A recent gift with purchase and some winter daydreaming have inspired my tablescape today. It's a girls and pearls, "deco"dence theme (as in Art Deco era).
Whether it's Galentine's Day (a recently coined day for ladies celebrating ladies, on February 13th, as the alternative to the traditional notion of Valentine's Day), a bridal shower, a tea party, or even a fundraising event with women as the central focus, this tablescape inspired me to glam it up with my gal pals in mind.
Back in December, Macy's offered these little dessert plates as a gift with purchase in the cosmetics department (I know, sounds crazy).
As I was going through my inventory of dishes, I wanted something light and subtle to complement the geometric design of the dishes. My nearly forgotten, trusty Corelle Livingware was exactly what I didn't know I was looking for!
As a side note, I must confess this tablescape grew from my original idea for a simple, side table vignette. Once I found my Corelle dishes (with mugs!), I wanted to hang the mugs on a mug rack I've had, stack the dessert dishes on top, and use the Corelle dinner plates as a riser for the mug rack. The mug rack was a burnished bronze color I didn't care for. I also had a silver plate rack I had scored at an estate sale last summer. Taking advantage of some mild winter temps, I took those babies outside and spray painted them black!
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| A Side Table Vignette Becomes Basis of Tablescape |
Using the plates as a riser was nixed when their circumference ended up a tad small for the legs of the rack to balance upon. Having pulled the two dish towels you see in the above photo for my vignette, I remembered I had a package of new [old] stock, black & white dish towels in my deep inventory of vintage textiles. One of the towels had scenes of Paris. A tablescape idea was born.
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| Paris-themed Dish Towels Used as Napkins |
Culling from more stashed items, I pulled my Art Deco pressed glass candlesticks, a more recent vintage set of cut glassware, and cast iron Eiffel tower candlelight items.
It then became obvious to add some of my favorite Art Deco handbags from my purse collection to the mix, as the visionary guests' accessories, on this table. (Those gals were bawdy in the '20s and '30s! Purses were small, big enough to hold rouge or lipstick, a few coins and hanky, but they found ways to tote their own nip!)
Notice how the sunlight catches the glow of bezel-set rhinestones of the French handbag, my favorite of these four (below).
Rounding out my girls and pearls tablescape, I added several of my vintage pearl necklaces on the table with abandon.
As the delicate whites of the dishes juxtapose the geometric designs, the black against white contrasts, the coquette yet bold girls who would grace the scene, the flatware (Nobility Plate, vintage) offers delicacy in appearance as opposed to their utilitarian purpose.
As it turned out, the original idea for the side table wasn't totally lost. I was able to not only display and stack my mugs and dishes, I also used my MacKenzie-Childs planter pots as utensil vessels for coffee and espresso service.
The dish towel used as cover for the riser was sourced on our trip to Canada, where we stayed a few days at Le Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City (a Fairmont Resort). Four queen bees live in garden rooftop hives there, one of several sites where the resort manages a sustainable bee program. It was a fitting accessory to this tablescape concept.
It doesn't have to be a special occasion to make an occasion special, but this tablescape could be the basis of a great party theme. You can see how my train of thought progressed in taking this idea from pretty ordinary to something that's sure to make guests feel special, start some great conversation, and make for a great time.
Always appreciative of your visits and feedback, feel free to leave a comment and let me know you stopped by.
Rita C. at Panoply
Isn't it always interesting how the ideas for a tablescape comes about? Those plates are so beautiful, and to think that they were a giveaway! I don't know why, but the only time I have styled a Paris themed table, it was a winter table, too! Thanks for sharing!!
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