Feeling Spring with Pink and Green Tablescape

Hello, and welcome to my blog, Panoply. Whether you're a new visitor or longtime reader, I'm so happy you're here. It's March, and I'm feeling spring! Today I have a tablescape for you, Feeling Spring with Pink and Green. 

Monday Morning Blooms: Garden to Table

Good morning! It's been a very active past few months in my Zone 7a garden, and today I'm happy to share part of mine with you in a garden to table styling.

I am thrilled to be sharing and celebrating garden blooms with  Pam, Mary, and Lidy in this edition of Monday Morning Blooms.  

Spring / Easter Tablescape - Breaking Dormancy

Welcome to my blog, Panoply. Today I have a treat for you - some tablescape inspiration - sure to get you excited for spring! We are finally breaking dormancy here in my Zone 7a region after a fairly brutal winter. It's a bit later than last year's spring, which was more a testament to our revised (warmer) zone rating according to the 2023 USDA plant hardiness zone map. 

In addition to my own spring tablescape, I am hosting a bevy of table artists and their ideas for spring and Easter tablescapes, too. Their direct links will be near the bottom of this post, so be sure to check them out!

Spring / Easter Tablescape with Classic Blue & White

Happy spring, and welcome to Panoply! I am so excited that spring will officially be here this evening (and one day earlier than the norm due to it being a leap year). Although we've been having some very nice weather already, this week I'll necessarily be covering a few plants while morning lows dip below freezing. 

Today I'm also very happy to be hosting a group of table enthusiasts who are each equally excited in bringing you table designs to kick off your spring inspiration!

Preppy Pink & Green Spring / Easter Tablescape

Happy spring, and welcome to Panoply! Today I'm sharing a Preppy Pink & Green Spring / Easter tablescape with you. Whether your region is still waiting for the weather to shows signs of the new season, or you're more than a month of enjoying it already, I hope you'll be inspired.

Irish Town and Country Tablescape

Dia dhuit ar maidin!* (That's Good Morning in Irish Gaelic). Welcome to my blog, Panoply. Today I have a tablescape for you, in honor of St. Patrick's Day on March 17th. I've tried to capture the essence of both "Irish Town and Country" with this tablescape. I hope you enjoy it, as it is not so typical of the symbolism we Americans normally think of with this holiday.

Blissful Signs of Spring / Easter Tablescape

Welcome to my blog, Panoply, and welcome Spring! I am so very excited for Spring this year, for two reasons. First, Spring is absolutely my favorite season and, two, this year we are in a new home with a small landscape garden that I'll be able to play in again. But today, I'm bringing Blissful Signs of Spring / Easter indoors with a tablescape for you.

St Patrick's Day Flying Colors Tablescape

Hello, and welcome to Panoply! Today we are celebrating St. Patrick's Day with a table fit for the occasion. My theme is St. Patrick's Day Flying Colors - the tricolor of Ireland's national flag.

Kings Corners for the Queen Bee

Welcome to my blog, Panoply. Today we are celebrating the great pollinators of the world - the BEES! What better way to celebrate than setting a table to honor the Queen Bees of the world?! If you've buzzed over from Mary's blog, you've already learned about Hive Rules in her clever way with words and vignettes.  

Fun with Food and Flowers

I do not know where I saw it (probably Facebook, as I'm not on Instagram, and I rarely scroll Pinterest), but a recent recipe caught my attention that inspired some fun with food and flowers: egg salad filled 'carrots'. 

Early Spring, Easter '21 Tablescape

The official start of spring is just days away, Daylight Savings Time has begun, and I can see and feel new life energy around me each day. Welcome to Panoply, where I am celebrating my favorite season at the table! Several other bloggers are joining me today, and you'll find links for their tables near the end of this post.

An Unpretentious St. Patrick's Day Tablescape

Welcome to Panoply! Today I'm sharing my St. Patrick's Day tablescape with you, labeling it as unpretentious. 

Easter Bunnies in the Flower Garden

Welcome to my blog, Panoply. If you are a new reader here, I am a vintage and antiques dealer, sharing rented booth space with two of my six sisters in the same antique mall for the past nearly twelve years (currently on hiatus as a non-essential business). In everyday life, I downsized our household a year ago, purging and reorganizing years of things accumulated and duplicated, so my social distancing has no real backlog of projects looming. However, tablescaping is a hobby I still enjoy, and I've readied the table for Easter. Come, join me while I dish on the details!

Today's Easter Bunnies in the Flower Garden tablescape post is an outlet - a sort of pressure relief valve - to our current state of world affairs. Just so you know, I am not living under a rock, but I created this table prior to my state's (and most of the nation's) shutdown. I have been enjoying this delightfully cheerful table in the dining space of my great room each day, and plan to continue enjoying it (minus the flowers, which are long gone) until Easter. I hope you will too. We will most likely only be sharing a quiet dinner and table for two this year. 

