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Thanksgiving Fall Tablescape in jewel tone plaids

Posted on September 17, 2020 by Janet

Every table starts with an idea. It might be a color, a holiday, or even an inspiration piece such as a new tablecloth or new fairytale chargers. This Fall/Thanksgiving table started with this centerpiece:

Thanksgiving Fall centerpiece with jewel tone pumpkins and pedestal basket container

To be more precise, it started with the empty basket, which I found already attached to the pedestal, in a consignment store. I wanted to fill the basket with flowers, to have it feel like it was overflowing. I pulled out a few stops on this one – a china saucer in shimmery gold with harvest fruit, faux grapes, even a candle nestled into the basket along with all those blooms.

Thanksgiving Fall Centerpiece with silk flowers, china saucer, faux grapes, and candle.

The colors began to suggest that perhaps some of my favorite handmade jewel tone velvet pumpkins would look good, so I set a few – as well as a couple favorite ceramic ones from Dollar Tree – at the feet of the pedestal.

Velvet pumpkins with Thanksgiving Fall Centerpiece

I wanted to keep the rest of the table in jewel tones as much as possible, so I chose deep green dinner plates and a set of plaid salad plates that echoed not only the color scheme but also the idea of fruit harvest bounty. I think “bounty” is always a great theme for a Thanksgiving table because it can easily be interpreted visually and it reminds us to be grateful for the many blessings in our lives.

Fall Thanksgiving Tablescape by VFCstyle.com

The green dinner plates are by Home Trends, and the salad plates are “Victoria” by Sakura. Both were Goodwill finds.

"Victoria" salad plates by Sakura in a Fall Thanksgiving tablescape by VFCstyle.com

Home Trends dark green dinner plates in a Fall Thanksgiving tablescape by VFCstyle.com

I love the texture of this rattan charger – also a consignment store find. It’s perfect for Fall and Thanksgiving tablescapes!

Textured brown rattan chargers in a Fall Thanksgiving tablescape by VFCstyle.com

Charger texture in a Fall Thanksgiving tablescape by VFCstyle.com

Edges of the plate stack in a Fall Thanksgiving tablescape by VFCstyle.com

Vintage glassware is by Libbey (also from Goodwill); the neutral napkins have a subtle plaid pattern and were a consignment store find. Napkin rings were Pier 1 clearance a couple of years ago. Flatware is mis-matched vintage silverware collected from a local antique fair.

Dark green swirl glassware by Libbey in a Fall Thanksgiving tablescape by VFCstyle.com

Plaid napkins in a Fall Thanksgiving tablescape by VFCstyle.com

Silk floral napkin rings in a Fall Thanksgiving tablescape by VFCstyle.com

Mismatched vintage silverware in a Fall Thanksgiving tablescape by VFCstyle.com

Here are a few more views around the table…

Overhead view of a Fall Thanksgiving Tablescape by VFCstyle.com

Here’s a view of this table in my single-wide mobile home kitchen. This is my only dining space, so all my tables are set here!

The kitchen at Vintage Floral Cottage, VFCstyle.com

And of course the put-away shot – all done and ready to go back into the cupboards!

Tablescaping elements stacked and ready to be put away, VFCstyle.com

Hope you got some good ideas from this table – here’s an image for Pinterest if you’d like to pin it to your tablescaping board for future inspiration!

A Fall Thanksgiving tablescape in jewel tones and plaids at VFCstyle.com

I’ll be sharing this table for Tablescape Thursday over at Susan’s blog, Between Naps on the Porch!

For daily budget-friendly tablescaping ideas, join my Facebook Group, Thrifty Tablescapers! And, get your FREE Tablescaper’s Checklist so you never miss a detail when planning your tablescapes!

Posted in Tablescapes | 12 Comments

All new Holiday Gift Guide for hostesses and tablescapers – Gift Ideas Under $50

Posted on September 10, 2020 by Janet

(Updated Nov. 15, 2020 – See individual updates below for availability and price changes.)

I know it’s only September and we are still in the midst of Faded Summer… but I think it’s safe to say that in-person holiday shopping is going to be an adventure this year. Because of that, I’m predicting a bottleneck in online shopping as well. So to help you get an early start on gift-giving, I’ve decided to offer my 2020 Holiday Gift Guide for Hostesses and Tablescapers a bit early!

(Note: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase at Amazon.com by following one of my links, it costs you nothing extra but I receive a small commission. Thank you for purchasing through my links!)

If you’ve got someone on your Christmas list who loves to entertain and set pretty tables, I’ve got nine wonderful gift ideas for hostesses and tablescapers all under $50! You might notice that these items would all make wonderful house-warming gifts too! Descriptions are linked directly to the corresponding pages on Amazon for your convenience. Pricing was current as of 9/15/20, and all products except where noted were eligible for Prime shipping as of that date. (Note: I did update pricing and availability on November 15, 2020.)

