A Little Italian Countryside

Another week, another great time to post some great things!

This week, I'm participating in 3 of our great memes:
Tabletop Tuesday with Marty over at A Stroll Thru Life
Thrifty Thursday with Leigh over at Tales from Bloggeritaville and
Tablescape Thursday with Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch

Ok, let's get started. In all honesty, our house is still full of boxes now that we've dumped our paid storage and trying to make space for all of our stuff is not a problem anymore, just an organization puzzle. LOL

In all that frustrating and confusing situation, I needed to prioritize. So naturally, I got all my dishes out of their boxes first and did a tablescape! :-)

THEME:

"Thinking Italian"

INSPIRATION:

"Tuscan Retreat" Dinnerware by BHG

This one, I got on clearance last year at our local Walmart. It was normally $34.99, but I got it for $17.00 even! It was a set for 4 place settings; I'm hoping to find another set on clearance soon.

It's by BHG, called "Tuscan Retreat". It was a staple display since 2009 and I've loved it since. But with all the move hoopla, it never came out of its box until after our big move here to our house.
I wanted to capture the landscape of an Italian countryside, crisp, green, romantic and clean. So I decided not to add too much frill to my table and just highlight the dinnerware.
The glasses are my everyday set that I also found at Walmart back in 2008. At Walmart, the box is called Starfire, but in other packaging, sold in other stores, they are called Central Park or Fifth Avenue King. I feel so special for having such a widely distributed set. :-D
This napkin was a Kroger CC (Christmas Clearance) find and as you can see, I got it for 75% off. Very thrifty, indeed!
I love aerial shots, don't you? I opted for just one big hurricane to round out the paper mache red vase and my ceramic rooster. Oh, that's RED btw, my guardian rooster. He's been with me since 2008. Isn't he handsome? I know many of you found his multiple cousins in various Hobby Lobby stores and he's grateful you gave them homes.

I love how simple and clean this table turned out. The greenery is from our bushes in the backyard. Does anyone know what it's called?
I also like upclose and personal shots like this where I put the camera on the table and aim at undersides of the dinnerware.
Here's another set of angles...
Another aerial shot. Just before this tablescape, we had our church missionaries over for dinner and this is the set we used. It totally gave me the idea for this since we ate pasta with sausage and broccoli, melon slices and garlic bread.
My utensils are my Oneida "Katrina" set I started collecting back in 1995, just before I was married. It was offered thru Sears credit customers, but I wasn't able to complete it. Someday...
Here's a better detail shot.
More angles of the table...

I hope you all enjoyed this little interpretation of an Italian Countryside tablescape. I certainly did and can't wait to start on my hubby's Orange Birthday table. I just need to find some. LOL

TABLESCAPING IDEA: (Brain is on orange mode) Ever heard of the Blue Plate Special? You know the kind where you celebrate a person by using all blue for their portion of the meal? Well, how about personalizing the whole table with their favorite color? It can be as simple as just the linens or the glasses or a whole table to puff up the heart of the honoree.

See you all soon!!! Thank you for stopping by!

Black and White

Hosted by Susan and Leigh
Hello! Isn't it a wonderful Thursday? Great day for something inexpensive but elegant.

THEME:
"Black Ties On"
INSPIRATION:
My B&W pieces
Want to party? Let's go... I found just the right one. Hope your little black dress is ready or have dusted that ol' tuxedo up in the attic. Because... Look... there's a classy placesetting just for you! Are you comfy?
Let's turn down the lights and let the glow of the candle illuminate your wondrous glamour...
Let's look at you from above and make the stars smile.
Let's see some of the special touches... A pair of chic IKEA S&P shakers. At $2.99 a pair, you can afford a juicy filet mignon!
This little gem of a lowball glass with black glass strip on the inside! Marshall's thought you deserve something unique and "just right"... (The price of $1.99 a piece is the "just right" factor) LOL

So... did you enjoy your formal evening? Sure hope you did; I had a great time with you. Thank you for coming along...

To our lovely hosts, a big thank you and glad to see you here again!

Free, Fast & Fabulous

Hosted by Susan and Leigh
Ok, I found some time to post, so I wanted to share the table I quickly put together while here at the wonderful home of my parent-in-laws.

THEME:
"A Hint of Southeast Asia"
INSPIRATION:
The Asian Melamine Soup bowl set we gave them
I used the bowl set we gave them several years ago as centerpiece as they also functioned as serveware for a Filipino dish I made.
You see the beautiful Blue and Orange design? I haven't seen those in a while so glad that we found them then as I just love how they look. I was making all the dishes, so I quickly set the tablescape and opted for the paper napkins and simple placesetting. (ooopppsss... I forgot to put away the extra napkins and Mr. Man didn't either. LOL)
There were 7 of us eating, so I had my husband take these photos above and here's what we had... Two kinds of Jasmine rice, white and brown, three veggies and "Bistek" or the Filipino interpretation of Beef Steak (center bowl). My in-laws request this dish whenever we come and I'm glad that they do as it is also much requested in my own family. It is simply yummy!

For dessert, I had the kids make brownies and we had Brownie a la mode with strawberries and optional almond slices. We loved it and to top off the night, we watched, "Wall-E". Family time, you can't beat it!