This table was first inspired by the tablecloth I'm using. My peripheral vision was drawn right to the bright florals as I passed it on an aisle perpendicular to the one I was walking in the store. Screech! I backed up, and grabbed it. The dinner plates I had, and used previously in this table setting, here.

I found the super cute bunny salad plates on sale, and I knew the colors were just right for both the dinner plate and tablecloth.

There are four different faces of the bunnies in the set of salad plates.

Just as I love mixing vintage with new items for table settings, I love pattern and color play too. I pulled more things from my stash, including the polka dot napkins and flatware, the checked chargers, the butterfly napkin rings, blue cake pedestal, and the blue water bottle I recently got from participating in a make-your-own workshop. I blogged on that experience, here.

I had a coordinating tablecloth for the napkins, but it was for a round table in my previous home. I wondered if there was a runner that might match the napkins. Sure enough, I found a 'new with tags' matching runner on Ebay. The runner allowed me to place a floral arrangement in the center so it would stand out instead of getting lost, as seen in the photo below. (Note: I also purchased a small bouquet of irises to mix in my arrangement, but most of those withered within a couple days).

The runner serves double duty. While its layer allows the floral arrangement to be highlighted on the table's center, it coordinates with (and also highlights) my napkins and flatware in color and pattern. Also [annoyingly] highlighted are some permanent packaging wrinkles in the tablecloth. That was the only drawback to its great price point. It's made of 100% polyester, and I gave up after repeatedly dampening and pressing with no luck. 🙁 I usually buy only cotton or linen blend cloths for that reason.

Colorful M&M peanut "eggs" were scattered down the runner among a string of little lights.

Each place setting has a miniature watering can place card holder, this time holding a flower packet and candy carrot umbrella for each guest.

The stemware is new, and I know I will be using this for many an occasion to come. It matches my Blenko water bottle to my satisfaction.

Our great room has a definite spring vibe now. The background shows my fireplace nook and ledge, where my chicks with carts (seen recently, here) have found their place in front of the bunny with a basket full of eggs.

 Salt and pepper bird shakers on the table are vintage.

The table, from the bird's eye view. 

I have to share another couple floral items I found after I created this table. This teapot and stockpot were less than $35 for the pair! These sure did spark joy for me, and they came right home to bloom in our kitchen.

Although they'd be pretty enough to serve with on the table, they're serving food, drink and lots of joy on my stovetop, especially during this #StayAtHome season.

And though the flowers are now all withered, a little bunny stole the spotlight on the table's center.

I want to thank Chloe Crabtree from the blog Celebrate and Decorate for hosting this Easter table blog hop. Chloe also has several other social media platforms that you'll find on her blog, and if you love designing and sharing creative tablescaping, I encourage you to join her Facebook group page, Tablescapes and Tablestyling. Also, please enjoy the entire list of stylists below for their inspiring Easter tables, with links that will take you directly to their posts. These were all collectively organized by Chloe as part of this event for our readers' convenience. Enjoy!

Celebrate and Decorate
Panoply (you are here!)
Create with Cynthia
Home is Where the Boat Is
Debbee's Buzz
Belle Bleu Interiors
Everyday Living
Life and Linda
At Home with Jemma
The Painted Apron
Home and Gardening with Liz
Harbour Breeze Home
Our Crafty Mom 
Zucchini Sisters
Red Cottage Chronicles
My Thrift Store Addiction

White Arrows Home

Corner of Plaid and Paisley

Southern Nell Gracious Living
My Family Thyme

Bluesky at Home

Intelligent Domestications
Living with Thanksgiving
The Little Yellow Corner Store 
Design Morsels
Calypso in the Country

For your convenience, below is a list of the elements used on my table, and the sources (no affiliations or sponsorship for me, just information for you).

Easter Bunnies in the Flower Garden Source List

Tablecloth - Pioneer Woman Fiona Floral (WalMart)
Napkins, Table Runner - Kate Spade Charlotte Street (HomeGoods and eBay)
Chargers - Parchment Check; Napkin Rings - Butterfly Garden (MacKenzie-Childs)
Dinner Plates - Mikasa Provence Garden by Kim Parker
Bunny Salad Plates - Hobby Lobby
Watering Can Place Card Holders - Ballard Designs
Vase, Pitcher, Basket (holding bunny) - Blenko
Cake pedestal, salt & pepper - vintage finds
Stemware - Wayfair
Flatware - Pfaltzgraff
Crofton Floral Teapot, Stockpot - Aldi finds (aka AOS - aisle of shame)
Flower Bouquets - Sam's Club
Chicks with carts, Bunny with eggs - MacKenzie-Childs
Copper Pitcher (with yellow blooms), Old World style bunny paintings - vintage finds

Thank you so much for your visit today. I love reading all your comments. Stay well, my friends, and Happy Easter!

