RE-ceiving guests: Outdoor Dinner Party

GIRL'S NIGHT UNDER THE STARS.  Last Fall, I had my book club over for dinner outside in the cabana.  We all contributed to the meal.  My contributions were drinks and appetizers.  Sorry, I didn't take pictures of everything, but here's the place setting. 

BURLAP & LINEN.  I am mildly obsessed with burlap and I have been for years.  My husband doesn't get it, but I love how burlap adds an earthy quality to any setting.  I used it above over the white linen table cloth.  For my last birthday, I asked my husband to buy me succulents instead of the rose bouquet he normally gets me.  I am into succulents right now.  I like their shape and color.  Plus, it was very practical because they will last awhile (fingers crossed) whereas cut roses would have died in a week. 

OPPOSITE VIEW.  I bought gray wicker kooboo chairs at World Market on a tip from Joni at Cote De Texas' blog.  I also found these great gray wicker outdoor trays online.  Restoration Hardware had some, but for much more, plus the sizes I saw were too large for my setting.  I am very happy with both the wicker chairs and the wicker trays as purchases.

FLOWERS & TWINE.  I placed the white napkins in napkin rings I made from paper towel holders.  I cut the paper towel holders into 1 inch rings and wrapped twine around them and secured it with hot glue.  To glam it up a bit but still stay with the outdoor theme,  you can tuck fresh flowers or a single bloom into the napkin ring as I did above.  Simple flowers will do fine for this. 

CONTRAST.  I pulled out my silver knife rests for the party.  They, along with the sterling silver, were a nice contrast to the simple natural elements (burlap, succulents, wicker, pebbles) on the table.

DOLLAR STORE CRAFT.  Between the succulents, I placed the above candles.  The glass containers, the twine, pebbles and candles are from the Dollar Store. 

GIFTS.  My girlfriends admired the candles and asked me where I got them.  When I told them I made them, they asked if I would make some for them and I did so.  I gave them out as Christmas gifts along with tamales I helped make this year. (See: RE-ceiving-guests: A Tamalada & a Tamale Recipe )  I believe they were very happy with them.  I used them on a RUSTIC CHRISTMAS MANTEL this year to hold nuts and I already have another table setting where I plan on using them.

SUCCULENTS.  I LOVE them individually or in groups. They are so interesting looking.  They were the perfect low-key element I wanted for the center of this very laid back evening.  I wanted the setting to feel like a treat, but still very relaxed. 

NAPKIN RING.  I plan on using the napkin rings for another setting soon.  I already used them also for a Western Table setting.  They have a lot of versatility and are very easy to make.   Plus, they are basically a few pennies each because the base is a recycled material (paper towel holder) and $1 worth of twine would probably make 20.

EVERYDAY SERVICE.  I used my every day crystal, Mikasa French Country for the dinner. I also used white ironstone plates I bought at Target.  I wanted it to be a casual evening, but I pulled out the sterling because I felt the table needed some elegance to give it a little drama.  It seemed like an easy addition and cost me nothing.  Plus, it seems whimsical to use something formal outside in a casual setting which I like.

CHEESE PLATTER.  I bought these cute chalkboard picks at World Market for the cheese tray.  I am sure someone could make them, but these were only $5 and they are on white porcelain so it hardly seems worth making them.  I like to put out a cheese ball and 3 cheeses, walnuts, cranberries, crackers and a sweet sauce on a cheese tray.  My book club friends and I are cheese lovers. Brie especially disappears whenever anyone offers it. 

REFINISHED TABLE. The table is a $100 Craigslist find that I restained.  I will do a post on that project  later.

BEVERAGE TUB.  I realized I needed a drink tub for the cabana. I found a red one on mega sale at Lowe's and spray painted it green to match some plastic ware I am using outside.  I bought the stand from World Market, also on sale. I tied a bottle opener to the side of the tub with a green and white polka dot ribbon to keep it handy for guests.

LONG VIEW.  This picture makes me realize how much I need an outdoor rug.  It also makes me grin about the mirror. I got it at a 50% sale at Hobby Lobby.  I wanted to add decorative elements to the cabana to make it feel more like a room and a mirror was my first idea. I think it works well.

STORAGE. I may get something different, but for now I am storing entertaining supplies in Pottery Barn baskets  that use to be in our family room  in a tall black metal case.  It is a work in progress but for this dinner party, it worked fine.

