penny-farthing

INSPIRATION: Fun summertime melamine dishes found at Tuesday Morning.

I am all about the bright colors and melamine this summer! What a great selection there is out there, and the prices are so reasonable! For any casual summertime tablescape, melamine is a fun and inexpensive way to go, and if you go bright that just kicks it up a notch!
(Click on any photo, then click again to enhance/enlarge it.)

This table begins with a brilliant “Caribbean” blue 108″ round poly tablecloth from LinenTablecloth.com.

There are so many juicy, bright colors in the plates & bowls (grounded with bits of black & white), and I wanted to pick up on as many of them as possible. A trio of round woven placemats in orange, aqua blue and yellow from Bed, Bath & Beyond anchor the place setting. The square melamine dishes have lots of fun stripes topped with images of watermelon, oranges, limes & lemons. That motif is repeated in the napkins gathered with a wooden watermelon slice napkin ring (both purchased eons ago at BB&B).

Orange acrylic flatware from Burlington is casually placed inside the salad bowl.

Aqua blue plastic tumblers from Old Time Pottery are easy care and the perfect match for the dishes. The lemon slice finger bowl blends with the theme.

The centerpiece is simple and fun, made up of a bowl of citrus fruits, playful watermelon wedge salt & pepper shakers and an iron tricycle found in the floral department at our local grocer’s. According to Wikipedia, the penny-farthing – also known as a high wheeler and a spinoff of the French “boneshaker” in the 1800s – was the first machine to be dubbed a “bicycle” and was a symbol of the late Victorian era.

I created a lounge area in one corner of the deck which is nice for enjoying pre-dinner cocktails or dessert. The side table is dressed in a 90″ round LinenTablecloth “Caribbean” blue tablecloth to complement the covering on the dining table. A distressed neon green finial piece from the clearance aisle at Hobby Lobby is joined by another iron penny-farthing and potted geraniums.

Our Martha Stewart Living coffee table was purchased in pristine condition from our local Goodwill thrift store. A can of spray paint morphed it from black to white in just a couple of hours time. The rest of the deck furniture was spruced up, too, and then treated to seat cushions from Lowe’s and brightly colored toss pillows from Pier 1. A lime green metal tray from Target holds frosted glasses with a lemon & lime slice motif. The orange and lemon slice dessert plates were purchased at Hobby Lobby years ago. (See these plates used in another tablescape HERE.)

Along with lots of potted plants, a couple of cheery red metal lanterns from Pier 1 add a little extra punch to the surrounding decor and are great for lighting the way after the sun sets.

The old rusted wrought iron baker’s rack gets in on the act with a tricycle and more penny-farthings. I love the 3-D wood slab with the penny-farthing and names of fun summertime vacation destinations. I picked it up along with the planter tricycles at the grocery store floral department. Notice how nature yielded a shot of a kamikaze bumblebee zooming in toward the gazing ball! (Students, notice the 2nd green finial piece used here and recall our conversation about representing “like elements” throughout the space. The same goes for the use of the penny-farthings & tricycles in each key area of the entertainment space.)

There are lots more summertime tablescapes on this site. Here are links to a few of them:
Oopsy Daisy!
Ants in My Pants Picnic
Daisy Crazy
Picnic Ants
Lemonade From Bill
Hot Fun in the Summertime
Tropicana
Summer Orange Tablescape
All-American Seafood Boil
4th of July, Coastal Style
Flamingos in Paradise
Grill It Up!
Caribbean Queen
Life Is Just a Chair of Bowlies
Ocean Blue Tablescape
Hot Tropical
Old Navy Seafood Cruise
Casablanca Cool
and don’t forget the Summer page with TEN posts on it!

I’ll be partying again this week with Christine at Rustic & Refined for “Table It!” and Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday. Swing on by both of these fun blog parties for lots of summertime entertaining ideas!

After another short absence, I am back for a couple of weeks before my shoulder surgery next Friday, the 26th. Again, thanks to all of you who have been so patient with my on-again-off-again posting as I’ve tried to deal with soul-crushing pain in the wake of Daddy’s death. It has not been easy in any way. Add to that the physical pain with my shoulders and back…not a fun summer!

All that being said…I’d like to dedicate this post to two very special fellow bloggers. First up, Jennie Schumann of Got My Reservations went to Paris earlier this year and was so sweet and thoughtful as to gift me with this week’s colorful inspiration. Merci, Jennie!

Patisserie de Paris placemat - Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One

INSPIRATION: Many thanks to Jennie Schumann for these easy-clean beauties!!!

I also want to dedicate this post to Linda at A La Carte who will be jetting off to gay Paris in September. She’s so excited about it, and I’m truly excited for her!!! What lucky girls! I can only live vicariously through them since I am so afraid to fly!
(Click on any photo, then click again to enlarge it for close-up details.)

Our deck is the site of this lovely French patisserie or bakery. It’s all set up for a lovely ladies luncheon, bridal luncheon, bridal shower, lady’s birthday, the girls’ way of celebrating Bastille Day (that’s a stretch!) or any occasion where femininity and fun are key elements.

Let’s start with the petite dining table set for four.

The placemats are far too pretty to completely cover, so clear glass dishes are on tap today to let the design shine through.

