Flashy Flamingos – Navy, White & Pink Tablescape

July 21, 2017July 21, 2017 / Alycia Nichols / 2 Comments

As evidenced by my 2012 post, “Flamingos in Paradise“, I was a big fan of flamingos before they became all the rage this summer. Something about those big, pink birds…maybe just because they’re my favorite color!

II love my country, but I’m about plumb tuckered out on the red, white and blue for a minute. This refreshing respite of pink, white and navy blue is just what the tablescaping doctor ordered. The round table for 4 is layered with those very colors from LinenTablecloth.com.

My objective was to set off the bright pink and white against the deep blue. The Crate & Barrel charger for each setting has a bright pink ruffled edge. Plain white dinner plates are offset by navy blue square salad plates from Pier 1. The cotton napkins are from Bed Bath & Beyond, and the faux bamboo flatware is from JC Penney.

I just love these peppy pink flamingo-spattered glasses from Home Goods! They’re perfect for serving iced tea, lemonade, water, or – my personal favorite – a tropical cocktail! I paired them with clear water glasses.

The inspiration for this tablescape came from this fun navy & white striped bucket peppered with flamingos from Home Goods. (I think its original intent is to be used as a flatware caddy, but what the heck…I march to the beat of my own twisted drum sometimes!) I filled it with sago palms and tucked in a metal flamingo for a quick, easy tablescape with tropical flair.

The other side of the deck is included in the party decor with a continuance of the color scheme.

Sips and snacks are set up on a bamboo tray in the seating area. A sweet blog friend gave me these ceramic flamingo appetizer plates a few years ago, and I love them as much today as when I first got them. Thank you, Mona!

Pink lemonade is the perfect summer drink in these glasses. The plastic pitcher is from Target and the fun flamingo stir sticks from Tuesday Morning.

On the other end of the coffee table are a white ceramic vase overflowing with pink and white tulips and a stack of alternating pink & white cocktail napkins literally anchored to keep them from blowing away in the summer breeze.

The seating area’s side table is set up with a pot of summer flowers as the backdrop to a blue & white striped sailboat (to mirror the look of the centerpiece on the dining table) and guest favors in flamingo-flecked boxes.

You know how I love my paper lanterns, and for this setting I really loaded ’em up! Varying shades of pink mixed with white lanterns are embellished with navy blue ribbon streamers for additional color and movement.

Thanks so much for stopping in to check out the flashy flamingos!

Other tablescapes using paper lanterns on this site:
Cupcake Colors
Easter Brunch
Butterfly Kaleidoscope – Indoors & Outdoors
Blue & White 30th Birthday
Under A Paper Moon
Chinese Takeout

Other tablescapes with tropical settings on this site:
Hot Tropical
Caribbean Queen
Ocean Blue
Tropicana
Summer Breeze

Old Navy Seafood Cruise

July 2, 2014July 2, 2014 / Alycia Nichols / 38 Comments

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.

Of course, Old Navy flip-flops are the preferred shoe of the day! And then you decide…do you want to be The Skipper or Gilligan? 🙂

Other nautical/beach-themed posts on this site:
All-American Seafood Boil
Tropicana
Hot Tropical
Ocean Blue
Flamingos in Paradise
4th of July Coastal Style
Caribbean Queen
Summer Breeze
Oranges & Blossoms

Join me at these fun blog parties this week for lots of summer tablescapes:
Table It!
Tablescape Thursday

4th of July Coastal Style

June 16, 2014September 6, 2021 / Alycia Nichols / 73 Comments

I’m linking this week to Cuisine Kathleen‘s “Summer Whimsy” tablescape challenge!

What says summer more than the 4th of July? While this is a photo-intensive post, I hope each of you will be able to get at least one idea for your own nautical-inspired or Independence Day, Flag Day, Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day or other patriotic celebration.
(Click on any photo, then click again to enlarge/enhance it.) This casual patriotic table for 8 is set on our back deck.

The table begins with a white stretch tablecloth from LinenTablecloth.com. If you’re new to this blog, please allow me to introduce you to one of the most fabulous inventions for casual dining ever!!! These babies just slip right over the table top and down to be secured by the legs. Voila! Done! And what’s best of all…I honestly just scrunch these up and stuff them in a drawer for storage. Pull them out and put them on the table with NO IRONING necessary. A true wonder! They come in a variety of colors in 4-, 5-, and 8′ x 30″ sizes at LinenTablecloth.com.