1. French Country Cottage Inspired Gatherings by Courtney Allison – $31.50 hard cover. (November 15: price reduction! Now $25.47.) If you haven’t been following Courtney’s blog, French Country Cottage, you’ve been missing out! Her photography primarily of scenes and vignettes around her northern California home has resulted in two beautiful coffee table books: Inspired Gatherings shown here, and the original French Country Cottage. I’m a huge FCC/Courtney Allison fan, and I can promise you that Courtney’s books are stunning and inspiring!

French Country Cottage Inspired Gatherings by Courtney Allison – beautifully photographed coffee table book featuring Courtney’s signature style. Photo from French Country Cottage.

2. Buffalo Check cloth napkins – $29.99/set of 12. Red and black napkins in on-trend buffalo check are perfect for a woodland-themed holiday table setting, but there 20 other color combinations waiting for you! Generously-sized, 100% cotton napkins are 20 inches square!

3. Allgala Charger Plates – $32.95/pack of six. These are the “fairytale chargers” I raved about recently, baby blue with gold highlights on the sculpted edges. Made of sturdy acrylic, and about 13 inches wide, they’re the perfect underplate for an elegant table setting! There are other colors (and styles) too – just follow the link to see all the options.

*Allgala textured and gold-embossed chargers come in several fairytale colors! Photo by VFCstyle.com*

4. Sled/Sleigh Chip and Dip – $42.76. (November price reduction! Now $29.95) Metal sled/sleigh two-tier server and white ceramic “chip and dip” dishes make the CUTEST buffet table centerpiece and serving accessory! Measures approximately 14 x 7 x 6 inches.

5. Coal Dust/Snow Flakes Salt & Pepper set – $17.24. (November update: Currently unavailable.) Red and white ceramic salt & pepper set is cute and fanciful! Measures about 4 inches high. Not indicated for Prime shipping at this writing, 9/15/20.

6. Napoleon Bee flatware by Wallace – $22.83/five-piece place setting. Beautiful stainless steel 5-piece flatware set with a sweet bee on each handle. I own four sets of this pattern – they’re perfect for any garden-, botanical-, or nature-themed tablescape!

*Napoleon Bee flatware by Wallace has this beautiful raised bee motif. A five-piece place setting is just $22.83! Photo by VFCstyle.com*

7. Grandpa Gnomes Salt & Pepper set – $14.88. (November price change. Currently $18.88) These guys are seriously adorable! Red and green capped gnomes hold the season’s seasonings with charm and humor! Gnomes measure about 3 inches high.

8. Pfaltzgraff Winterberry Square Serving Platter – $31.48. (November price reduction! Currently $24.50.) This holiday dinnerware pattern remains hugely popular after three decades. It used to fly out of my booth at the antique mall, and I always snapped it up whenever I saw it at a thrift store or auction. Beautiful white background with green and red leaf-and-berry border and solid green edging. Square serving platter measures about 12-1/2 inches wide.

9. Tea for One Teapot and Cup – $29.98. (November update: The snowman edition is currently unavailable, but the peacock and owl versions linked below are still $24.98 each.) A cheerful snowman and other friendly winter characters adorn this “tea for one” teapot and cup set by Bits and Pieces. Measures about 4 inches in diameter and about 5-1/2 inches tall, and comes in a delightful gift box. There are also peacock and owl editions of this unique set available for $24.98 each!

I hope you’ll find this gift guide helpful in getting a jump-start on your holiday shopping. Happy Shopping!

Posted in Holidays | 4 Comments

A fairytale themed tablescape fit for a princess

Posted on September 8, 2020 by Janet

Remember the beautiful baby blue chargers I splurged on recently from Amazon? I’ve been meaning to set a table with them since they arrived, and this past weekend after a long-awaited trip to Goodwill and a peek into the trunk of my car, I finally got to set my table. I’m so excited to share it with you!

(This post contains Affiliate links to Amazon.com. This means if you purchase the product by following my link, it costs you nothing extra but I get a small commission. Thank you for purchasing through my links!)

I felt like these chargers suggested a fairytale theme – like a luncheon that Cinderella herself might attend. I even have a vintage planter in the shape of a fanciful horse and carriage that I was dying to use as the centerpiece.

What I really needed was the perfect dinner plate. This is where my recent trip to Goodwill came in. Now yes, I have at least a hundred dinner plates in my house… I’m sure I could have found four that would have worked very well. Probably something in a Limoges, or possibly a Homer Laughlin. But when I saw “Chelsea” by Royal Prestige on the shelf at Goodwill for $1.49 each, I just knew I’d found the perfect dinner plate for my fairytale tablescape. I mean – look at her!

