A Toile Tale: turquoise

Showing posts with label turquoise. Show all posts

Saturday, May 27, 2017

Turquoise Gingham on the Deck

It was time to have our bachelor neighbor over for dinner. And time to post something! I haven't posted anything in a month, maybe six weeks. I've done a Cinco de Mayo dinner, a Kentucky Derby dinner, several small dinner parties, and a lovely picnic, but the situation just wasn't right to photograph blog-worthy pictures. I'm a firm believer that the event is much more important than capturing it on film, even for a languishing blog! And that, folks, is why I don't accept advertising. I just can't promise a certain number of posts.

But last night's dinner on the deck was simple and lovely and much appreciated by our neighbor. I went with serene and summery. He pretends to be all macho, but he loves to be pampered and enjoys a pretty table almost as much as good food!

I started with a white linen caterer's cloth, and then added a pale turquoise straw place mat. These came from an awesome store in Seaside, Florida called Seaside Style. The whole store looks like this! Do not miss it if you are in the panhandle area. Then I added this whitewashed wooden charger from World Market. I love how it becomes soft and interesting with the whitewash.

Then, I chose this scalloped edged dinner plate from Target. Really! Target!

These natural handled wooden flatware is Martha Stewart's from years ago when she had her on-line merchandise store.

And these turquoise glass tumblers are Martha Stewart also, this time from Macy's. I didn't set the table with wine glasses, because we just brought our glasses we used with appetizers to the table.

The salt and pepper and butter looked a bit lost on the table, so I corralled them on this small bamboo tray. It echoes the color of the flatware.

White roses and hydrangeas continue to keep things serene.

Today's flowers are brought to you by Whole Foods!

These candlesticks gave another element of blue/turquoise.

It was a beautiful evening. We are enjoying the weather before it gets too hot.

The meal was a hit. Pasta salad and grilled shrimp after an old fashioned appetizer of chips and clam dip.

But the very most enjoyed course was the banana pudding made with Nutter Butter cookies in place of vanilla wafers. Unbelievable!

Mr. Pressed Pants thought I was way to generous when I sent all but one serving home with Ronnie!

This deck holds several sitting areas, and I've softened them with pillows covered with outdoor fabric from Ballard Designs.

The best part is the view of the lake, and of friendly faces across the table!

Joining:

Tablescape Thursday

at

Between Naps on the Porch

Dishing It and Digging It (Sun.)

at

Rustic and Refined

Inspire Me Monday

at

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

The Scoop (Mon.)

at

Cedar Hill Farmhouse

Inspire Me Tuesday

at

A Stroll Thru Life

Home Sweet Home (Fri.)

at

The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday

at

French Country Home

Foodie Friday

at

Designs By Gollum

Wow Us Wednesday

at

Savvy Southern Style

Monday Funday

at

All Things Heart and Home

Make It Pretty Monday

at

The Dedicated House

Moonlight and Mason Jars (Wed.)

Amaze Me Mondays

at

Dwellings

Merry Mondays Link Party

Twelve on Main

Celebrate It Sunday

at Celebrate and Decorate

Sundays At Home

at Love of Home

Share It One More Time (Sat.)
designthusiasm.com

Share Your Style (Thurs.)

21 Rosemary Lane

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Lydia's Luncheon

Nothing beats an afternoon spent with good friends, celebrating a birthday! Several of my friends and I gave a luncheon for a mutual friend and it was such a lovely day.

I was anxious to celebrate spring, as well, so I chose these colors and added a selection of birds and bird related dishes.

This greeted the guests as they arrived at the front door.

I like to give a hint of the event on the gates or the door, or both. This chalkboard with ribbons was a substitute for a wreath or basket of flowers.

These majolica-like salad plates led the charge! They came from Pottery Barn a year or so ago. I paired them with turquoise dinner plates from Target.

The flatware was cream, and kept the look casual and the colors soft.

I've had these stems so long, I can't begin to remember where I got them. They are unusual, in that the base is a periwinkle blue, the stems a soft turquoise, and the bowl a light blue. Unfortunately, I broke two while I was cleaning up.

I thought the butter pats would look pretty with a fresh viola.

These clear glass napkin holders were a hit. I actually bought more to give the birthday girl as a gift. They came from Boxwoods in Atlanta. The tag serves as a placecard and is just attached with a narrow ribbon. The napkin is a soft linen banded in white. I think I picked them up at Homegoods.

