By the Sea, By the Sea, By the Beautiful Sea!

It's been so hot lately, I need a cool tablescape. And what is more refreshing and cooling than the sea?



I used a white tablecloth and my trusty tiffany blue tulle and added some goodies purchased from 2 recent trips to watery destinations and came up with this table.



I used my silver beaded placemats with blue ruffled placemats from TJ Maxx. Then I added a white Gibson Claremont dinner plate topped with a blue and white seersucker napkin (Target), a blue capiz shell salad plate (Target) and shell butter knife (Big Lots). I added clear plastic flatware and Fostoria Heritage glassware and put a shell place card holder at each place.



With Flash



Without Flash



My place



Around the table I added an oyster plate





And some fish salt and peppers frolicking among the tulle waves



A silver shell dish with spreaders



And a shell pitcher



To make the whole table an under the sea sensation!



And for the centerpiece I used a large clam shell from Target years ago, filled with blue and clear glass vase filler beads, like sea glass with various shells and sea creatures scattered throughout. Two turquoise mercury glass candle holders and light blue candles round out the centerpiece.







And on the mantle, I draped more tulle and a turquoise vase with bubbly, pearl and silver stems, flanked by silver mercury glass candle holders.







And even the wicker tea cart got a sea side tea towel!



Stay cool and have a wonderful Tea Time Tuesday and Tablescape Thursday!

Peach Ice Cream

I haven't posted a recipe in a while but this one was too good and easy to miss! Peach season is here and what is summer without Peach Ice Cream?



I got the recipe from a GREAT website that I follow on Facebook and Twitter - DeepSouthDish.com. Here is the link to the Peach Ice Cream Recipe CLICK HERE.

There is no cooking and yet it is super creamy and custardy like the cooked versions. The only change I made was to chopped the peaches with my chopper instead of pureeing them. (My food processor has passed on and I haven't replaced it yet.)



I hope you make this yourself - you won't be sorry!



I will be linking to Foodie Friday.

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!

Have a Crabby Fourth!

I can't believe the Fourth of July is just around the corner! I don't know what kind of holiday you are going to have but I am going to have a Crabby Fourth!



I will be linking with Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch and Tea Time Tuesday.

I started with my Flag Day Table that I shared last week (Click Here to see). But I found these cute crab plates at Target and low and behold they looked great on the Flag Day plates!



I kept the same tablecloth, place mats, Colonial shell flatware and clear stemware. But I used red and white striped paper napkins from Target which have a light blue crab on them.



I used a large clam shaped bowl that I got at Target years ago and filled it with light blue vase filler marbles. Then I added 3 red candles and a small crab (actually a spreader) and used this as my centerpiece.



I added various crab items that I had collected through the years (OK, the "cracker" is a lobster, but it's all in the crustacean family!)







The round object above is meant to be a child's sippy cup, but I thought it could hold melted butter or tartar sauce.

On the mantle, I added some Target paper lantern shades.





And I added a small crab plate and a crab tea towel to Uncle Sam's tea cart.



I hope you have a great Fourth of July!

Between Flag Day and the Fourth of July!

Today I am sharing my Patriotic Table that I set before Flag Day! I will be posting to Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch and Tea Time Tuesday.



I started with a white tablecloth and red place mats. On top of the placemats, I used red, white and blue melamine from CVS from years ago.
The I added clear glassware and Colonial Shell flatware with a white napkin. I used a red, white and blue ribbon for a napkin ring and added a small flag at each place.]



For my centerpiece I used a glass pedestal cake plate with a silver flower arranger on it that was filled with red, white and blue stars and added flags and firework picks.





On the mantle, I used more red, white and blue!









Even the tea cart is decked out to honor Old Glory!



Hope you have enjoyed my Flag Day table!

I Won!

I few weeks a go I got an exciting email from Betsy at A Perfect Setting. I had won 4 Modern Butterfly place settings from her give-away from Mikasa. Hurray - who doesn't love more dishes!!!

Well, this Tuesday the doorbell rang and my dishes arrived!



I set up my gaming table in the Billards Room (yes, my house is like "Clue") with an ivory cloth and used my new green ruffled chargers from Crate and Barrel. While they are not the same green as in the Modern Butterfly, I thing they complement each other well.



I used ivory napkins with a dragonfly napkin ring, my Betsy Patterson sterling and crystal stemware. There wasn't much room for a centerpiece, so a few flowers in a small vase did the trick!





The set came with dinner plates, salad plates....



rim soups.....



and cup an saucers.



Don't you love how Mikasa Modern Butterfly looks on the red placemats?

And the cup and saucers looked so nice on my dining room sideboard that I had an impromptu tea party!





I want to thank Lifestyle Brands of which Mikasa is a part and Betsy at A Perfect Setting for hosting this give-away. I am so thrilled with my Modern Butterfly!

I will be linking to Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch, Tea Time Tuesday at Lady Katherine's, and Mikasa's The Great Dinner Party.