Turquoise & White Spring Tablescape

March 14, 2016March 12, 201610 Comments

Just one more week and it is officially spring!! We have definitely been having the ups and downs of spring weather over here. We have one day of rain and then later in the week we are wearing shorts! I am so looking forward to wearing more springlike clothing. I’m getting tired of my winter stuff!

I always have fun coming up with new ways to decorate my table for the seasons. The table we use was my grandparents. We refinished it many years ago, before we had kids, but it really needs another refinishing or painting. Because the top has seen better days, I use a tablecloth over it and it is usually this white one. This way I can do any color scheme I want. Of course, it usually includes turquoise!

I layered a burlap piece with black fleur-de-lis over the tablecloth. This was a piece from Lauren’s stash. I placed a wooden tray in the middle and filled it with springtime goodies.

Hydrangeas in a lace covered jar…

Blue speckled eggs in gold and white bowls…

A white sparkly bunny…

Pretty white bird salt and pepper shakers.

I set the place-settings at the ends of the table a little different than the sides. For the side seats, I just added a turquoise plate with a pretty napkin. I will show you in a bit where the rest of the items are stored.

For the ends, I first placed a rattan place-mat and then added turquoise plates with white polka-dots and a pretty white one on top. The napkin is also turquoise and white polka-dots. A little secret-it’s the same as the other napkin, just the other back side!

Did you notice the flatware? I have had these for quite awhile and don’t use them very often, so I thought I would pull them out and let them be used. I love the little touch of whimsy!

I transformed my hot chocolate bar into a self-service bar. I have more plates, flatware and glasses for easy access. Just add the food and it is all set to go!

I love being able to change things up and I especially love decorating for spring! If you would like to take a look at last years table, here it is. Just beware-the pictures are not very good! Can we say blurry?! Here is Lauren’s table too. Hope you have a spring filled day!!

Corner News-March 5, 2016

March 5, 2016March 4, 2016Leave a comment

It smells like rain!! Yay!! We haven’t had much rain this past month, so this is very welcome. The grass is so green, but now it needs mowed. The blossoms are almost gone from the trees, leaving behind the bright green new leaves. Lots of pretty color flowers too!

I received these sweet little flowers for Valentine’s Day from one of my students. She was so excited to give them to me! My kitchen window is the best spot in the house for them, plus I get to enjoy them a lot!

I painted this little crate this week. It was just unfinished wood, so I painted it grey with a little white dry-painted over the top. The flower arrangement was created by one of my girls many years ago when they were trying to earn a badge for a girls club they were in. Of course, I still have it!

I had this little fish tank in my classroom. I had the bowl and added the foamy fish. The kids knew the fish weren’t real, but the sure were confused about the turtle! It’s always fun to keep them on their toes!

Happy Saturday!!

Springy Tablescape

February 26, 2016February 25, 2016Leave a comment

Hello and welcome to winteng…sprinter…wintering? Whatever. The time of the year where it is too warm for winter or too cold for spring. Where the mornings are perfect for sweaters, jeans, and flip flops; but the afternoons are greats for shorts, tank tops, and flip flops.

Oh the struggle is real!

But, nonetheless, it is getting closer to the springy weather and closer to pretty colors from all the flowers. So, why not get started early with a pretty table setting?

I really like how all of the colors came together on the table setting. I like the pink tablecloth and how the patterned plates add to the brightness and happiness of the tablescape as a whole.

These are the two different place settings. One is a floral plate on top of a plaid plate with a striped napkin while the other is a plaid plate on top of floral. They look great together and the colors compliment each other very nicely.

I added this adorable sign that I purchased for Hobby Lobby. I completely agree with this saying because who doesn’t like pink?

I added some pretty pink and white flowers in the centerpiece. They sit in a mason jar that mom decorated for me for my birthday two years ago. I also added a tree nut necklace with pink flowers that I bought in Hawaii. I thought that it added a lot to the centerpiece.

And finally, who could forget the cupcakes. I added some delicious cupcakes that have matching blue frosting to keep with the colors of the tablescape. They are a sweet blueberry. Yum!

So this completes my tablescape. I love how it turned out and can’t wait to see what my roommates think of my creation!

Upcycled Old Metal T.V. Trays

February 22, 2016February 21, 201620 Comments

Hello again! Did you all have a wonderful weekend? I pretty much just stayed home (saves money that way!) and worked on bringing some spring inside! We already have blossoms on trees and flowers blooming here. It’s probably too early, but it’s so beautiful, it’s hard to complain! I did get to work on a couple of projects too.

I have had these trays for years and could never really decide what to do with them. I have always used them for decorating outside because I felt like the floral design just lent itself to be outdoors. But they never had a specific purpose. I don’t know why this took so long to figure out, but an idea finally came to mind-at least for one of them.

I dug through some letters I have had for awhile and found enough to sort of make the word ‘garden.’ I had to add the leg for the ‘R’ and an extra line for the ‘E’, but I managed to make it work. I planned on doing the word ‘summer’ on the other one, but I didn’t have enough letters.

Now that I have my letters, I put a little glue on the back of each one and placed them on the tray. Probably a spray adhesive would have worked better, but I didn’t have any, so I went with what I could.

For the other tray, I tried covering the design with burlap and spraying around it.

With the letters attached on the first tray and lined up, I started spraying lightly over the top with white spray paint. I always use the Rustoleum 2X paint. Love this stuff!

Once I knew the letters would stick, I sprayed more layers of paint. It’s best to spray several light layers and let the paint dry in between. Once the paint was dry, I removed the letters.

I didn’t like how the second tray turned out, so I tried something different. I printed out 3 large flowers, laid them on top and sprayed around them. I didn’t like this either, so I am going to have to come up with a whole new plan. I will probably spray the whole thing white and then stencil something on top.

On the first tray, I sanded a little around the edges and over the top. I still wanted it to look like it belonged outside. After the sanding, I sprayed a clear sealer over the top to add some protection for the outdoors. I also added drawer pulls to the edges so it could be used as a tray for serving. At least one out of two turned out good!

I love how a little bit of the floral peeks through.

I wish it was warm enough to actually use this right now!

Hopefully it won’t be too long before we can enjoy a nice glass of tea out in the garden. Are you ready for spring? Have you started any spring projects yet? I would love to hear about it!

CORNER NEWS-FEBRUARY 20

February 20, 2016February 19, 20164 Comments

Happy Saturday! Always glad to have a weekend to get caught up on home stuff! I made a quick (!) stop at Hobby Lobby yesterday and found this cool whale’s tail book-end. Maybe it was supposed to have another end, but this part was on clearance, so I snatched it up. I love it! It fits perfect with my beachy theme, plus it’s neutral enough to go with anything.

I also picked up this wooden tree in the new spring section. Karianne, over at Thistlewood Farms featured these and a some cute wooden birds on her blog and I just fell in love with them. They are the perfect accent for spring! I LOVE her blog and her style! Her mantle looks so much better than mine. You can click on Thistlewood Farms above to take a look!

Guess where we just came back from?! Did you notice we seemed to be a little bit absent from the blog this past week? We were enjoying lots of sunshine and warm weather. Maybe this is why I liked the whale’s tail so much! I will be blogging about this soon!