Rita C. at Panoply

Sharing: Pieced Pastimes, Best of the Month, Happiness is Homemade, Love Your Creativity, BNOTP, All About Home Common Ground, All About Home Follow the Yellow Brick Home, A Stroll Thru Life, My Wee Abode, Thistle Key Lane, Bluesky at Home, The Dedicated House, Zucchini Sisters, French Ethereal SYS, Delightsome Life H&G, Katherine's Corner TFT, Grace at Home, My Thrift Store Addiction

2020 Keeper of the Shamrock Cloth: St. Patrick's Day Shenanigans

Hello, readers! Today I'm bringing the luck of the Irish to the table, along with a little history to share in the details.

First, there's a background story of my vintage shamrock table topper used today. The cloth has been traveling among bloggers since 2010, when Marigene of In the Middle of Nowhere used it. She then sent it on to Kathleen of Cuisine Kathleen, who hosted a St. Patrick's Day blog crawl for a number of years. Marigene's stipulation was for the cloth to then be sent to another blogger each year to make an annual appearance. In 2013, Rett of the Gazebo House was the first recipient after Kathleen. In 2014, Mary of Home is Where the Boat Is added the little leprechaun to the fun, and he's been traveling with the shamrock cloth ever since!

Below is the sequence of keepers of the cloth since Mary's post in 2014. Each of the bloggers' posts (as well as those previously mentioned above) are linked to their original posts sharing the cloth.

2015 Sarah of Hyacinths for the Soul

2016 Kitty of Kitty's Kozy Kitchen

2017 Debbie of Mountain Breaths

2018 Jenna of the Painted Apron

2019 Pam of Everyday Living

Pam contacted me a couple months ago asking for my address, and I became the 2020 Keeper of the Cloth! Can you believe this is now its tenth year?! I was totally up for the tablescaping challenge. Shenanigans is in my Irish ancestry!

I played around with dishes on hand, and decided on my Majolica dinner plates resting on Mackenzie-Childs Courtly Check chargers. The base cloth is a textured white cotton, and the shamrock topper is set on the diagonal. The white napkins are folded in the bishop's cap (as shown in this video, here), and rest upon Courtly Check napkin rings.

The bowls layered on the plate were purchased directly from Ireland. I love the Celtic knots on the outside (see leading photo in this post), as well as the single knot inside, surrounded by vines of tiny shamrocks. The Celtic knot is also part of the vintage cloth's motif, at each corner. Green stemware, flatware and little green mints complete each place setting.

A little more history on St. Patrick, Bishop and Patron Saint of Ireland: his historical imagery is that of a bishop (hence, the napkin fold); however, his history began in England, in the 5th Century. As a teen, Patrick (his name taken as a priest) was kidnapped from his family by Irish pirates and taken to Ireland as a slave, to herd and tend sheep (hence, the flock grazing on the table).  

Patrick escaped four years later, returned to Britain, became an ordained priest and, later, bishop. His mission led him back to Ireland, where he worked tirelessly for over 40 years, converting pagans to Christianity. He often used the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity. He died on March 17, 461.

What started as the "wearing of the green" - a cluster of shamrocks on the right breast to show Irish heritage and connectedness to St. Patrick - has, well, gotten a little out of hand as the years have gone by. Oh my....a little day drinking with the leprechaun could soon have the situation spiraling a bit out of control. Let the shenanigans begin!

As night falls, the more serious leprechaun (who's tending the sheep) tries to maintain control, while the shenanigator leprechaun jumps on the pedestal and goes full tilt on the sheep!

Oh boy! Looks like the shenanigator wants to take the serious guy for a ride....

Oh no! Now the shenanigator thinks he's a self-ordained bishop, donning the napkin hat!

Well, let's hope this night ends well, and that all the shenanigans don't end up with the shamrock table topper turned into a toga! How in the world would I explain that to next year's keeper of the cloth?! Speaking of next year, who will be the next keeper of the cloth?

All shenanigans aside, I'll close with the following Irish prayer. This little gem was something I picked up at an estate sale, originally purchased by the owner in his travels to Ireland. It is framed with wild, dried Irish flowers, and sits on my bedroom dresser.

Thank you for your visit today! I hope if you're a shenanigator this St. Patrick's Day, you survive all the fun and take the luck of the Irish with you each day.

