Summer Entertaining...and a Seaside ~~Water~~ Tablescape

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A Seaside ~~Water~~ Tablescape
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Hello my friends...I hope you're having a fabulous day!
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It's here...it's finally here! 

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Summer that is! 

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 As of June 21st, we "officially" entered into the summer season.  Summer offers a multitude of opportunities...don't you agree?  The warmer temperatures bring about all kinds of change...inside and outside...of our homes.  It's time to "lighten and brighten" up our decor.  It's time to get out in the garden. 

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and...

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It's time to do a little summer entertaining!  One of my most favorite things to do!!!

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Today I thought I would share with you a summer tablescape that I created two years ago (June 2009) called ~~Water~~A Seaside Tablescape.  One of the first things that summer brings to mind...for me...is the seaside.  Maybe it's because I lived in Corpus Christi, Texas for 30 years.  I loved spending time at the beach and it was especially extraordinary during the summer!  Of course I am now living in Colorado...no where near the water...but that doesn't stop me from creating a summer "seaside experience" in my dining room!  Hehe!  I really loved how this summer table turned out and I hope that you enjoy it as well!

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It's time for a little summer entertaining...will you join me?

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~~~Water~~~
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The Tablescape scene is set...

I have set the table in our French Country dining room.
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Setting the Scene...Ambiance

The definition of ambiance is: the mood, character, quality, tone, atmosphere, etc., particularly of an environment.

Just like setting the scene for an act of a play...ambiance sets the scene for your table!!! The lighting...the music...even the type of dishes, table centerpiece, and linens contribute to the ambiance of your dining experience!!!

Ambiance can take a great tablescape and lift it into the realm of FABULOUS!
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*The lighting...the soft romantic glow of candlelight!
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The centerpiece...seashells and sea glass in soft shades of blue & green...a little moss and rattan...and what speaks ~~Water~~better than a few starfish scattered about!
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The Place Setting...

As I mentioned earlier, I purchased these dishes several weeks ago. I have seen some gorgeous "coastal" tablescapes in blogland and I really wanted a set of "coastal or shell" dishes. This set is called...yep, you guessed it, ~~Water~~ from JC Penneys. When I first saw them, I thought Ooooh...I want those but they were to expensive for my pocketbook...soooo....I waited (as any good little bargain shopper would do...hehe!)

Ohhh yea....they went on sale...they were really marked down...and on top of that, I had a 20% off discount coupon! Yeeeehawwww!!!

This set was originally $162.00 for a 4 piece place setting for four.

I paid only...are you ready?...can I have a drumroll please...

I paid only $59.60 for the entire set!!!

(Oh yea...oh yea...I'm still doin' the Happy Dance over this one! Hehe!)
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~~Water~~

Home Collection by JC Penneys

Dinner plate (a nice sized 11" plate, ivory, with embossed shells and starfish)
Salad/dessert plate (8 7/8 in., ivory, embossed with shells and starfish)
Soup bowl (7 x 3 in. tall, shell shaped, ivory)
Canape plate ( 7x5 in., shell shaped, ivory)
Water/Iced Tea goblets from Dollar Tree...$1 ea.
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The Shell Soup Bowl...

These shell soup bowls are really nice sized! A healthy serving of soup or a salad can be served in these pretty shell bowls!!! They are large enough that they could be used for a vegetable serving dish as well.
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*The Salad/Dessert Plate...

I just love the embossed design on the salad/dessert plates...shells, starfish, lobster & crabs swim around the border!*

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*A close-up so you can see the pretty pattern!
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*The Dinner Plate...

Ohhh...I do love these pretty seashell plates...the shells are nearly 3-dimensional! These plates measure 11 in. They are actually large enough that they can double as a charger plate.
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The Canape Plate...

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*The Table Dressing...

Just as ambiance is important to setting the scene of the tablescape...so is the dressing of the table!

The table linens and placemats act as the foundation for your tablescape!

The Table Cloth & Napkins...

I found this beautiful striped tablecloth with matching napkins, called "Kendall", at Pottery Barn. The fabric has a nice substantial feel to it and is 100% cotton. The napkins are a generous 20x20 ins.

I love the washed out look of the off-white, brown, blue, and green stripes!!! It's exactlly what I had envisioned for this ~~Water~~tablescape...a fabric with a distresssed look, if you will!

The Napkin Rings...

I found stretchy shell bracelets at Walmart made by Panama Jack...I attached a seashell and used these for the napkin rings. One of the things that I enjoy most about doing a tablescape is coming up with creative ideas for the table...I just love the seashell bracelets for the napkin rings. $3.97 for a package of 3 bracelets!

The Placemats...

I found these pretty rattan placemats at the Dollar Tree. They're perfect...made of rattan and in soft sea colors of green and blue. I decided to layer the placemats...placing a green rattan mat over the top of a blue rattan mat. Only $1 each!*

 

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The Centerpiece...

Ohhh...I do love making the centerpieces for a tablescape!!!

My New Wire Rattan Finial...

