Easter Tablescape... Welcome to the 84th Tablescape Thursday!

Tonight I'm delighted to share a beautiful Easter tablescape created by my good friend, Pinky. The candles are all lit...come right on in and have a seat...



Pinky created a centerpiece using beautiful faux tulips. She elevated them using a lovely cake plate...great idea for when you would like a little height in your centerpiece.


The centerpiece is surround by a darling feather wreath...


Every Easter tablescape needs a sweet bunny!


Sooo cute...love their floral necklaces...


Pinky didn't miss a single detail...do you see the place card holders? :-)


Beaded Easter egg napkin rings tie in beautifully with the tablecloth and napkins.


Love the salt and pepper shaker!


Tulips on the sugar and creamer work beautifully with the tulip centerpiece...


What a cute bowl...I can think of so many uses for this piece!




How would this table setting look with a few little changes and a change in the tablecloth? Want to see? :-)

Looks very different, doesn't it?




Love the woven chargers and polka dot plates. I couldn't pick a favorite...I love it both ways!


I think Pinky should use one tablescape for Easter dinner and the other one for Easter supper...they are both absolutely beautiful!


Bunny Plates: Christmas Tree Shops, last year
Beaded Napkin Rings: HomeGoods
Bunny Place Card Holders: Christmas Tree Shops
Chick Votive Holders: Christmas Tree Shops
Napkins (both patterns): HomeGoods
Ceramic Bunnies: Gift from Pinky's daughter years ago
White Tablecloth: Boscovs
Polka Dot Plates: Christmas Tree Shops

Pinky, thank you so much for sharing your wonderful Easter tablescape! :-)

Looking forward to seeing all your beautiful tablescapes!



If you are participating in Tablescape Thursday, please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general blog address. If you aren't sure how to obtain your permalink or have any questions about using Mr. Linky for this post, just click HERE for detailed instructions.

Please copy and paste the Tablescape Thursday logo button to your computer. Then you can upload it to your side bar and use it in your tablescape post so your visitors will know you are participating.

Please link back to the host blog, Between Naps on the Porch. This is important because it helps those who are visiting your blog, find the other wonderful tablescapes posted for this Tablescape Thursday.

Please do not add your link below, until your tablescape post is actually published to your blog.

Bottle Trees...the Cure for those Pesky Nightime Spirits ;-)

Love this book...it's one of my favs. I look through it time and time again.



Inside, I found this. Know what it is?


(Image from Southern Style by Mark Mayfield)


It's a bottle tree!  Most often you see them in gardens, although this one looks pretty awesome on this porch/veranda.



Bottle trees go way, way, way back. Some folks think the first bottle trees were created in Africa in the 9th Century A.D. Others believe their origin goes back much further...all the way to ancient cultures.

Why a bottle tree? Apparently, it was believed you could capture any roaming, up-to-no-good, nighttime spirits. Superstition has it, they would be lured into the bottles where the morning light would destroy them. There must have been a real problem with bad spirits back in the day. ;)

Remember the post I did a while back about porch ceilings in the south being painted, "haint blue" HERE?  Update:  You'll find more info on haint blue, including some Benjamin Moore haint blue colors, HERE.

Bottle trees are often made with lots of different colored bottles, but a favorite color to use are blue bottles. Bottle trees were often referred to as the "poor man's stained glass" or "garden earrings." They add whimsy to the garden and look really pretty when the sun shines on and through them.


Bottle trees can be made by taking an old tree branch and sticking the bottles onto the branches. Another way is to take a center rod or trunk and attach nails or rods.


(Image from Southern Living)

Want to know more about bottle trees? This site HERE has the largest collection of pictures and in-depth information I've found online about bottle trees. I wanted so badly to copy and share some of the amazing pics I found at the above site in this post...giving credit to the site, but I wasn't sure how the site owner would feel about that. So, I resisted...barely. If you'd like to see A LOT of great pics of bottle trees, click on the link above. You'll find more pics, HERE, too. Have fun!

Pssst: Update:  I added a bottle tree to my deck. Click on Bottle Tree to view.

Easter Tablescape: Welcome to the 83rd Tablescape Thursday!

Tablescape Thursday:

I have two tablescapes going at the moment...one in the breakfast room and one out on the porch. They aren't quite ready for prime time, so tonight I thought I'd share a Spring tablescape I put together around this time last year.

