Cuisine Kathleen has issued a “White Fall” challenge. ONLY WHITE dishes, but ONE other accent for linens, glassware etc. This was fun, but very challenging. No problem with the white dishes, since they’re my everyday go to dishes.
The challenging part was the ONE other color. Not different shades of the other color, but one other color. My other color started with a burnt orange sheet that my husband suggested I buy when Walmart had their sale going on. And a tablescape was born:
I’m still longing for the beach. (maybe next year) I guess that’s why beach related things keep showing up in my posts.
As promised, here’s the tutorial for the Pearl Napkin Rings that were used in the Yellow Tablescape. They’re easy to make, use very little supplies, and can be customized to match the color theme of your tablescape.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Lately I’ve been obsessed with the color Lemon Yellow. It all started with my Easter gift from my husband. He gave me a small rosebush that was wrapped in yellow paper. (he knows me so well)
And the Forsythia bushes that my sister had given me years ago, are in bloom right now.
Yes, I’m seeing yellow every where. So naturally, I had to create a yellow tablescape. It turned out so nicely. (even got a compliment from my son!)
I started with a solid white tablecloth as an underlay & then covered it with a white lace tablecloth. Then I added yellow reversible placemats (tutorial coming soon) & yellow linen napkins. The Forsythia was placed in a large glass vase.
I’ve recently gotten a request from someone who doesn’t have a sewing machine, but wants to create her own unique tablescapes. So I thought I’d share a quick way to make placemats without having to sew a stitch.
Here’s what you’ll need: Continue reading
When you’re a crafter or an artist, you don’t look at things the same way that other people do. You always look at an item & say, “What can I do with this?” When I was shopping at Walmart, I found this silver dance-wear fabric. It really is a bright metallic silver. (It just looks a little ‘purple’ because of the sun shining in my craft room window.) As soon as I saw it, I just knew I had to have it. I bought a couple of yards of it.
The girl that rang up my purchase looked at me a little strangely. I told her what I had in mind & she said, “I thought maybe you were going to make a silver disco outfit”. (she knows that I make a lot of my own clothing)
What I had in mind was a table cloth. Seriously. A table cloth. Continue reading
What a difference a placemat makes. I turned over the Easter Tablescape Place Mat to the solid side to make this tablescape. I love the color purple, but living in a household full of men, I don’t usually use the color around our home. (it’s not really a ‘manly’ color) But for Easter, I couldn’t resist. I hope you enjoy our Easter Table Scape.
It’s almost Easter! Time for a new tablescape! I love doing these. They brighten up the dining area & with a plate change, the whole table looks different. Using the Easter place mats that I made, I created 2 looks using the patterned side. I thought I’d share them with you.
Have you ever wondered where the ‘Wee People’ get the gold to fill their pots? This was the idea that started this centerpiece. This centerpiece was a lot of fun for me to make, and my tablescape was decorated around it. It all started with walk in the woods with my husband, an idea and an adorable little Leprechaun with his Pot of Gold.
I found all of my supplies at Michaels Arts & Craft store
What you’ll need:
10″ terracotta plant saucer
hunter green acrylic paint
paint brush
Sahara foam (this is a dry foam used for artificial flowers & arrangements)
Bread Knife (it cuts through the foam easily)
Florist’s sticky clay
Florist’s tape (brown)
Floral Pins
Twigs (either bought or gathered on your own walk in the woods)
Sheet moss
glue gun & glue sticks
chop stick or wooden dowel (so you don’t burn your fingers)
Needle Nosed Pliers (so you don’t burn your fingers)
gold coins – assorted sizes (I found mine in the jewelry section)
Gold Holographic Glitter (optional) (I can never have enough glitter)
Green Floral Paddle Wire
Shamrock Glitter Stickers
Leprechaun with pot of gold
Leprechaun with pot of shamrocks
Here’s what you do:
Apply one even coat of the hunter green acrylic paint to the plant saucer. Apply a second coat if needed to cover any areas that you might have missed.
Gather your supplies together.
Place the foam in the saucer to judge how high you’ll need to cut it. Mark the foam using the knife. After you’ve marked the height of the saucer on the foam, you’ll want to add about 1″.