I purchased this large wire rattan finial from JC Penneys at the same time that I got my dishes. I just love the dark French Roast color and it makes quite a statement at 20 ins. tall! It was also on sale for $17.99...I think I will get alot of use from this beauty!!!

I put moss in the bottom of the finial so that I could place a candle in the center. I added different kinds of seashells around the edges of the candle! Then I placed the finial atop a rattan mat. I used fresh fern fronds around the base of the finial...scattered blue and green sea glass...and added a few starfish!
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*Candles and Candle Holders...

Hand crafted Seashell candles...

Ahhh...do you remember these seashell pillar candles? I made these last week! For the tutorial you can click HERE...it will take you to that post!

I had so much fun crafting these. JC Penneys had similar pillar candles that went with my seashell dishes but ohhh myyy...they were $49.99 for just 3 little candles...eeekkkss!!! I wasn't about to pay that much for candles so I made my own...two 6" seashell pillar candles for just $4.85!!!

I had these chunky white glass candle holders...added twine around the base for a "coastal" feel! It's all in the little details...isn't it? Hehe!!! I really like how my homemade seashell candles look with the "coastal" candle holders!!!

Votive Candles...

I found these glass votive candle holders at the Dollar Tree...$1 ea.! They just had a nautical feel to them...hehe! I added crushed seashells to the bottom of the votives...placed a white candle atop and added a few small shells around the candles!

Each place setting has its own votive candle holder!*

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*An "artsy" photo
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~~Water~~
...by day!
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~~Water~~

...by night!

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Well my friends...I hope that you enjoyed my ~~Water~~tablescape!
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I am joining the Blogger Block Party...
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"Summer Entertaining"

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with Sherry over at No Minimalist Here.

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A special thank you to all the dear ladies that have hosted this fabulous, week-long, Blog Party for us!  Thank you, Sherry for hosting the "Summer Entertaining" party at your place!

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Well dear friends...I am sooo happy that you stopped by today!  Please leave me a note and let me know that you were here....I would love to visit with you!

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Warmest Summery Wishes!

A Royal Tea...for Royalty!

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Hello my friends...I hope you're having a fabulous day!

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Today, Laura over at Decor To Adore is hosting a High Tea Tablescape party. How exciting! I just can't wait to see all of the fabulous teascapes! You'll have to head over to the party and check it all out! You'll find the credits to this lovely party at the end of my post.

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An English High Tea

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Ohhh my...an English High Tea! It's a pretty "swanky" deal you know...the kind of tea that one would expect to be served in the sitting room of the Queen of England's castle! I can only imagine...a sparkling silver tea service, the finest English linens, and the robust selection of food and sweets...not to mention the tea! It makes me want to go out and buy a fine ladies' tea hat for such an occasion!

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Well...today I would like to invite you to High Tea...my style! It won't be quite as "swanky" as the Queen's...so please don't fret! No fine ladies tea hat is required...unless you would like! Hehe! I would just love to spend a leizurely afternoon visiting with you...over tea! You ARE a very special guest so I did polish up my silver tea service and I set our tea table with a few pretties...after all...you are always "Royalty" in my book! I hope that you enjoy, my sweet friend!
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A Royal Tea...for Royalty!

A High Tea set in my french country dining room.
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Yes, please do come in and have a seat! We have the entire afternoon to just enjoy a warm cup of tea or two. There is nothing like whiling away the hours with the sweet fellowship of a dear friend!
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Glimmering, shimmering silver and sparkling white is the color theme for this High Tea.
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I have always found the pairing of white and silver to be so elegant and I love how it looks against my red dining room walls!
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A tea table filled with "pretties"!
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Besides polishing the silver tea service, I wanted to decorate our table with all kinds of pretties! A tall apothecary jar, that stands a stately 22 ins. tall, is filled with mercury glass orbs. If you look closely, you will see that a few of the glass orbs are decorated with rhinestone jewels. They really do sparkle with the light shining on them!
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A jeweled mercury glass orb in your tea cup...just for you, my sweet friend! It's almost like wearing a jeweled tiara...so befitting for a royal friend!
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A beautiful white porcelain figurine of a "royal" lady.

She reminds me of a very famous french Queen...Marie Antoinette...with her long ringlets of hair and flowers for adornment!
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A mercury glass heart under glass.
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Just a bit more silver...

A hand-blown mercury glass heart ornament tied with a white organza ribbon can be seen under glass. It is sitting atop a silver beaded rope garland...so sweetly under a cloche that is resting upon a silver pedestal plate. A silver charger plate with its rim of embossed roses is paired with a white dessert plate that has a beautiful decorative silver ringed border...perfect for the sweet cakes and tea cookies that we will enjoy with our tea this afternoon.
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A silver tea service "in wait" for our pleasure.
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A white tea napkin edged in lace is dressed with a little silver teapot napkin ring. A second mercury glass heart tied up with a swirly-twirly white organza ribbon decorates the tea tray.
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" A Royal Tea...for Royalty"
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Well my sweet friend...I am sooo glad that you could come and spend a leizurely afternoon at tea with me today! I hope that you enjoyed it as much as I did!