Spring/Easter Tablescape, 2009:

Easter is just around the corner so I've been playing in the dishes again... :-)

It was a gorgeous day, the afternoon I put this tablescape together. I had all the doors to the porch thrown open, and if you enlarge this pic, you'll see the sheers on the porch billowing in and out in the breezes. Oh, how I love such a day as this! :-)

Ok, I know candles are really only supposed to be lit after dark...but this is Tablescape Land, and I'm breaking the rules. LOL Sorry...I do love candles, especially when they are from Colonial Candle. The only thing I purchased new for this tablescape were the blue bunny plates and the place card holders...

Bunny plates are from HomeGoods...

Dinner Plate is Butler's Pantry, Gourmet by Lenox

I've had these green glasses for years and about two years ago I came across the wine glasses at A Classy Flea for only $2.50 a stem. Don't they look like they were made for each other? :-)

Flatware is Napoleon Bee and is available online through Neiman Marcus...

When I found these "fancy" napkin rings at Macy's, I thought they would be perfect for a bridal shower or a ladies tea. But looking at them now, they sort of make me think of Easter lilies.

You can just see the place card holder over the napkin...

Place card holders came from Hobby Lobby...I filled them with Cadbury mini eggs...

Found these cute Fitz and Floyd Salt/Pepper shakers at Tuesday Morning.

Miss Bunny stole my heart last Easter when I found her in Marshalls...

She has some gifts for you!

Take a look at her sweet little face...

Don't you just love her? :-)


Remember these narcissus? You may recall, I started them a few weeks ago from bulbs...they filled the room this day with their sweet, sweet scent!

For Foodie Friday, I'm sharing these adorable cookies I found at Big Lots. They were priced $1.00 each, which I thought was very reasonable. When I got to the register, they rang up for only .10 cents each. I purchased all they had left...which were the four you see below:
An egg...

Cute little hatching chick...

A little lamb...

A bunny in overalls with a carrot...
I promise I did not take a bite out of his left foot during the creation of this tablescape. But, don't even ask what happened to all these critters, once I was done taking pics. :-)

Happy Foodie Friday! :-)

Bird's eye view...

Hope you enjoyed this little Easter/Spring tablescape...


Looking forward to seeing your beautiful tablescapes!





If you are participating in Tablescape Thursday, please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general blog address. If you aren't sure how to obtain your permalink or have any questions about using Mr. Linky for this post, just click HERE for detailed instructions.

Please copy and paste the Tablescape Thursday logo button to your computer. Then you can upload it to your side bar and use it in your tablescape post so your visitors will know you are participating.

Please link back to the host blog, Between Naps on the Porch. This is important because it helps those who are visiting your blog, find the other wonderful tablescapes posted for this Tablescape Thursday.

Please do not add your link below, until your tablescape post is actually published to your blog.

Tablescaping for the Academy Awards

Dining at The Academy Awards
Are you a movie lover? Do you faithfully watch The Academy Awards every year? Wait until you see the wonderful, creative tablescape my friend, Bonnie, created recently for Oscar night!

Bonnie told me for this dinner party, the girls wore jeans and BIG sparkly earrings and the guys wore tuxedo T-shirts.  The menu was pizza, salad and champagne. What a fun night that must have been!

Bonnie set the mood for the night with this fun vignette...


Lots of glitz and glamour...after all, it was a night at the Oscars!


Star chargers coordinate beautifully with the star napkin holders...


I love these plates from Pottery Barn!


Bonnie said they came packed in a film can...don't you love it? :-)


Beautiful flatware...and a starry, starry tablecloth!


Bonnie told me that each plate has the movie name, date it was released and a line from the movie on the back. For example, this plate says: Casablanca, 1942, "Of all the gin joints in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine."




Of course, every Academy Awards table must have one of these guys!


Bonnie, thank-you so much for sharing this wonderful and creative tablescape! It is definitely one of my faves!



Resources:
"Starry, Starry Night" dinner plates - purchased at Marshall's, years ago.
Salad plates - Pottery Barn -
Crystal - Mikasa "Antique Lace"
Flatware - purchased at Ross
Star Charger/Placemats - Marshalls
Napkin Rings - Pier 1
Candleholder - a gift
Oscar statuette - eBay