Blue on Blue Seascape Table Setting

Beautiful blues are have been on my mind for a long time.  I have been longing to walk along the shore of the Gulf of Mexico and gather seashells and driftwood as I wander along.  Just holding my husbands hand while we walk and chatter as we go.  No schedules to follow,  nowhere to rush off to.  Just us,  talking and laughing as we go along our way.  The lovely aqua water of the Gulf changes it's hue as the sun travels across the sky on it's journey to yet another beautiful sunset.  We'll take a blanket and settle down on the sand as dusk is approaching.  Watching as the sun sinks lower on the horizon while shades of blue deepen at the waters edge and the suns ambient glow illuminates the surrounding clouds with red and golden orange streaks that are punctuated with the graceful silhouettes of a pair seagulls flying towards the sunset.    Someday I will walk those beaches again,  but not today.  Instead I can enjoy the beautiful changing colors of the water captured in a blue on blue seascape table setting.

Last year I fell in love with a tablescape that Alycia at Table Twenty-one post called (which you can see here )-> Ocean Blue - Starfish & Seashells  the tablescape was set outside where the beautiful natural light could play off of the Akcam starfish plates with all of the colors of the ocean.  As luck would have it I found the same plates at the HomeGoods Store earlier this summer.  Later I found some aqua dyed seashells in the clearance isle at the same HG Store. The table was set when the sun came up the other day and provided the changing colors of blue that I wanted to replicate.

I love the way the early morning sunshine gleams off of the glass plates and the way the shadows reflect the sun rays from above.

Tiny blue fish appear to be swimming in  crystal clear water in the wine glasses.












The tortoise shell like finish on the flatware glows in the morning light too.







Champagne napkins from Park design are sheathed by aqua organza that was an Ebay purchase several years ago.  Layered colors of blue, aqua, and white in the candles reflect the ever changing colors of the water on the Gulf Coast.  Faux sea glass table scatter has been colored aqua to help complete a beach like scene. 

The centerpiece is a seashell mermaid that resides in an old lantern,  

she is standing on a layer of sifted beach sand

Do you see my little helpers standing at the back of the living room chair watching as I am

Taking pictures today?

Two of the little ladies are named already.  The little dark ash blond on the left is Cindy and the pretty blond on the far right is Becky. Becky and Cindy were adopted from an Ebay vendor a couple of weeks ago.  The two dollies in the center were found living on their own at local thrift stores.  I brought them home and bathed them and dressed them in whatever I could find.  They were so happy to have a home and to be taken care of.  The only requirement they have is that I create pretty doll clothes for them to wear and to share them on Wednesdays like JoAnn at Scene Through My Eyes does on her Wednesday Wee Ones  posts and like Diane at Lavender Dreams does on her Wednesday posts.  I suspect that the dolls will be hanging out with my kitties watching me while I am sewing new outfits for them,  and maybe they will be watching while I am creating new tablescapes for the fall too!

Just a few more pictures of this tablescape morphing while I start to dis-assemble it.

After I removed the centerpiece,  picked up all of the table scatter,  placed the fish wine glasses into the sink to wash, and put the flatware back into it's storage container I pulled out my old Fiesta peacock flatware and the pretty aqua champagne glasses that we had used at Easter and played tablescaper for a bit longer.

 The fish netting over the grass cloth wallpaper with the bamboo table runner stands out nicely with all of the "other" stuff removed.  Just a few of the aqua dyed shells and the candles remain.  Much simpler!

The Players

Aqua diamond sparkle chargers bought off of Ebay.

Blue shell plates

Starfish plates

Starfish plates from HomeGoods.

Thrift store wine glasses,

Napkin rings from Marc's. Just $1.39 for a set of four.

I bought two sets.

And now for the winner of my Second Blogaversary Celebration Fall Linens give-away drawing.  Dear hubby had to do the honors of drawing the winner this year.  Low tech....  the names of all of the sweet people that visited and left a comment at my blog over the past two posts (one per follower) were written down on a square of note paper and placed in a hat 

 (that would be the straw hat that hubby wears at the beach when we are in Florida).  Dear hubby closed his eyes and pulled out.........(Drum roll please)...... Susie Holler's name!

Congratulations Susie!  I will need your address to send you your new Park Designs Indian Summer tablecloth and napkins.  Thank you to everyone who participated this year. 

Remember to thrift on ladies,  thrift on!

I will be sharing at:

Susan's Tablescape Thursday

Seashells and Roses Coastal Tablescape

I wanted to create a coastal tablescape in the soothing beach tones of a sandy beach.  I used the white fish embossed dinner plates (again) with a pretty salad plate and a white shell shape bowls.  I wanted to pick up on the feeling of a bridal party champagne breakfast.  White roses seemed appropriate for the centerpiece along with a few well placed shells among the flowers.   The concrete shell shape planter (from Marc's a decade ago) was stuffed with re-cycled Styrofoam and the white flowers from an old rose centerpiece from many years ago. I am trying to use goods from my stash to help keep costs down.

The white tablecloth is layered with an white opalescent table runner that has a 12 inch strip of grass cloth wallpaper laid down the center of it to help add a bit of neutral texture to this  "By The Sea" tablescape.  