Square white melamine plates from Target are topped with these mix-and-matched nautical-inspired salad plates from Home Goods, one with a massive ship and the other with a compass. Melamine sure has come a long, long way since I was a child!

I found the fun navy stars & stripes plastic tumblers on the clearance shelves at Target a few years ago. The navy & white striped cotton placemats are from Bed, Bath & Beyond. Contrasting against the navy blue is a solid red napkin from LinenTablecloth.com. The white flatware is from T.J. Maxx.

These red, white and blue stretch chair covers from LinenTablecloth.com are one of the most fun and unexpected elements of the tablescape. Like the tablecloths, they just slip right on and are secured beneath the feet in mere seconds. They, too, can be balled up and stored without worry of telltale wrinkles when you’re ready to use them. (Use them with coordinating or contrasting stretch sashes for a different look!)

The centerpiece is a relatively simple one using a trio of potted red geraniums along with a series of clear glass cylinders for candles and votives. The larger cylinders hold a white LED (for safety!) pillar candle surrounded by a Z Gallerie seashell candle ring. The elevated cylinder votive holders are from Pier 1.

The buffet table on one end of the deck is laden with drinks and desserts for after the main feast.

The buffet line begins with a tower of creamy white starfish plates (Tuesday Morning) offset by a bright red striped cloth for making short order of spills. Patriotic paper cocktail napkins bring a little sizzle.

I found this terrific red chicken wire basket at Home Goods earlier this year. Here it holds assorted breads, but it could be used for a variety of purposes. A heavy blue crockery bowl offers up potato chips while cheery red metal colanders are a fun way to serve up juicy strawberries and blueberries.

My good friend, Monica, recently gifted me with 30+ melamine trays. When I saw these 2, I just about went bonkers with glee. I knew they would be perfect for this setting! The captain’s bell is from Home Goods.

Cupcakes with cherries on top (from the tree George Washington allegedly chopped down?) are displayed on a patriotic ceramic cake stand from Hobby Lobby.

The opposite end of the buffet has lots of goodies. This canoe was used just as a prop for my “All-American Seafood Boil” a couple of years ago. Today it is lined, filled with ice, and used to hold fruit and beverages. An old iron boat pulley hangs casually from the side on the end, its hook nestled among a throng of seashells. Wooden mallets and metal seafood crackers from World Market are displayed beneath a “Steamed Crabs” sign from Home Goods.

Another of the wonderful nautical/patriotic melamine trays from Monica is used here to hold lemonade. The red stars & stripes plastic drinkware was purchased at Target and complements the tumblers used on the dining table.

Here’s the kind of food we’d grill up. That lobster looks like he knows what’s comin’, and I think he’s trying to make a run for it! It’s already too late for the crab! 🙂

It’s nice to have a “living room” setting outdoors for guests to enjoy a cocktail before dinner or to linger after. Our wrought iron furniture is decked out in a variety of comfy red, white & blue pillows. A star-trimmed jute rug “connects” the settee and chairs. A patriotic wind sock softly billows from the overhang.

The side table is covered with a 108″ red tablecloth from LinenTablecloth.com. A fishnet overlay is a nod to the nautical theme.

The wrought iron baker’s rack in a corner of the deck is laden with fun nautical and patriotic elements, mostly from Hobby Lobby. The metal stars are from Old Time Pottery.

Other tablescapes on this site with a nautical, patriotic, and/or seashell theme:
All-American Seafood Boil
Stars & Stripes
Lauren in the Library
Show Me State Dinner
Flamingos in Paradise
Ocean Blue – Starfish & Seashells
Caribbean Queen
Tropicana
Summer Breeze
Old Navy Seafood Cruise
Peacefully Patriotic
A Coke & A Smile – Summer’s Last Hurrah

You’re bound to find lots of great summertime tablescapes if you join me at the following blog parties:
Christine’s Rustic & Refined “Table It!” (starting Monday)
Cuisine Kathleen‘s “Let’s Dish!” (Wednesday after 5:00 p.m. CDT)
Susan at Between Naps on the Porch‘s “Tablescape Thursday” (Thursday after 9:00 a.m. CDT)