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Add some strips of floral clay to the saucer. This will help to anchor the foam to the saucer. I also ran a bead of hot glue between the strips of clay to make sure it’s not going anywhere. Continue to cut pieces of foam to fill the saucer. Use the floral pins to hold the pieces together.
Making your little tree:
Gather branch twigs together, turning them to form a ‘tree’ shape. When you like the way you’ve arranged them, use the floral tape to hold them together & form the ‘trunk’ of the tree.
Make a small hole in the center of the foam to put you ‘tree’ in. Start putting the sheet moss over the foam. Leave the center open for now. Apply hot glue to the base of your little tree. Put your little tree into the hole. Hold it upright until the glue dries. This only takes a second or two.
Apply the moss to the rest of the foam, using floral pins where needed. (the floral pins will have to be put in at an angle.) Apply moss to cover the ‘trunk’ of the tree. This will conceal the floral tape.
Place your Leprechaun figurines where you want them. The figurines have a small hole in the bottom. Since I want to be able to use them for other things later, I wanted them to be anchored, but not permanent. Remove the Leprechauns & glue a toothpick into the foam. Place the figurines on top of the toothpicks.
Place the figurines on top of the toothpicks.
Glue some small bits of moss on to the branches to give it an ‘alive’ feeling. You might want to use the needle nose pliers for this. (hot glue is HOT!)
Using the needle nose pliers (please, the glue is really Hot) put hot glue on the backs of the coins & hold a coin on a branch until it dries/cools. This only takes a second or two. Repeat until you’re satisfied.
When I liked the finished ‘tree’, I added some gold holographic glitter. It’s not really necessary, but I can never have enough glitter. There is no glue needed for this. Glitter sticks to the moss like crazy! (as well as to everything else, just ask my husband)
Cut some short pieces of the green paddle wire. Make a loop on one end of the piece. Press a shamrock sticker onto the wire loops.
Press the ends of the sticker wire into the foam, close to the tree base.
There you have it! A St. Patrick’s Day Centerpiece that tells a story of where the Wee People get their pots of gold.
I don’t know of a better way to add color to a tablescape than by using placemats. I usually make my own because I can customize them to my tastes and they are almost always less expensive than store bought. Another reason that I like making reversible placemats is because it takes less room to store them. (store 4 instead of 8) It’s hard enough to organize your home as it is, especially when you don’t have that much room to begin with.
For this one I used the Oval Placemat Pattern from a previous post.
What you’ll need:
1 yard of patterned fabric
1 yard of solid fabric (I used costume satin. It’s easily washed & has intense color)
Matching thread
Sewing machine
Straight pins
Ribbon (optional) (I used 1 roll of 9′ long)
Pin the pattern to your fabric & cut 4 of the placemats from the patterned fabric & 4 from the solid fabric.
To mark the placement for the ribbon, I folded the pattern piece in half. Then I laid the pattern on the cut placemat piece & used the bottom of the fold as a guide. (I chose this because the ribbon was printed with words. I wanted to be able to read it through the plates) Pin the ribbon in place.
Sew the ribbon to the solid placemat fabric, stitching close to the edges.
Sew the ribbon to all of the solid placemat pieces.
Place 1 solid placemat piece on top of 1 patterned piece, right sides together. Pin in place, leaving an opening for turning. Repeat for all 4.
A little trick that I learned a long time ago, is to use 2 pins to mark the place where I want to begin sewing & where to end sewing. You need to leave a space opened to be able to fit your hand inside to turn the placemats to the right side. There’s nothing more frustrating than to sew an item, only to realize that you’ve forgotten to leave an open space to turn it. It’s such a waste of time to have to rip out stitches.
Sew all the way around the placemats, starting at one ‘different colored pin’ & finishing at the other pin. (to leave the opening) I usually sew about 1/4″ from the edge. Turn the placemat, right side out. Pin the opening closed. Top stitch around the placemat, using matching color thread. Top stitching the placemat closes the opening & keeps the edges of the placemat crisp. Press lightly.
Use the fabrics that speak to you. These are for your home. Customizing your placemats is easy. Make them your own & have fun with this.