From here it was a short search through my Limoges to find four coordinating salad plates (oh those gold double edges get me every time!)

And the trunk of my car? Well I had searched my stash for the perfect “floppy flower” napkin rings (because every fairytale includes a castle with a beautiful garden, right?), but I hadn’t found anything in a set of four. Then I remembered the silk floral garland I had bought on another junk jaunt a few weeks ago. Where was it? In the car trunk of course – and voila! Four perfect pink silk roses to be made into napkin rings!

This table was coming together impossibly well. I chose Wallace “Napoleon Bee” flatware because certain princesses are very good about attracting wildlife.

Blue and green glassware with a wave motif on the stem in case a certain little mermaid might come to the table.

And at long last, the absolute perfect table for my “storybook chairs.” I had found and painted these unique vintage dining chairs a few years ago, and did some hand painting/finishing on the details across the backs. I’ve always loved how they turned out – like very old furniture in the illustrations of children’s books.

Well as it happens, they echo almost perfectly the styling of the chargers, so I brought them in off the enclosed porch to serve as “star seating” at the fairytale table.

Here are a few more views around the table.

An image for Pinterest in case you’d like to save my Fairytale tablescape for future ideas.

And of course the “put-away shot,” with all our elements rounded up and ready to go back to their respective places.

Looking for more tablescape inspiration on a budget? Check out my Facebook Group, Thrifty Tablescapers! Our creative members share tablescapes created with vintage, secondhand, hand-me-down, and otherwise budget-friendly tableware!

And, if you are just getting started with tablescaping, click here to get my free Tablescaper’s Checklist – designed to be a resource each time you set a pretty table, so you never miss a detail!

I’m sharing for Tablescape Thursday over at Susan’s blog, Between Naps on the Porch. Click through for more tablescape inspiration!

Posted in Tablescapes | 8 Comments

It’s Not Fall, It’s Faded Summer

Posted on September 2, 2020 by Janet

Although it’s feeling decidedly autumnal here in Iowa this week, IT. IS. NOT. FALL. No, far from it – for we are right now smack dab in the middle of Faded Summer!

You see, August is a month that starts out slow, and with the realization that the end of a long, lazy summer is on the horizon. It ends in a rush of back-to-school – which has its own special craziness in this, the year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For those who enjoy seasonal home decor, this time of year is always a bit topsy-turvy: many folks are ready for Fall, and of course the stores (and our Instagram feeds) are filled with pumpkins and lattes and those sweaters with the too-long sleeves that stretch romantically over our hands wrapped around our favorite coffee cup.

*I swear as soon as I grow my nails out a little better, I’m going to re-stage this familiar photo concept and take the picture with a can of Diet Coke. Photo via Pixabay.*

But as much as I love Fall in all its colorful blaze, I am hanging on to Summer for a few more weeks. I’m celebrating my “unofficial Fifth Season,” Faded Summer!

Get your full, free Guide to Faded Summer here!

Generally, I consider Faded Summer to be the months of August and September. It’s that beautiful period between the heat of summer and the chill of Fall, when the garden flowers begin to turn their muted shades as they prepare to go to seed.

Zinnias – one of Summer’s happiest “faces” in the garden, and no less beautiful as their colors begin to fade. And – on the far right – who says Geranium leaves shouldn’t turn Fall Colors?

Yes, I know: September includes the first calendar day of Fall. But there is plenty of warm weather to come this month, so August and September it is – and depending on my mood, I might just extend it into mid-October!

Recognizing Faded Summer is pretty simple: just step outside! The glow of the summer sun, lower in the sky at this time of year, looks just a little bit different. Flowers are fading, days are noticeably shorter, and a denim jacket might be appropriate for flea market early birds!

*Perfect for early-birding at the outdoor flea market – a faded denim jacket, or a blush pink corduroy shirt.*

Faded Summer is the transition between “Summer Brights” and “Fall Bolds.” It’s the colors found in the garden when the blooms start to shift: the changing hues of dried hydrangeas, of zinnias going to seed, of roses as they hang to dry. Take time to study and appreciate fading blooms if you can – they really teach us that there is stunning beauty at every stage of life.

*Drying faded flowers like this – just hanging in bunches upside down on a vintage window frame – makes for a stunning Faded Summer display!*

I live in a temperate state, where we are blessed to experience all four traditional seasons. And while I know that Winter is necessary if we are to have Spring, as I get older I really dread and dislike Winter overall in spite of its beauty. For me it therefore seems that if I acknowledge Fall too early, I’m ushering in Winter that much sooner as well.

