Red, White and Blue Outdoor Dining

July 2, 2018July 1, 20182 Comments

Good morning! We celebrate our country’s independence this week! Do you have big 4th of July celebrations where you are? I’m not even sure what we are doing this year LOL! Last year, all of the neighbors were outside eating and having fun and then lighting off tons of fireworks. We didn’t even have to go to our city’s firework show because we had our own! We will probably do the same this year.

I set up this little tablescape on my back patio this week to celebrate the 4th, but it could be for any summer get together! I don’t have much red, but I was able to pull out a few pieces and it all worked together.

The red and white plates are actually metal. They are pretty cool! I layered my blue and white plates on top along with a blue and white napkin. I used a piece of red ribbon to tie it up and added a fun little pinwheel!

Seashells are the perfect summer touch!

I layered a blue and white striped runner and a red, white and blue striped place-mat in the middle. A few more seashells, candles and bubbles keep it simple.

We still have a lot of work to do in our backyard. We would like to replace the fence and add some plants around the edge. I would also like to paint the patio. I love using blue on the ceiling.

I made the farmhouse beaded chandelier and the recycled pallet table and they add the perfect touch to the patio. I used a dropcloth to make the curtains. Using clip curtain rings makes it easy to use any kind of material.

I can’t wait to spend some time out here when the evenings cools down.

Thank you for following along! I hope you have a safe and happy 4th of July!

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Casual Blue and White Beach Tablescape

May 21, 2018May 16, 20185 Comments

Good morning! I haven’t been here for a few weeks, so it’s good to be back! The end of the year school stuff is wearing me out! But I have a few projects I’m working on so hopefully I can get them done and posted in the next few weeks!

I am really looking forward to summer and my dining room table reflects that. I love the beach look, so I decorated around that theme.

Blue and white are the perfect colors for summer! I use it along with the turquoise that I love so much. Of course, lanterns make an awesome centerpiece, especially filled with pieces of driftwood.

I picked up these little glass votive holders at a thrift store for just .25! I added some sand and glitter around the edge and then placed a candle in a little more sand placed in the bottom.

I love the glass floats and have started a little collection of them.

So many of my items have been picked up from Goodwill, but are Target items. The placemats, napkins and navy blue bags were all purchased at Goodwill. I love that I can get new items for a fraction of the price.

I added a few beach touches to my shelves too. I made the ombre’ starfish canvas a couple of years ago.

The little blue bags are great for gathering together the napkin and flatware.

Are you ready for summer? I am looking forward to having time to relax and time to get some of my long list of projects done! Have a great week!

Pink, Blue and Gold Party Tablescape

March 12, 2018March 5, 20181 Comment

A couple of weeks ago, Lauren hosted a jewelry party at my house, so I prettied up my living room for the occasion! I set up a small buffet table with a few snacks on it. One of my sweet neighbors, asked if I had been baking again. Umm, no. I wish my treats looked so good! My tiered serving plate has a pineapple on top, so I covered up with some pretty hydrangeas.

I used a lot of pink, blue and gold for my colors. It looks so fresh!

Don’t those lemon tarts look yummy!

Since we are in this room, I thought I would share a few more pictures! I added a few pink plates on my shelves for spring. I left the lights up from Christmas. I love the way they add a little sparkle to the room.

Here’s my faux mantle. I made the mantle from an old headboard. You can see it here. I also made the driftwood sailboats. The window and chalkboard are usually here and I decorate around them.

The party Lauren had is by Premier Jewelry. Have you ever been to one of their parties or seen their jewelry? It’s so pretty! The magazines and pictures don’t do it justice.

I love pink peonies! Even though these are faux, I still think they are so pretty!

I hope you have spring and sunshine in your area this week!

Valentine Vintage Place-setting Tablescape

February 5, 20186 Comments

Good morning! I was able to set up my table for Valentines this weekend. After Lauren set up her Valentine table last week, I decided to put one together too. I received the pretty glass pink plates from my mom a couple of weeks ago and knew right away they would work for Valentines. The plates came from my great aunt. I always love using pieces that have been passed down from my family. The white and blue teacups and saucers were my wedding dishes. I love being able to pull them out once in awhile and use them.