This oblong placemat has a beautiful pink damask background with soft green borders. The image of the Eiffel Tower is set against what appears to be a lacy doily. Images of luscious French macarons seem to bounce right off the placemat. The flatware is International Silver “Royal Danish”. (FUN FACT: the word “macaron” is not an alternate spelling of macaroon. The two terms refer to two distinctly different things. Both macarons and macaroons are confections, and both names are derived from “ammaccare”, which is Italian for “to crush” — but that’s where the similarities end. The macarons as pictured are a meringue-based cookie made with almond flour, egg whites, and granulated and powdered sugar, then filled with buttercream or fruit spread. A macaroon, on the other hand, is more often than not that little quarter-sized dollop of egg whites & sugar rolled in dried coconut and toasted to sweet perfection. In France, this is called a “congolais” and is served during Passover because it contains no flour. Sufficiently confused yet? 🙂 )

You may notice lots of layering going on throughout the space, starting with these 4-ply menus. (Click on the photo, then click again to enlarge and note how the menus honor Jennie and Linda!) A bright celadon green is topped with 2 different shades of pink damask cardstock from Hobby Lobby to complement the design of the placemat. It is held together with a metal fleur de lis brad, also from Hobby Lobby. The stemware used for this tablescape is from Old Time Pottery, and the napkin is from Bed Bath & Beyond.

The dramatic “Eiffel Tower” centerpiece is one that, while very tall, can still be seen through across the table. I have used this piece in different ways for two other posts, “Springtime in Paris Buffet” and “French Poodle”. Here is is lightly embellished with dainty pink silk flowers and a few butterflies. The center holds a glass cake pedestal piled high with pastries.

The layered look continues with the table linens. A 108″ round LinenTablecloth.com tablecloth in “Tea Green” is topped with a soft pink 90″ tablecloth. Layered linens always give a richer, more sumptuous look to a table and allow multiple theme colors to extend below the table’s surface.

Simple white resin patio chairs add to the “outdoor cafe” look.

It’s no jam-packed Parisian patisserie window, but I thought this vintage baker’s rack would be a neat way to display pastries and a few French-inspired knick-knacks as well as to bring the feel of an authentic patisserie to the deck. Notice the replica penny-farthing (bicycle) there on the floor as well as the fleur de lis symbols on the shelves. (TIDBIT: Frenchman Eugene Meyer is credited as the father of the penny-farthing or “high bicycle” by the International Cycling History Conference.)

Crosses show up a lot in French design and architecture, so I used this large wrought iron cross on top of the baker’s rack. The cross is flanked by two celadon green hat boxes with French flair.

Just like in a French patisserie, there is a huge variety of sweet pastries from which to choose. I stuck with pastries in the same/complementary color palette as the table.

Who knew a MoonPie looked so much like an authentic macaron? Hmmm….the MoonPie was created at the start of the Great Depression, so maybe it IS the poor man’s macaron? 🙂 And maybe it’s why they have been a traditional “throw” during the Mardi Gras (very French!) parades in many Southern states since the 1950s? (Where are my ‘Bama girls to back me up on this? Ellen? Sandra?) Something to ponder….! 🙂

More pastries on the dessert buffet, including beautiful pirouette cookies and pretty little cakes that make me want to slap on a crown and shriek, “Off with their heads!“, are displayed in and on glass and silver.

I bought several of these beautiful silver cake servers yeas ago. They come in quite handy for dessert buffets! The dark wrought iron fleur de lis seen here, as well as the white one in previous photos, both came from the clearance aisle at Hobby Lobby for just $1 apiece.

The buffet table carries on the theme of pink, green and white as well as layering. This 90″ x 132″ white tablecloth is topped with pink and tea green satin runners, all from LinenTablecloth.com. It looked nice with the plain white tablecloth, but adding bits of color (for such a teensy, tiny price!) just kicked it up a notch! I used 3 runners to represent the 3 vertical bands of the French flag.

The coffee service set up on one end of the buffet table features a silver 25-cup coffee urn, a vintage creamer and sugar set, soft pink napkins, and a billowy floral design in a French-inspired white vase. The pastoral scene on the side of the cups is decidedly French, too.

Loaves of bread stand tall in a silver champagne bucket while croissants and other breads are displayed in a silver wire basket with Victorian-era tongs alongside assorted cheeses. The Austrian crystal cheese picks and forks add just the right amount of bling.

Finally, this fancy glass decanter with the word “Paris” on it is filled with corks instead of a beverage for a nice decorative touch.

Many, many, many thanks to Jennie for this wonderful bit of inspiration!

More posts using pink & green on this site:
“Showered in Pink”
“Blushing Bridal Shower”
“Fairy Tale Wedding Shower – Princess & the Frog”
“Mother’s Day Luncheon in Pink”
“Pinky Peter Cottontail”
“Pleasant Under Glass”
“Springtime in Paris”
“Easter Brunch”

I’m joining a couple of blog parties this week:
“Let’s Dish!” with Cuisine Kathleen
“Tablescape Thursday” with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch

I’ll be back next week with one more post before surgery. It’s gonna be a doozy, and you won’t want to miss it!
Until next week, au revoir!