WRITTEN BY ELDAROSE

If you would like to see my Backyard Remodel progress click   HERE

Linking this post to:

Cuisine Kathleen
http://www.cuisinekathleen.com/2012/04/tweet-tweet-happy-earth-day-let-dish-5.html

Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll thru life
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See more Tablescapes HERE

RE-ceiving Guests: Green & Silver Christmas Table

Normally I do a red, green & gold Christmas table, but this year, I really wanted to do a green & silver one. I've seen that color combination a lot lately and I really like it. However, I didn't want to spend too much on a look that I might decide is "out" next year.  I saw some silver chargers for $1 at Wal-Mart & got some.  But, I still needed plates. My formal china is pink & gold mostly & my everyday is either blue & white toile or off-white ironstone.  I thought I needed a crisp white for the look I wanted so I decided to pull out my glass plates.   Alone they were too plain & after some debating, I decided I would basically modge-podge some holiday tissue paper on the plates to go with the decor.   I found pretty silver & white tissue paper for $2 (it would have been enough for 8 plates) and used it above.  The table cloth came from a daybed cover in my old house. The daybed is now outside, so I decided to repurpose the cover as a tablecloth.

If you remember my guest room in my previous post, RE-modeling: My First Home then you may recall the daybed I had in there.  Yesterday's bed cover in my old house becomes a Christmas table cloth in my new house this year.

The greenery was free. When we bought our tree, they had a pile of tree shavings for free and we grabbed a bunch.   I know Home Depot, Lowe's & most private, smaller tree lots I've been to, have had this set up. Whatever people take means less clean up for the folks at the tree lot.  I like to take quite a bit and I spread the greenery all over the house. The green & silver ribbon are old. I bought the green ribbon for a project and had it left over. The silver ribbon is left over from a wrapped gift.

The silver candlesticks I happen to have.  I also had silver tapered candles. I didn't have silver candles for the other candlesticks holders.  I considered wrapping beige candles with doilies painted silver but decided it would be easier to undo a beeswax candle I made from a kit, cut it in half and then undid some of it to wrap around a smaller candle to make a third one.   With that I had enough candles for the holders.

The crystal ball ornaments are from Michael's. I got them about 8 years ago. The brooch is costume jewelry I got for my daughter to play dress up.  I decided to pin the ribbon with it, to add something different to the centerpiece.  I think it is nice to do something just a little off/different for a centerpiece.  It sparks conversation.

Not needed, but I like all my Christmas centerpieces to have something Christian to them, so I added a Waterford Cross ornament we had.  I threaded the green ribbon around it and tied it to the center candle.  I figured the crystal would add more sparkle and work with the rest of the centerpiece.

White napkins held in silver angel napkin holders rest on the glass plates I altered with Christmas tissue paper.  Since the chargers were $1, the tablecloth was repurposed from my old daybed cover & the plates were made holiday table ready with tissue paper, for $1 and some change per setting, I got a whole new look to my Christmas table this year.

I used spray adhesive. I have Elmers and 3M brand. I don't have a preference.  By the way, if you don't own any spray adhesive, I recommend buying some for general household use.  It creates a smooth layer of adhesive and is a lot easier and neater to deal with than glue or modge podge.  Don't get me wrong, I own glue & modge podge, too, and they have their uses, but sometimes a quick adhesive spray works just fine, like here, where glue would have globbed and I would have had to spread it out and gotten my hands dirty.
 

After I sprayed the adhesive, I applied the shiny side of the tissue paper so it would show thru the glass and placed it gently on the plate.  I then smoothed out the tissue paper, rubbing the paper a bit to get out wrinkles and air pockets. There will be some wrinkles, but they are not noticeable so I wouldn't worry about it.   With the paper firmly in place, cut off the excess with some scissors.   I bought my glass plates many years ago at Garden Ridge pottery, but most Dollar Stores carry them.  They are handy because they fit so many different themes.  And if you adhere decorative tissue paper or use decorative paint on them, you can customize them for your event which can be really nice.  Lastly, I should  mention if you use adhesive to put tissue paper on the glass plate as I did,  then you should know the paper will come off when you wash the plates.  Since tissue paper is so cheap, I think $2-$3 for a new table look is a good deal.

If you want to see more Christmas projects I've done this year in our new house, you can now see them HERE
And if you want to see more of what our old house looked like, you can see it HERE.

WRITTEN BY ELDAROSE