One of the reasons I enjoy Valentines Day is from an experience in high school. I went to a private high school with small classes, about 75-80 kids in each grade. There are a lot of special things you can do when the school is so small. What I remember most is Heart Sisters.

Heart Sisters was a special time for just the girls and it included all the female students and teachers. Each of us would pick the name of another person and secretly give them gifts each day leading up to Valentines Day.

My freshman year is the only year that really stands out to me. I got a seniors name, which was really intimidating to a shy freshman like me. I remember my mom and I shopping for little things to give her each day.

On Valentine’s Day, we all met in the gym at lunch time. We sat in a big circle. The person you had sat on one side of you and the person who had you sat on the other.

This was the 80’s, mind you. I can still remember what I was wearing, partly because the teacher who had my name commented that the sweater I was wearing was pretty. It was royal blue with white angora clouds on it.

It was such an awkward lunch! What do you say to a senior girl and a teacher when you are only a freshman? I’m sure I didn’t say too much!

Even though it was so awkward for me, I still enjoyed the idea of giving secret gifts to someone during Valentine week. It was fun to see what you would get and all the different ways you would receive your gift.

When my girls were small, we even did it as a family. It was a little difficult with only 4 of us, but it was still fun.

For the past few years, we have even done it at the preschool where I work. We have 9 of us ‘girls’ working and it’s fun to have a little something special for us to do for each other. Some days are hectic and stressful, so it’s great to have a little something to encourage us each day.

I hope you enjoyed my Valentine table today and thanks for coming by!

It’s A Valentine’s Tablescape

January 31, 2018January 29, 20183 Comments

Hello! I hope you are all ready because this blog post is going to be a fun one! So hold onto your hats and hold on until the end! I promise you won’t be disappointed.

*This blog post contains sponsored content from Oriental Trading Company*

So it’s becoming that time again for all of the love. You know what I’m talking about. Hearts in red and pink all over the stores shelves. And not only in the stores, but also online as well. And Oriental Trading is all about the holidays.

And after much deliberation on what to pick from their website, I finally decided on doing a tablescape. So after doing a lot of shopping around and putting things in my cart and taking them out, I finally ordered my things and started my tablescape.

And here it is! I love how it turned out and love each piece that I picked out. So lets see what I picked.

The first thing is this cute candy jar. It has a small chalkboard on the front so you can write what kind of candy is in it. Or, you can draw a heart on it like I did. But it fits quite a bit of candy in it, so go bananas!

The next thing is the heart tree, if that’s what you want to call it. It’s a tree in a small pot that you can bend and shape however you want to. It’s only about 18 inches tall, so it won’t block your view of your loved one.

There’s also the rose garland in the middle of the table. I added the pink puffball garland and the white puffball garland as well, just to add some stuff to the middle.

And these jewels? Yep, bought them from Oriental. I bought a pink, black, and clear pack so I had a variety to spread around the table. Each color came in a pack of 25 diamonds, so you get a lot of bang for your buck.

The plates were also purchased from Oriental. And the silver place mats! Okay, the place mats were from mom from the last time we worked with Oriental, but they looked great with the rest of the tablescape. I bought the small candy baking cups from the 99 Cent Store, but they looked so good with the plates.

So this is what the table looks like from above! It’s so cute!

The last thing I got from Oriental was this pretty gold LOVE sign. It sat so nicely on the cake plate in the background of the photos. And I must say that I am very excited to put this on my gallery wall in my apartment.

Side note: out cat Kiara is extremely nosy and wants to be in the middle of EVERYTHING.

And finally, we found some cute pet clothes for Valentine’s Day at the 99 Cent Store which we had to buy. Repeat HAD TO. So we had a little doggy (and kitty) photoshoot for the holiday!

Obviously, Kiara looks annoyed that I took her photo, but I love her all the better! And Ezzy is on a different couch because she is our senior citizen and I didn’t want to move her.

So that was my fun with Oriental. I love how the table turned out, but I love the animals as well. Have a good Wednesday!