White on white dinnerware is layered  onto the white tablecloth.  An off white napkin with a simple seashell napkin holder and white flatware help complete the sandy beach effect.

Longchamp water goblets and stemmed champagne glasses keep the neutral feel of the tablescape. 

The white seabirds had their "legs" painted white (they were black) before they were allowed to land on this table.

 The tutorial for the seashell covered candle holders can be found here ->  "DIY Seashell Encrusted Candlestick" 

 

Shells gathered from many years keep the sandy beach theme going.  

Creamy white candles from Big Lots have a strip of burlap a seashell hot glued to them.

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 The centerpiece is setting on a piece of driftwood and surrounded by smaller shells and natural coral.

Closeup of the table covering's layers.

 The Stack

White rattan chargers were bought at HomeGoods from the clearance isle.

 Dinner plates are by Blue Sky.

 The salad plates are marked Gallery Tabletops le provence.

 The shell shape bowls are marked Japan.

 .The cranes were thrifted several years back.

I am celebrating my second blog anniversary this month by sharing a set of fall tablescaping linens from Park Designs.  The pattern is called Indian Summer and includes a 60" x 84" tablecloth, and a set of napkins. If you are one of my followers (on Google plus or Blogger) and leave a comment on this post or my post "DIY Seashell Encrusted Candlestick"   from August 10th.  The lucky person (aka winner) who's name is drawn will be announced at my post for August 20th, 2015

Tablecloth description: 

Park Designs Indian Summer Collection, Windowpane checks are complimented with bands of chocolate and tan with pinwheel corners. The Indian Summer 60 x 84 Tablecloth is a lovely year-round table covering.
 
Added-on 8/17/15,  I set a mini tablescape using the Indian Summer table linens and my Johnson Brother's Friendly Village dinnerware so you could see a better picture of how this tablecloth and napkin set could look on your table with your favorite fall dinnerware and your favorite fall napkin rings,  

A closeup of the pattern in the napkin.

A closeup of the quilt pattern around the tablecloth hemline.

Remember to thrift on ladies, thrift on!

Sharing at:

Susan's Tablescape Thursday 

Christine's Table It Link Party

Marty's Inspire Me Tuesday

DIY Seashell Encrusted Candlestick Tutorial

My Pinterest obsession has kept me very busy lately.  Not only do I find myself compulsively pinning but actually trying to create copycats of the items that are really striking my fancy.  The candlestick shown below is the product of one of my endeavors.  I am very pleased that they came out nicely.  I am also proud to report I only burned myself once with the hot glue gun and that the burn barely hurt at all. Wahoo!!!

I started with two large and and two medium candle holders from Walmart, all four

were purchased at thrift stores (one set over a year ago and one set this spring).

I had already painted one of each size last year.  

   I took both sets outside and painted the wood finish with three coats of Rust-oleum's  

Paint Plus 2X ultra Cover in Heirloom White in the Satin finish. I freshened the candle holders that had already been repainted with another light coat of the same color.

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 I let them dry several hours outside before bringing them into the house.  They sat on the mantle over a week to let the paint cure a bit before I started gluing shells onto the freshly painted surface.

I gathered up the shells that I had been collecting from the thrift stores for several years.

And set them on my kitchen island so that I could sort them by size and shape.

 I also had bought a couple of bags of small shells from Marc's for just $1.49 per bag.

Love that Marc's close out section.

 With the hot glue gun warmed up and an assortment of makeshift tools

 I glued a few shells at a time in tandem to the candle holders. 

 

 I started at the bottom with just a couple of shells

 As I finished each section on each candle holder I would
set it aside to let the glue harden and set up.

 

  I added shells from left to right and building upward while matching the shells as best as I 

could on each of the holders as I went along. When I was about thirty percent done

 I set them aside for twenty minutes so they could set up.

(while I started dinner)

 As I progressed with the gluing I would compare the holders to each other to make

sure that the pattern was staying consistent on all of them.

 When I was about two thirds of the way up with the shells on the candle holders

I switched to the top row and started filing the open space

between the top row and the bottom two thirds

 of the candle holders.

  Right about then my back started to hurt.  I set up a TV tray between the island and the kitchen 

counter so I could sit down to finish gluing the shells.

 

Once the shells were all in place I started placing tiny shells into any small

empty gaps between the shells.

Easy Peasy!

 Here is a sneak peak of my tablescape for Thursday.

I am celebrating my second blog anniversary this month by sharing a set of fall tablescaping linens from Park Designs.  The pattern is called Indian Summer and includes a 60" x 84" tablecloth, and a set of napkins. If you are one of my followers (on Google plus or Blogger) and leave a comment on this post or on my "Seashells and Roses" tablescape coming up on Thursday August 13, 2015 (that I will be sharing at Susan's "Tablescape Thursday") you will be in on the drawing.  The lucky person (aka winner) who's name is drawn will be announced at my post for August 20th, 2015

Tablecloth description: 

Park Designs Indian Summer Collection, Windowpane checks are complimented with bands of chocolate and tan with pinwheel corners. The Indian Summer 60 x 84 Tablecloth is a lovely year-round table covering.
 
Remember to thrift on ladies, thrift on!

Sharing at:

Susan's Metamorphosis Monday

Marty's Inspire Me Tuesday