PS...This teascape is one that I did in February, 2010. For those of you who have already seen it...I really do appreciate your forbearance! I sooo wanted to join in with the High Tea Tablescape party today and maybe there are a few who have never viewed it! Thank you, friends!
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I am joining this fabulous party today...

High Tea Tablescapes...hosted by Laura over at Decor To Adore.
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Thank you, Laura for hosting this fabulous tea party for us!
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Thank you so much for coming by for a visit today, my friends! Please leave me a note and let me know that you were here...I would love to visit with you!
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Warmest Wishes!

A Heart's Desire...

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Hello my friends...I hope you're having a fabulous day!
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Happy Valentine's Day!

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I am soooo excited today...the long awaited Valentine parties are here! I am joining Candy over at The Little Round Table for her "Color of Love" party, Laurie over at Bargain Hunting and Chatting with Laurie for her Valentine party, and Jessa Irene over at A Holiday Haven for her Valentine party! Whew...I may be all partied out by the time I have made my rounds! Hehe! Anyway, you will find the credits for all three of these fabulous parties at the end of my post. I do hope that you will visit each party...I just know that there are going to be many, many Valentine pretties to see!!!
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Three Valentine Table Settings...

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Over the last couple of weeks, I have shared with you several Valentine place settings that I created for that special Valentine's Day table. I have had sooo much fun playing dishes! Hehe!
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Place Setting #1..."Be Still My Heart"
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In case you may have missed the first place setting..."Be Still My Heart"...

you can click HERE to see it.
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Place Setting #2..."Romancing the Heart"
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You can click HERE...to see the second place setting called "Romancing the Heart"
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~~~Place Setting #3..."A Heart's Desire"~~~

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I have been saving this third Valentine's Day place setting..."A Heart's Desire"...especially for the Valentine parties. I hope that you enjoy!

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*Just a little note: I am not going to take the time writing on all the "how to's" of this third place setting, if you would like to learn more about how I put this table together you are welcomed to visit the posts for place settings #1 and/or #2.

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For this third Valentine's place setting..."A Heart's Desire"...I really wanted to share with you a few of my favorite "heart" quotes! After all...Valentine's Day is all about the "matters of the heart"!
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Valentine's Day in a French Country Dining Room

My Valentine's Day buffet...February 2011
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"The heart in pursuit of oneness
will find the most inexplicable beauty."
Unknown
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"Love is the key to my heart."
Universal saying
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"Steeping my life in beauty brings color to my days and a song to my heart."
Thomas Kinkade
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"The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard,
but must be felt with the heart."
Helen Keller
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"What the heart gives away is never gone...
It is kept in the heart of others."
Robin St. John
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"Find the seed at the bottom of your heart
and bring forth a flower."
Shigenori Kameoka
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"Love is space and time measured by the heart."
Marcel Proust
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"A loving heart is the truest wisdom."
Charles Dickens
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"Let your heart be your compass, your mind your map,
your soul your guide, and you will never get lost."
Unknown
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"Love is the enchanted dawn of every heart."
Alphonse De Lamartine
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"In your heart, keep one still, secret spot,
where dreams may go."
Louise Driscoll
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"The head thinks, the hands labor,
but it's the heart that laughs."
Liz Curtis Higgs
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"It's beauty that captures your attention;
personality which captures your heart."
Unknown
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"The heart that has truly loved, never forgets."
Unknown
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"We were two but had one heart between us."
Francois De Montcorbier Villon
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"Beauty is in the heart of the beholder."
Al Bernstein
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"Love is blind only to the eyes...
the heart sees everything clearly."
Unknown
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"When we love...we admire with the heart."
Unknown
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"A memory is a photograph taken by the heart
to make a special moment last forever."
Unknown
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Update:

The publisher of Belle Inspiration magazine just sent me a link that I could share with you. It you click on the magazine below...it will take you to my photo/article layout that they published in their Jan/Feb issue. The article is called..."Beloved Valentine"! It was such an honor to be published in this fabulous magazine. And...my photo made the cover! When I found out...I squealed like a sissy girl! Hehe! I hope you enjoy!!!
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"Beloved Valentine"
Belle Inspiration magazine...Jan./Feb. issue
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Thank you, Mimi...for sending me this link so that I could share it with my readers!

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I am joining these fabulous Valentine parties...

The Colors of Love...hosted by Candy over at The Little Round Table.
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Valentine Party...hosted by Laurie over at Bargain Hunting and Chatting with Laurie.
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The Valentines Party...hosted by Jessa over at A Holiday Haven.
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Tablescape Thursday...hosted by Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch.
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Thank you so much ladies...for hosting these fabulous parties for us to enjoy!
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Well my friends...I am so glad that you stopped by today for a visit! I would like to wish each and every one of you a very Happy Valentine's Day! May you experience all that your heart desires!!!

I hope that you enjoyed "A Heart's Desire" Valentine place setting. Please leave me a note and let me know that you were here...I would love to visit with you!!!
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Warmest Valentine Wishes!