Beach Tablescape! Welcome to the 52nd Tablescape Thursday!

If you've stopped by the porch earlier in the week, you know there's a celebration going on! Tuesday was the 1 year Blogoversary of Between Naps on the Porch, and we're celebrating all week long! :-)

BNOTP is hosting a brand new give-a-way every day this week for Blogoversary Week (Monday through Friday) August 17th through August 21st.

If you missed Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday's Give-a-Way, it's not too late...just scroll on down to those posts when you are done reading this one, and leave a comment to be included in those drawings, too. The drawings for all 5 days will not take place until this weekend, (results announced next Monday) so you have all week (until Saturday) to leave a comment on each of the five Give-a-Way posts:-)

I'd especially like to show my appreciation to those of you who are "Followers" of BNOTP...so, if you are a Follower, be sure to mention that in your comment and your name will be entered twice for today's drawing. Did you know you don't have to be a blogger yourself to become a Follower of BNOTP. Just register and sign in with Google and you will be able to "Follow" all of your favorite blogs. :-)

If you also subscribe to the BNOTP feed, mention that, too, for a third entry into today's Give-a-Way. Remember, there will be a different drawing each day, so lots of opportunities to win. :-) To make it easy, you can just write "F" and/or "S" in your comment and I'll know to include an extra entry for you for that day's Give-a-Way. :-) And thanks so much for "following" BNOTP!

Our Blogoversary Give-a-Way for today is a set of these wonderful Laguiole knives made in France by Jean Dubost. They have an Authenticity Certificate on the back with the Laguiole stamp, an image of a bee and the name Jean Dubost, France. The stamp states: "Dubost Colas Pradel founded in 1920 by Mr. Pierre Dubost, a cutler's son and maker of the famous Laguiole knives. Production started in a small workshop and grew thanks to the founders son, Mr. Jean Dubost, whose name signs the flatware and kitchen knives lines."



Do you see the little bees? :-)


It just seemed fitting to have an item for the table as our give-a-way for our Blogoversary Tablescape Thursday. :-) Please be sure to leave a comment to be included in the drawing for the Laguiole knives.


For our Blogoversary (52nd) Tablescape Thursday, I'm feeling a bit nostalgic. I thought it would be fun to post the table setting I put together for that very first Tablescape party. Back then our tablescaping day was on Tuesday...so you'll see the Tablescape Tuesday button that Shelia at Notes Songs so graciously made for TT. She also made the one we use now...thank-you, Shelia! Once Metamorphosis Monday began, our tablescaping day moved a couple of days down the week to Thursday...just so we'd have a little separation between the two parties. We've been tablescaping on Thursday's ever since. :-)

I had only been blogging for about a week at this point and I didn't have any idea how to sign up or use Mr. Linky. So I aasked folks to let me know via comments left during the week, if they wanted to participate. That worked fine in the very beginning, but as TT grew, I found it taking an hour or longer each week to put the list together. Things got a lot simpler when I started using Mr. Linky. Yea, Mr. Linky!

I've left the original group of participants, just as I posted them back on August 25th, 2008. You'll notice I didn't know how to create links and had to list the entire URL. I also, didn't have any idea about permalinks back then, so the links shown are the participants general blog addresses and not the actual link to their tablescape. You have to remember, I'd only been blogging for a week at this point...things did get better. :-)

I want to thank all 13 of the original participants who took that leap of faith with me on the very first Tablescape Tuesday. You were brave pioneers and will always be heroes in my eyes! :-)

The only thing I've changed below is the size of the pics...I did enlarge them for this Blogoversary posting. Hope you enjoy the very first "Tablescape Tuesday" posted at Between Naps on the Porch! :-) There's some beachy music on the playlist to go with our tablescape. :-)

Posted August 25, 2008

Welcome everyone to the first Tablescape Tuesday. You will find beautiful tablescapes awaiting your oooohhhs and ahhhhhs at the following blogs (listed in alphabetical order):

A Beach Cottage http://www.abeachcottage.typepad.com/
Angelic Accents http://angelicaccents.blogspot.com/
Cathymac’s Holiday Hamlet http://holidayhamlet.blogspot.com/
Dish Diva aka Kay http://dishdivaakakay.blogspot.com/
'D's DayDreams http://dsdaydreams.blogspot.com/
Equus Villa http://equusvilla.blogspot.com/
Designs by Gollum http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com//
My Romantic Home http://romantichome.blogspot.com/
Note Songs http://notesongs.blogspot.com/
Ribbonwood Cottage http://ribbonwoodcottage.blogspot.com/
Sweet Designs http://judith-sweetdesigns.blogspot.com/
There is Always Thyme for... http://thereisalwaysthymefor.blogspot.com/
Thinkin’ of Home http://thinkinofhome.blogspot.com/

If you are participating today and you do not see your name above, please leave me a comment right away and I will add you to the list, post-haste. If you would like to participate next Tuesday, please leave me a comment by this Friday so I can make sure I have an updated list.

I know summer is almost over, but I'm just not quite ready to let it go. I found some adorable shell candlesticks recently and put together this "beach" themed tablescape.




Found the sea-blue flatware at Pier 1 recently and it was half off...whoo, hoo! Thought it worked well with the colors in the china...what do you think?


Napkin rings were made by gluing shells to plain wooden rings...


Used both starfish-shaped salad plates with shell-shaped ones in this tablescape... Star-fished shaped salad plate shown here...


Shell shaped salad plate...


Do you see the little starfish on the glass? :-)


Sea-biscuit bread plate...


Love how they decorated all four sides of the bowls...


Thought these candlesticks look like they were designed to go with this beach china...


Close-up of candlestick base...






Come walk with me, along the sea, where dusk sits on the land. And search with me, for shells are free, and treasures hide in sand. (Author unknown)

END of first Tablescape Tuesday (08-25-08) post...

Hope you enjoyed viewing this first Tablescape Party. Thanks for making Tablescape Thursday so much fun each and every week! Looking forward to the next 52! :-)

The following blogs have lovely tablescapes awaiting your visit: