Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Fading Hydrangeas



Our hydrangeas are fading from the brilliant blue they were this summer to this smoky blue and lavender.  They were the inspiration for the table I set for dinner last night.  I put them in a galvanized container that I have sprayed with bleach to make it look more like old zinc.

I featured the lavender with cream and grey on a round tablecloth of cream burlap. 

Only a few minutes after I set the table, but before I photographed it, Mr. Pressed Pants called to ask me to join him at his business dinner.  I never turn down an offer like that, so I put on some lipstick and flew out the door, leaving the table as it sat.  I was not two miles from home, when the heavens opened and when I got home, I had a soaked table with an inch of rain in the glasses.

I pulled things inside to dry off and reset the table this morning as soon as it was light outside.  Doesn't the early light make things look interesting?


Here's the simple placesetting.

I did a quick stack of charger, dinner plate and salad plate.

I made these for several people for Christmas this year.  They are just inexpensive plastic chargers primed with spray paint, sprayed with grey paint, then rubbed with chalk and "erased".  Directions were several places in blogland.  Don't they look like lead?  This one is still a bit wet!

The white scalloped dinner plates are from Z Gallerie.

These beautiful old salad plates are Bavarian.

The flatware is from Neiman Marcus many years ago.

The crisp, lavender dinner napkin is from a restaurant overstock website.

Pottery Barn sold these chicken wire napkin rings this spring.  I couldn't resist!!!

This soft lavender glassware is so pretty.  I wish I knew how to photograph glassware well.  The stem has beautiful details on it like Juliska, but it was very inexpensive and I think I found them at T. J. Maxx years ago.

Then I chose these French seed pots to go with them as wine cups.

My mother gave me these individual pewter salt and pepper shaker many, many years ago for Christmas.

And I've had this pewter cruet set for many years.  It was a wedding gift.

This cute guy is a rather recent purchase.  I couldn't decide on using him, or the individual pewter salt and peppers.  I ended up photographing the table with both sitting on it!  Oh, well.  Dinner could have been well seasoned!

The wine coaster is actually a candle holder, but I love the look of it as a wine holder.

As you can see, we might not have had dinner at home last night, but we did manage to drink the wine.

Not an intricate tablescape, but restful.

The pots behind the table are filling in nicely.  Well, at least two of the three are!

So guess what?  This became a rather fancy breakfast table for Cheerios and fruit!  No, we didn't finish the wine with breakfast, but it was a nice way to start the day.

We should do this more often.


I'll be posting this with Between Naps On the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.





7 comments:

  1. Beautiful hydrangeas...I love them when they start fading. The lavender, silver and cream can be so relaxing and that is what enjoying a meal is about.
    Have a great weekend!

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  2. Your hydrangeas are gorgeous. I see more and more gardens here planted with hydrangeas so I think I'm going to try some next year.
    Love the details of your table and the alfresco setting. I missed the chicken wire napkin rings this spring. Now I'll be searching for them. I bought the chicken wire chargers they had, but didn't see any napkin rings. ~ sarah

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  3. Oh I love your Bavarian salad plates. I found 3 very similar to yours at a local antique mall several years ago...I recently broke one and nearly cried! Thanks for sharing, for visiting my blog and for taking the time to comment. Happy July 4th!

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  4. What an escapade you had with this table! (Sure hope that business dinner was worth all the clean-up!) I'm so glad you re-set it and shared it with us. The lavender and fading blossoms certainly set the stage for a wonderfully relaxing tablescape!

    I'm having a Vintage Linen & Dish Auction to celebrate my first year of blogging. If you have time, stop by and click the link on my sidebar to see the details. Everyone's invited!

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  5. A beautiful table (I could never tell that it got rained on!) and a beautiful location, too! Those chicken wire napkin rings are so wonderful! And the stemware....gorgeous! And of course I love the hydrangeas!!! Perfect!

    Hugs,
    Lana

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  6. Gorgeous is the word! I love the hue of soft purple here! Your design style is fantastic. Those chicken wire napkins are so beautiful. Stunning lavender!
    Thanks for sharing:)
    Hope to see you on my blog:)

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  7. You have a wonderful collection of pewter elements. Neat idea to paint the chargers for gifts. I'm filing that neat idea. Your hydrangeas were a wonderful inspiration for your lovely tablescape...wet or dry. Thank you for sharing your charming design. Cherry Kay

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