Tropical Salute to the End of Summer

Last weekend, I decided to give summer it's due!  I've wanted to do a completely tropical table all season.  Then.....drumroll please......I found these bamboo edged dishes on sale and I jumped for joy.  There was no delay!  I couldn't wait to invite friends and get going.

It was a bit warm, but this HAD to be set up outside.  

I found this grass table skirt at Hobby Lobby, and I pinned it on over a simple white caterer's cloth.  Without this, it wouldn't feel quite as festive.

What could be more tropical than a pineapple centerpiece?  I've seen so many pintrest posts where the pineapple is used as a vase, but to be frank, I like the top of the pineapple as much as the fruity part.  AND, you can then use the pineapple afterward.

I usually avoid the cheap grocery store bouquets, because they sort of look like a fruit salad, but in this case, that's exactly the look I was going for.  I just used blocks of oasis around the pineapple and placed them on a pink plastic plate.

These tropical leaves are from the floral wholesaler.  I used them under each dinner plate and under the centerpiece.  By the way, they lasted forever!  These orange placemats grounded the plates on the white cloth.

These plates were on sale at the Pottery Barn outlet.  I bought 8 dinner plates and 8 salad plates for less than $70!!!  That was a sale to get excited about.

And here's why I was so excited!!! This is the dinnerware I have been coveting for a long time.  It's Juliska's bamboo pattern and it is fabulous.  This dinner plate runs $42 each and each salad plate is $22.  Not extremely expensive, but I haven't jumped on them just yet at that price.  Now, I'll just be very happy with the Pottery Barn plates.  They are melamine, not pottery, but that is actually great for this style.

Of course, my bamboo handled flatware was just the ticket for this table.

To introduce even more color, I used green cotton napkins and a silk hibiscus ring.

I don't remember where I got these, maybe  Party City.  That green strip is lined with wire, so you can just roll it into a ring.  It came in several colors.  That T-pin in the background is what I used to pin on the "hula skirt".

These hot pink plastic glasses came from Homegoods, I think.

Didn't it come together fun?

And everyone got a lei to take home.  Believe me, I didn't expect anyone to wear one, and it was much too hot, anyhow, but I love to have a simple little gift for our guests.  You never know when you might be invited to a Jimmy Buffett concert, right?

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Just Dinner with the Neighbor

Every now and then we invite our next door neighbor over for dinner.  He's a bachelor, so it doesn't matter what I fix, he thinks it's great.  So tonight, when I realized that we had a lot of food for just the two of us, I called next door and extended a quick invitation.  Of course, he accepted and in the time it took him to walk over here, I threw this table together, and while the guys grilled chicken, I snapped a few shots.

I bought these napkins from Pottery Barn outlet a few weeks ago, so it was in the back of my mind to use them.  Actually, it was early spring, and I thought they would be perfect for a spring table.  Well....here we are in July....they look good tonight, anyhow!

I threw this green tablecloth on the table on the white deck, then used some yellow graphic placemats. 

This is the mark on the yellow and green plates.  They sure don't look like Pfaltzgraff, do they?  

This flatware came from Homegoods last week.  I've been wanting bamboo for a while, but since I have several other wooden handled sets, I've resisted.  But, since it was $19.99, I grabbed it!  I bet I'll wish I bought another four place settings.

These old green stems and gold stemless wine glasses finished the place setting.

These have been outside on another table, so that was easy.

All of these things were in the kitchen, as there was no time to scrounge around any further.

The lake was quiet tonight, but the deck wasn't.  Our neighbor is a talker and, as usual, the evening lasted longer than I intended, but no one wanted to call it a night.

The Table is Set!

This is the way our dining room table has looked for a couple of weeks now.  You can see my gilded turkeys on the buffet and these paper mache vegetables are gathered cornucopia-style down the middle of the table.

Can you spot the real vs the paper mache in this picture?

or this?

or this?

New, this year, is this embroidered runner from Pottery Barn.  I should have taken a picture of the Soumak rug in the dining room to show how well this runner works with it.  (Sometime the silliest things can make me so happy!)

These Thanksgiving plates relate so well to the colors, that they became the star of the table setting.

Nothing bold or bright, just neutral, autumnal colors here.

The tan charger is from Z Gallerie and the acorn embossed dinner plate is from Crate and Barrel several years ago.  I broke one, so if anybody has one or two they would like to sell, I'd really love to replace it.

This barley twist flatware is my most used, next to our everyday stainless.

 

Since our meal is casual and informal this year, I used this tortoise patterned glass for water, and a raffia wrapped one for wine. 

The napkin I chose is not nearly as bright as it photographed here. Really.  And it doesn't need to be ironed as badly as it appears here.  It really is a pretty bittersweet.  On it, I placed a wishbone ornament with the cut hanger off.  I meant to spray these gold, but I ran out of time.  Maybe next year!

I ordered a dozen of these from Oriental Trading. 

We'll eat a quick meal on these tomorrow, go to the USO, and then we're eating a proper Thanksgiving meal late with friends.  No matter what the plans, Tom Turkey is the star, isn't he?

 

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Cuisine Kathleen