.) I was inspired this year by the remarkable vignettes Mary Beth created in her most recent Spring home tour (you can see those photos on her Facebook page or soon to come on the Home Finishings website) where each room was dressed to the nines!

There is no scarcity of design elements on this table, that’s for sure! I appreciate the abundance that allows a little something for everyone. Remember, though, this is an “enhanced” or fantasy version of what is actually workable for guests to dine. You can edit, edit, edit at will!

Place settings such as these are obviously a part of the “fantasy” of the table; but if you want to impress your guests upon their arrival, leave it as is and then remove the wreaths with nests just before guests sit down to the first course. The lacy white doily-like metal chargers are from Michael’s and can be used throughout most of the year. (I’ve seen this same charger in a pastel pink at Michael’s this season!) They are topped with a small grapevine wreath filled with Spanish moss, enhanced with sprigs of forsythia, and crowned with a tiny moss nest from Home Finishings. I added the eggs and a couple of feathers for further effect.

Bird Song by Park Designs dish towel design

“Bird Song” by Park Designs fabric swatch

A plain white cotton napkin complements the white charger. The flatware is from Target. Notice the bit of fabric at the edge of the centerpiece beyond the place setting? That’s a “Bird Song” cotton dish towel by Park Designs that I received as a bonus with purchase after the last Home Finishings in-store event. The birds and twigs on it complement those on the table and around the room. So…there’s an idea for what to do with those pretty towels that don’t soak up much water in the kitchen: make ’em a part of your table design!

I chose melon green glassware with a raised pattern from Pier One to work with all the greenery on the table. White egg cups from World Market hold speckled eggs.

At each place setting is a tiny yellow ceramic chick.

The lush centerpiece is largely centered on a wicker basket for easy removal. The birdcage is filled with candles and a small gazing ball. It is wrapped in a generous length of bendable “twig” that cascades from the top and disappears into the greenery. The stone bunny holds a basket of flowers adorned with butterflies. The entire arrangement is surrounded with greenery bunches – most purchased at Home Finishings – that spill out over the basket onto the table.

A length of moss runner anchors the entire centerpiece. On each end I placed an evergreen topiary flanked by gazing balls that add something reflective to the vignette. The addition of the topiaries was part of the inspiration gleaned from Mary Beth’s luxurious creation in her own dining room.

I carried the yellow of the forsythia and baby chicks from the table over to the buffet.

The tea/bar cart in the dining room corner is dressed up a bit for Spring and Easter with adorable wood bunnies from Hobby Lobby. For a bit more Springtime effect I added wreaths with speckled eggs in nests to the tiered server.

Additional Easter tablescapes or
tablescapes adaptable to Easter on this blog:

Easter In Pink & Grey
Easter Floral – Purple, Pink & White
Easter Bloom
Barton’s Easter Brunch
Building a Better Brunch Buffet
All A’Bloom in Pink for Spring
The Bluebird Special
The Party She Deserves
Spring Green
Purple for Spring
Going Green for Spring
Spring Has Sprung

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Happy Spring, and best wishes for a safe and blessed Easter!

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!!! 🙂