So, more than anything, Faded Summer is the season of my resistance! It begins in August and ends when I decide to make my annual visit to the pumpkin patch – because at that point, I’m ready for Fall too! It’s the season of colors less bright than Summer but no less beautiful in their faded glory. It allows me – it challenges me – to slow down that headlong rush into back-to-school, falling leaves, pumpkin spice, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas… to see and appreciate the fact that fading colors, fading blooms, and fading seasons all offer in turn their own special beauty that deserves not just our notice, but our careful study and keen appreciation.

Won’t you join me in celebrating this beautiful Fifth Season? It’s not Fall… it’s Faded Summer!

Download the free Guide to Faded Summer here!

*In no particular order, some of my favorite Faded Summer colors. Not coincidentally, also pretty much the color palette of my home!*

Here’s an image to pin if you’d like to save my invitation to Faded Summer on Pinterest!

Posted in Faded Summer, Thinky Thoughts | Leave a comment

How to dry hydrangeas

Posted on September 1, 2020 by Janet

One of Summer’s most beautiful flowers – and a favorite during Faded Summer, too! – is the hydrangea! Primarily grown in shrub form (unless trained as a tree), hydrangeas have a multitude of large, fluffy blooms and – especially with the newer varieties – deep green leaves. Shrubs can become quite large and bloom colors range from light blue, purple, and periwinkle to pink (both light and dark), lime green, and white. They are a cottage garden staple!

*Large, fluffy hydrangea blooms – a hardy, long-blooming star in the cottage garden!*
*Photo via Pixabay.*

The neat thing about them – apart from their hardiness and long bloom season – is that the gardener has some control over the bloom color. Amending your soil to be more acidic (with products such as Color Me Blue hydrangea pellets) encourages blooms on the blue and purple side. Soil higher in alkaline produces blooms in the pink range.

(Please note the above is an affiliate link. If you make a purchase by clicking the link, it costs you nothing extra but I do earn a small commission. Thank you for your purchase, if you are so inclined!)

*Hydrangea “Endless Summer – BloomStruck” – petals range from light pink to mauve to purple.*

One of my favorite things to do with hydrangea blooms is to dry them so they can be enjoyed indoors throughout the winter. This process is very simple – the only trick is to harvest them at the right time.

I am tending my first-ever hydrangea bushes this year! As much as I’ve admired this plant over the years, I never had my own until now. I purchased mine on sale at Lowe’s – one blue “Endless Summer” and one pink “Endless Summer BloomStruck.” They’re a little straggly at the moment having lived at the garden center most of the summer, but I’m hoping for more blooms before first frost and looking forward to seeing how they do next year!

The first time I tried drying hydrangeas, I actually used some blooms I found on the curb in my daughter’s college town! The city had cut back some shrubs of the light green “Limelight” variety, and the blooms were in garbage bags lining the street, awaiting pick-up. Much to my daughter’s amusement (I’m sure it was amusement I detected…), I rescued a few of the blooms by tossing them into the trunk of my car.

*Limelight hydrangea blooms literally picked out of garbage bags found on the curb in 2015.*

I used this simple method to dry them, and they lasted over a year – going from light green to light brown – before they became too brittle and began to fall apart if I moved them.

*Lily is hiding behind the blooms as they dry.*

Here’s how to dry hydrangea blooms for months of ongoing beauty!

1. Harvest hydrangea blooms by cutting them from the shrubs beginning around late August into late September, when they’ve started to dry a bit naturally and have a slight papery texture, but before first frost. They will also begin to change color around this time, so you should get some interesting variety in hues. If you find that your blooms simply wilt a few days after they’ve been cut, or the petals curl as they dry, chances are they were harvested a touch too early.

*Fall is the best time to harvest hydrangea blooms for drying – they’ll have variegated hues and have a slight papery texture when it’s time to cut them.*

2. Cut stems to an appropriate length for your vase, and carefully cut away all the leaves. You can leave a pair of leaves at the top if you like for greenery, but you’ll need to clip them off later after they wither. Make sure each stem has a clean, angled cut at the bottom.

*Carefully cut away leaves from the stems, and also make sure there is a clean angled cut at the bottom of each stem.*

3. Dry the blooms by filling your vase with water and putting your stems in, making sure they all reach the water. Then just let the water evaporate from the vase gradually – when it’s gone, your blooms should feel dry and papery. You don’t even have to replenish the water!

*Because of their growth habit on the shrub, hydrangea stems are rarely straight. Just put them in water and let the water evaporate over time – no need to replenish it.*

4. Enjoy your blooms in a pretty vase, placed where you can see it for a long time. Your blooms will continue to dry naturally and will look beautiful for many weeks or even months!