St. Patrick's Day Shenanigans Source List

Table Topper, Shenanigator Leprechaun - vintage, traveling through the blogging years

Tablecloth - DKNY - HomeGoods

Majolica Plates, crystal tumblers, silver julep cups, white napkins, serious leprechaun, sheep - vintage finds (one sheep was gifted, new)
Celtic Bowls - Carrolls Irish Gifts

Chargers, napkin rings, small pedestal - MacKenzie-Childs

Green flatware - Horchow

Green Stemware - Dollar Tree

Slainte!

Rita C. at Panoply

(A special thank you to Kathy of A Delightsome Life's Home and Garden Thursday Link Party #38 and Amber of Follow the Yellow Brick Home's Thursday Favorite Things for featuring this post!)

Sharing: Pieced Pastimes, Best of the Month, Happiness is Homemade, Love Your Creativity, BNOTP, All About Home Common Ground, All About Home Follow the Yellow Brick Home, A Stroll Thru Life, My Wee Abode, Thistle Key Lane, Bluesky at Home, The Dedicated House, Zucchini Sisters, French Ethereal SYS, Delightsome Life H&G, Katherine's Corner TFT, Grace at Home, My Thrift Store Addiction

Spring Tablescape: A Blooming Celebration

Welcome, readers! Today we're getting a jumpstart on spring with inspiring ideas for tablescaping. What is tablescaping, you ask? Simply put, it's table setting in artful, decorative ways. Tablescaping can be accomplished with use of elements that complement your home's style - by event or season - or it can be with decorations created or purchased for a special occasion theme. In this case, we're getting set for spring season with a Blooming Celebration!

The spring chicks are hard at work, readying the table 'garden' for both foods and flowers. It's time for pulling out mowers and leveling out the grass lawns, often scattered with wild tufts of onion sprouts this time of year. Tools are pulled out and assessed for another season of work.

Tulips are blooming, and the promise of more flowers to come are evident with buds and foliage emerging on the twiggy branches of prior years' plants.

Watering cans are pulled from storage and back out onto the porches and near sheds, ready to quench the thirsty earth, or maybe used to house a plant or two.

Birds are happily looking at new real estate prospects on where to nest for the season..

Gardeners are planning and planting early vegetables for optimal yields: lettuce, kale, carrots, radishes, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, and tomatoes. 

It truly is a season of promise. It's a blooming celebration!

Have you caught spring fever yet? If so, I've got just the remedy for you! Be sure to see the list of table stylists' links beneath the graphic below, leading to a full bouquet of spring table inspiration! I'd like to thank Chloe Crabtree of the blog, Celebrate and Decorate, for her lead in organizing all the stylists for today's tablescaping ideas.

Home is Where the Boat Is
Panoply (you are here!)
My Family Thyme
Red Cottage Chronicles
The Painted Apron
Everyday Living

Debbee's Buzz
From My Carolina Home

Home and Gardening with Liz
Create with Cynthia

Bluesky at Home

Harbour Breeze

Living with Thanksgiving

Katherine's Corner

My Thrift Store Addiction
The Little Yellow Corner Store
Sweet Sensations
Belle Bleu Interiors

Corner of Plaid and Paisley

Zucchini Sisters
Life and Linda

Intelligent Domestications
First Day of Home

White Arrows Home

Calypso in the Country

Celebrate and Decorate

I do hope you enjoy the sense of rebirth which spring can so easily inspire. Take a walk, look for the signs, and find some joy in nature's awakening.

I like to add my source list to tables I create, just so you can see the many venues where elements can be gathered from to create a look that's varied. Many of mine are things I've had for several years, but some are recent purchases. I don't normally add links, as none of these are sponsoring vendors. 

Blooming Celebration Source List

Tablecloth - April Cornell
Napkins, Glasses, Bird S&P - Vintage Finds
Ivory Dinner Plates - Homer Laughlin "Everything Fiesta" outlet
Debbie Mumm Spring Bouquet Salad Plates - eBay
Flower Vase - Blenko (gift)
Twig Flatware, Rattan Chargers - Pier 1
Chicks with Carts, Eggs - MacKenzie-Childs
Wheelbarrow, Serving Utensils - Mariposa

Thank you for your visit today. Your comments and/or questions are welcome, and I would love it if you decide to come back and visit again. Let's get acquainted!

Rita C. at Panoply

(A special thanks to Suzanne of Pieced Pastimes Saturday Sparks Link Party #366 for featuring this post!)

Sharing: Pieced Pastimes, Best of the Month, Happiness is Homemade, Love Your Creativity, BNOTP, All About Home Common Ground, All About Home Follow the Yellow Brick Home, A Stroll Thru Life, My Wee Abode, Thistle Key Lane, Bluesky at Home, The Dedicated House, Zucchini Sisters, French Ethereal SYS, Delightsome Life H&G, Katherine's Corner TFT, Grace at Home, My Thrift Addiction