I love to print a menu for each place setting, and include a quote at the bottom. This one says, "Here's to tall ships. Here's to small ships. Here's to all the ships on the sea. But the best ships are friendships.....Here's to you and me." It is an old Maritime blessing. At the end of the event, I always ask the guests to sign their name on it and then I keep it as a souvenir of the day.

I bought these twig and nest arrangements at the floral wholesaler. Then I added the eggs and the velvet covered birds.

Here's a close-up. Doesn't he just make you smile?

The centerpiece is an arrangement of fresh hydrangeas in a whitewashed birch pot. Then I added thistles for some interest......

And texture.

This ceramic bowl held the rolls.

I think these bird salt and pepper shakers came from Boxwoods, as well.

I used this chicken wire cloche with a bird in it on the chest in the dining room.

And the buffet held the coffee/tea set-up.

I have this sweet teapot and sugar/creamer with birds on them. Don't you love the way I left the plastic wrap on the lemons in the picture? Keeping it real here, folks.

Another bird plate that one of my guests gave me for Christmas held the tea selection. The silver bird and edging added some class to the offerings!

I even found a beaded bird in the same colors for the gift wrapping.

And every birthday girl must wear this fun crown. Lydia looked beautiful in it, but I promise my friends that they needn't have their picture in my blog. Some folks are too private for this, and I want to respect their feelings. I don't even put my own photo on the blog!

This was the beverage set up in the bar. I had these white hydrangea plants but I'm afraid that they are at the end of their beauty.

One powder room had our first three daffodils and an extra hydrangea.

The other powder room had a bird vase, as well.

And some Caspari guest towels in an aqua toile.

It was a pretty day, but cool, so we sat by the fire and talked and talked.

Don't you wish you joined us for this dessert? As pretty as it is, it tasted even better. I'm sure hoping that Anne shares this recipe!!!

Friday, August 5, 2016

Alfresco Dining - Two Tables with Coral

When Chloe Crabtree from Create and Decorate invited me to be a part of her Alfresco Dining blog hop, I was flattered, excited, and inspired. Now that it is time to post, I've decided to feature two tables I have done that both have turquoise in them, one soft and subtle, and one much more vibrant and busy. Take a look:

On this first table, I started with these napkins embroidered with turquoise coral, and kept the colors quite soft and costal.

The table was set down on our lower terrace, surrounded by greenery, flowers, and stonework.

The whitewashed charger from World Market reminded me of driftwood. I added a turquoise scalloped dinner plate from Target, and used antique mismatched flatware.

The napkin was softly folded and laid on the plate with a small fisherman's float used as a placecard. I found them at Pottery Barn last summer.

A real shell serves as a small bread and butter plate.

These stems are etched with costal images and the turquoise tumbler is a Martha Stewart item used as a stemless wine glass.

The centerpiece is simply a pottery dish filled with sand and shell, with some beautiful sea glass.

These sea urchin salt and pepper shakers fit the bill perfectly!

A few stripped pillows made the very ordinary chairs more interesting and more comfortable.

Are you ready to move to the upper terrace and see something a little more exciting? Bring your drink......

Here's the location. It's poolside, and we love to eat here and hear the sound of the waterfall and the frogs.

This coral patterned fabric and cushions are from Ballard Designs. They are such an improvement over the cushions we had previously.

Since this tablecloth (which is indoor-outdoor fabric) is so busy, the orange placemat helps to set the plate apart. The dinner plates are from a store in Atlanta that has gone out of business. They are made by Marval. I chose bamboo handled flatware to keep the tropical feel.

Yes! These ARE the same napkins in a different color. These napkin rings look like coral and came from Pottery Barn.

These stems are so fun. Do you see the coral in the stem?

I used these matching bowls for a cold corn and crab soup.

And I love the soup spoons I found at World Market.

The centerpiece started with a bunch of bright orange Gerbera daisies and a piece of white coral. I added an orange glass votive, and shells.

And these wonderful porcelain starfish.

There is a lot going on here, but because the colors are kept to basically two colors, it works.

One more place that I used a coral design was in these salad servers. Now I think I'm done buying coral items. Enough!

Thank you again, Chloe for the opportunity to join this lovely group of bloggers for your Alfresco blog hop. Be sure to visit all of these posts for a wide variety of outdoor dining. There are five new posts each day all this week. You'll see sunflowers, daisies, classic design, contemporary, funky, elegant, and lots of surprises.

www.celebrateanddecorate.com