Leigh, my TT for you is this set, since I used it for FREE and Susan, thanks for giving me the motivation to do tablescaping even when I'm not at home. LOL Thank you both for being wonderful hostesses!

And to all of you, heart your visits and will post again soon!

Two Good Reasons

Hosted by "Susan and Leigh"
THEME:
"He/She Likes It!"
INSPIRATION:
Blue and Green
Hello, still can't do much visiting, but I thought I'd join in on the fun anyway! I did this table because last June 21st, it was both Father's Day and our middle daughter's 10th birthday. I needed a neutral table to appease both. I also wanted to use my blue and white Asian mini platters and the goblets from Dollar Tree like Susan's. Only, by the time I got there and decided to grab some, I only had the water goblets and martini glasses to choose from... I also had this blue pot that's been with us since 2005 and the plant that's thriving. It looked great together!

Everywhere, I used blue and green but opted for no tablecloth.

I decided to create a focal point centerpiece again so we can focus on the dinner.

All the "bling" are minimal so that it didn't take away from the color scheme! There's the Dollar Store "Susan" goblets. I love them!!! They are my thrifty find for today! Can't beat a dollar a piece for good goblets!

Gotta show off the gorgeous blues again and green! LOL

Sideview of the centerpiece...

Aerial view of the table!

Hope you liked my other "Two-In-One" tablescape. The last one was back in January: Hubby's birthday and Chinese New Year!

Thanks to both of our darling hosts, Susan and Leigh!

Glad you all stopped by!

Ranch Anyone?

Hosted by Susan and Leigh

Good evening all! I'm so excited to show you the table I made for my daughter's 10th bday party. I didn't have much time to prepare or buy most of what I wanted so I did with what I can put together with the time I had. It's pretty thrifty, too!

Tablecloths- blankets, FREE
Centerpiece grasses and flowers- 60% off
Pitcher- $8 (normally $20)
Vase- $7 (normally $24)
Napkins- 50% off
Toy horses- $4 each
Lanterns- $3 each
Glasses- 56 cents each
Flatware- 87 cents each
Dinnerware- $1.25 each

THEME:
"Dinner at the (Horse) Ranch"
INSPIRATION:
"Running Horses" Dinnerware & model horses
I made two tables, but she chose... (sory, it's fuzzy, don't know why)
Welcome to the ranch, a horse ranch that is! I wanted to have a more elaborate centerpiece, but time got away from me and things didn't get made, bought or just plain done. Oh, well... There's always next year! She loves horses, so I'm not worried. ;-)

There's the birthday girl... She wanted to be seen (or be hidden) when the guests arrived. The vase reminded me of a field of wheat so dense, birds are able to perch and socialize. LOL
See the horsies on this other table? A hint, look at the middle of the table.
Played around with the camera...
We had a total of 18 people! But everyone was comfortable and well-fed. ;-)

Hope you liked dining at the ranch! We did!

Update: We fed her guests ribs, broccoli garden salad, baked beans, kernel corn, grapes and lemonade. We even have rootbeer! The lumpias, they were an extra treat at the end. Her cake, was from Costco, we chose the rainbow one since rainbows happen everywhere, right?

Thanks to both of our lovely hosts and those who came to visit!

Livin' "Large" Just Like an Emperor

Hosted by Susan and Leigh

I really didn't have a direction of what kind of tablescape to do, but since I've wanted to try to do a jungle theme (again, it's all your fault! LOL), I was glad to have found these!

THEME:

"Exotic is Posh"

INSPIRATION:

Marshall's dinnerware find

These two are Roscher plates, "Zebra" and "Giraffe" collection; $2 each

The following are from Certified International "Raymond Waites" EMPIRE collection; $4 each

Each pattern or picture is of a "Large" animal and of course, an empire is ruled by an "Emperor", right? Hence, the title of my post! (Pretty clever, huh? LOL)

Zebra
Tiger

Jaguar
Elephant

It tied in perfectly with all the animal books we borrowed from the library. That's what we're learning this summer for the Reading Programs we joined. Each year, I set a reading theme for my children so they can explore other books in different sections of their age category.

How do you like my antique white rendition of a Moroccan lantern? I love it! Only $7.00 on clearance; Marshall's. It was normally $20! Books, FREE!

We can't forget the books on Boas and Pythons... They live in the jungle too, you know!

I just put together all that I have that might go with a safari/jungle theme. Including my white orchids and I used a lot of votives to simulate having a bonfire in the middle of the jungle or dense forest during an expedition. You know how researchers' tents are chock full of books to use as reference. My table does, too! ;-)


The placemats are my round seagrass and dinner plates are from my Mulberry line called, "Mocha Swirl". The napkins (you can barely see them) were from Target; $4.98 for 4. Again, I was too cheap to buy tablecloth, so I used another blanket, a FREEBIE!

(Oooopps, one of the candles went out! I better light that one before anyone... oh, you noticed already. That's ok, let's light it again anyway. There... much better!) ;-)

And here's the full sideview! How do you like it? I absolutely love at how it turned out. Not bad for 15 minutes of my time.

It's Inexpensive, Thrifty, Exotic, Wild and totally Posh!!! I can almost see this table at a luxury safari hotel in Africa. (What? I can dream, can't I?) ;-)

Thanks to our hosts! And for all of you who heart me enough to visit, a big, big thanks! Now, I'm off to see your tables!

How do you like it? Be honest, ok?