Parasols and Elephants

My latest tablescape stars Parasols and Elephants. I was trying to set the tone for an Indian table which I will share with Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.



I got the idea from my daughter who hosted a baby shower for a friend recently. She found some cute blue parasols at World Market with elephants on them. I made some blue elephant origami toppers for her cupcakes. Her theme of blue elephants was really cute.

SO, when I went to World Market and all the parasols and paper lanterns were on half price AND I had a 15% coupon of my whole purchase, I bought a green parasol and the yellow lanterns, both with elephants.

I put lots of stones and "jewels" in a vase to steady the parasol (again copying my daughter) and added a string of elephants (also from World Market) and the two paper lanterns.



Here are some shots with the lanterns lit.





Around the base of the vase, I put some more calico World Market elephants.



On top of a white tablecloth, I added different colored napkings, beaded placements and paper chargers with white plates.



I then took colorful place cards and put a drink parasol on each one which I then topped with a little origami elephant, again in all different colors.





I put all the elephants I had on the table: teapots, salt & peppers and figurines.





On the mantle, I draped pink chiffon and added one of the paper lanterns.



With the lantern lit



Here is the table with all the elephants and parasols!







Now if I only had some Indian food!

Tea for Elephants

For this week's Tea Time Tuesday and Tablescape Thursday I am sharing a table I call "Tea for Elephants."



The whole table started when I saw a white elephant tea pot on Target.com. Of course I had to order it and then the day before it arrived, a friend gave me and my husband an antique tea box. As a fan of old movies, I thought of the movie, Elephant Walk where Elizabeth Taylor leaves England to live in Ceylon on a tea plantation. So even though the box has Chinese figures, I thought it would make a great tea table with the elephants.



A taller element was needed, and after looking through my house, I found this Japanese bonsai tree made of jade.



So now I have 3 tea loving cultures mixed in the table - India/Ceylon, China and Japan!

Here are some close ups of the antique box.





Before I could post these pictures I happened to see some cute elephant salt and pepper shakers from Pier 1 and they just happened to have a matching tea pot!



The color of this tea pot actually photographed better, so here is the finished table!



I am guessing that there are lots of cute elephant things right now because of the book and movie Water for Elephants, so I named this table Tea for Elephants!

Hope you enjoyed this culturally mixed table!