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Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Dogwood Days


I'm recycling this post done with nests to join Cuisine Kathleen's  linky party featuring birds, eggs, and nests!  Be sure to see her many posts and inspiration from lots of bloggers.

 
Our dogwood trees have been so beautiful, especially the specimen down on our lower terrace.  I've wanted to do a table featuring the dogwood, and I almost waited too late!  The petals are starting to fall and they are definitely past their peak.  

The table is serene with a narrow color spectrum of taupe and white with just a tiny hint of pale robin's egg blue.  Sort of an anti-bunny table!!!  You can see the sideboard decorated for spring in the background.  I posted a tutorial  last year on how I put it together here.

These great place mats were the basis for the color selections.  They are a very light weight, loosely woven linen with this embroidery in each corner.  I found them at Boxwoods in Atlanta, and I'm expecting I'll use them often.

The glassware is a high/low mix that I love.  The wine glasses are from Tiffany's basic line, and the tumblers are from Martha Stewart's line for Macy's from several years ago. The pale, pale aqua color lends just a touch of color.  They are very thin, so I've already broken a couple of them.

I'm using these white faux bois plates again. My last post with them can be seen here.  They look like the cross section of a log.


I added a small bird's nest from Michael's with an aqua speckled faux egg and a fresh dogwood blossom.


The bread and butter plate is a very thin wood grained plate and I added individual butter spreaders that have twig handles.

This light colored, wood handled flatware seemed appropriate for the light colored table.

This  taupe and white checked linen napkin was placed between the plates to give them a bit of contrast.  We brought them back from a street market in Aix in Provence.

These little velvet birds were placed at each place just because I love them so much and I thought they "went with" the eggs and nests.

As you can see, the dogwood was almost past it's prime.  We had a rain the other night and that seemed to give them a case of the spots!

But, when you back off a bit and look at them en masse, they look pretty good.

This birch bark vase seemed to pull the natural elements together.  I couldn't help adding this tiny metal nest with turquoise robin eggs.

It echos this nest on each plate.

The salt and pepper shakers sort of sit in a nest, too.

This seems like a serene table where one might enjoy a refined meal with grown-up conversation with your sophisticated friends, right?  Well, that probably won't be the case here.  Not that I don't have any sophisticated friends, but they aren't coming over tonight, and the conversation will probably be about finding a new yardman and having the driveway resurfaced!

That's ok.  We need to get on top of spring clean-up and repairs sooner rather than later.  May I have your list of dependable repairmen?

Let's eat!

Wish you could be joining us!

The birdies on the window bench are coming!

I'm a little late, but I'm posting here:

bunny-blog-hop-1

and


21 comments:

  1. A wonderful tribute to dogwood! I miss the beautiful dogwoods in other places we've lived. They just don't do well in the soil in this part of Texas. I love the serene color scheme and wonderful attention to detail, with all the nature-inspired elements!

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  2. I was just telling Pat at Back Porch Musings how ashamed I am that I am a native Missourian but have never gone to see the flowering dogwoods (our state tree) in SE Missouri. Bad, bad Missourian!!! :-) I'm so glad you were able to eke out a beautiful table with these beauties as your centerpiece before they went away. You've done a beautiful job of putting all of these Spring woodland elements together. The birch bark vase, faux bois plates, and twig handles on the butter spreaders just make it that much more special. The wisp of blue throughout the table is really cool! I really, really like the way the checked napkins play so well off of the placemats. The coloring is similar but the pattern is different but complementary...it's great!

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  3. Beautiful Linda! I love the dogwood mixed with the soft taupe & pale blue! I used some I snipped in a basket arrangement~ so appropriate for Easter. I love your little velvet birds, nests & birch at the table! Happy Easter to you & your family.

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  4. Very nicely put together.

    We have lots of dogwood here in Alabama, too. I sometimes think that the fact that we can talk of mundane things with good friends and that they can seem important to all of us is a sign of great good fortune.

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  5. Pretty place mats, beautiful table and dishes! You've set a lovely table for Easter. Have a BLESSED EASTER SUNDAY!
    FABBY

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  6. So beautiful, love the colors. Great plates!

    - The Tablescaper

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  7. Glad you shared this again because I must have missed it last spring. Love the white with the taupe. This table is filled with special details. Love the unusual faux bois plates, the flatware, and the gorgeous linens. The icing on the cake for me would have to be those sweet velvet birdies. I remember the first time you shared those. You sent me details on where you purchased them, but I was too late. They are adorable!

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  8. I too must have missed your spring posting, but great job. Dogwoods are such wonderful trees and they added so much to your table.

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  9. I love your faux bois plates and wonderful flatware.

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  10. Such a sweet table! The taupe is gorgeous and I love the the bird salt and pepper shakers - adorable!

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  11. Very beautiful and I love those plates and napkins.

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  12. What a pretty spring table! I am glad your re-shared it,
    Jenna

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  13. This is such a relaxing color combination! Dogwood was one of my mom's favorites, so it always makes me think of her. Definitely worth reposting

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  14. What a calming table, very pretty.
    Have a great week...

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  15. So pretty! The twig butter knives are amazing!

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  16. Love the calming colors with the pop of blue....such a wonderful table.

    So sorry about your repair issues....I'd loan you my hubby but between our home, my sisters and his mothers his weekends are booked. I'm starting to get the hubby look that says I want a vacation that doesn't involve a reno.

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  17. Simple and Elegant! It just says Spring!

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  18. So sweet and delicate! I like the neutrals and the flatware. The birds nest with the egg is cute!

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  19. Love your tranquil table. The dogwoods are spectacular...

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  20. Oh, how I love the soft colors of this table and with the dogwood...just so beautiful.

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  21. I love dogwoods, too! Your wood-grain dishes are amazing. I've never seen anything like those before.
    Blessings,
    Kim @ Curtain Queen Creates

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