Black & White Spring Tablescape

Welcome to another Tablescape Tuesday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. Be sure to stop by her blog to see who is all participating this week. Be sure to visit everyone & leave a comment if you see something you like. You know how us bloggers all love our comments. So spread the love!!!

This week I did a simple tablescape for spring. Now this is not your typical spring tablescape as I have used black & white dishes (well it's really cream, but black & white sounds better than black & cream). But with a touch of green & some birdies, it says "Spring" to me.
I love participating in this meme as it gives me a reason to decorate my table differently each week. My family just rolls their eyes though when I change it up. Since they are all "men", they just don't understand. They are happy to just eat off of paper plates. But I know you woman understand the need to tablescape. Aren't I right?
The black & white damask plates came from Marshall's a couple of months ago. I only bought the salad plates (I'm on a tight budget and that was all I could justify). The cream dinner plates came from Ross on clearance for $1.99 each. They only had the dinner plates. The placemats also came from Ross. I thought they would match my new salad plates just right.
For my centerpiece I used my iron candelabra. I bought this at a trade show in Vegas about 5 years ago. A friend of mine has a store & invited me to go with her to a trade show. I purchased a bunch of iron pieces from a woman on the last day. She didn't want to ship them back home, so I got the iron pieces for near next to nothing. I love getting deals. I put it on top of one of my latest thrift store finds, a vintage book about gardens. Perfect book for spring. A small berry wreath winds it way around the bottom of the candelabra. The finishing touch are my 2 cement birdies.
Here is a close up of one of the birdies. I purchased 4 of these birds last year from a catalog called ABC Distributing. I think they were $4.95 a pair. I've used them inside & out. I love them. I think I like them more than my Target birdies Harold & Maude (but don't tell them).
Here's a closeup of the book. It is called America's Garden Book. I paid $3.00 for this. More than I wanted to pay, but I loved the title & the color of the book, so I splurged.

I've again used my Libby goblets from Walmart. I only have a couple of sets of goblets, so you will see them quite often in my tablescapes. Since we don't drink wine, I only use goblets for water, or maybe Pepsi (the favorite drink of my household). For holidays we are known to have Martinelli's sparkling cider. But that is only when we want to get wild. lol.
Here is a closeup of the plates. The damask salad plates are made by Royal Stafford in England. I've seen quite a few of your tablescapes using these plates. So it is your fault I had to go out & buy them. At least that is the excuse I'm giving my hubby. I saw them each time I went to Marshall's & always talked myself out of them. Then one day I could not stand leaving them there anymore, they were calling my name, I had to buy them. I have no will power. That is why I am a dishaholic.
I tucked a green napkin in between the salad plate & the dinner plate. The napkins I got on clearance from Walmart a few months back. I love the green with the black & white .
Here are my Ross dinner plates. They are made by Coventry in China. I love the design around the edge. I wish I could have found other pieces to this. I was only able to pick up 4 dinner plates. The silverware is my unknown make clearance set from Marshall's. I really love this set. It is quite heavy.
The berry candle ring came from Michael's last year. I think they had them again this year though. I'm sure I got it on clearance or for at least 40% off. I try not to buy anything from Michael's unless I am getting it on sale.


And there you have my simple spring tablescape. I hope you liked it.

Spring, we miss thee

Today is Wednesday & do you know what that means? It's hump day, What's on your Wall Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday & to top it all off, it's Earth Day too. Wowza!!! This day has a lot to live up to. So I figured I would talk about the weather today.

I live in southern California where we have been experiencing a heat wave. Can you say "Global Warming"? For the past 3 or 4 days the temps have been in the high 90's to low 100's. That is pretty hot for April. That's more like summer temps, not spring temps. Where did spring go? I want spring back!!!! But you know what, this is pretty normal for southern California. We don't really get much spring weather here (at least where I live). We usually go straight from winter to summer & vice a versa. So I wouldn't call it "Global Warming". I would just call it "Normal".

So for What's on your wall Wednesday & Outdoor Wednesday, I thought I would show you a pic of our outdoor thermometer which is on the wall (imagine that). I took this photo last night at 6:07pm. Notice the temp? It says it was about 97 degrees at 6pm. Can you imagine what the temp was at noon? Luckily at noon I was in an air conditioned office at work. Not that I was lucky to be at work, only that we have air conditioning. Wait a minute, I am lucky to have a job in this day & age, so stop being an ingrate Kim & thank God you have a job!!!! Ok, Ok, I repent, I am lucky I have a job to go to & I am doubly lucky that it has air conditioning. Is that better? Is all forgiven? (I better knock on wood for extra measure too.)

I got this thermometer at the thrift store a couple of summers ago for I think $5.00. Works pretty good.

Luckily the heat wave is ending today. It is only suppose to be in the 80's today. Then by the weekend we are suppose to be below normal in temp, back to the high 60's. I know, I know, those of you that are still experiencing winter are thinking that I am an ingrate for complaining about warm weather. But I am a woman, I need something to whine about. So don't take that away from me. I'd be whining if it were too cold as well.

While I was out in the backyard last night I noticed something else on my wall so I took a pic. I figure it qualifies for "What's on your wall Wednesday" & "Outdoor Wednesday" as it was on the wall & it was outdoors.
We have a lot of lizards at our house. Usually they hang out on the retaining wall, but this one was on the wall of the house, so I hurried up to get a pic before he scurried off. Isn't he cute? Well at least for a lizard?

So there you go. I don't have much on my backyard walls. I do have a lion fountain but it was too dirty to take a photo. I kind of showed it in my Target birdies on holiday post, you can find it here.

Now be sure to visit Barb at Grits and Glamour to see all the other participants in "What's on your wall Wednesday".
And then stop by Susan at A Southern Daydreamer to see all the participants in "Outdoor Wednesday".
Oh, have a Happy Earth Day too!!!

Where or where did my little birdies go?

By now I'm sure you've heard about the mass exodus of the Target birds salt & pepper shakers. It was almost as big as the Jews exodus out of Egypt with Moses, but not quite. If you didn't hear about it, you need to hurry on over to Susan's at Between Naps on the porch to find out all about it and to see where everyone's birdies went to.

Well my little birdies Harold & Maude just got back. That is why I am late in posting, they got delayed on their flight back home so they barely walked in the door. We hurried up & downloaded their photos to share with all of you.

So I will hand off my post to them so they can share all their fun adventures with you.

Hello everyone out there in blogland. This is Harold here. Glad to finally meet you all. Kim asked me & Maude, or should it be Maude & I, anyways, she asked us to tell you what we did when we were on our little vacation, or holiday.

First off, we were just sitting on the table like we normally do when we got the word that all the Target birdies were taking a holiday. A holiday is something we haven't been on in a real long time. But where should be go for our holiday? Maude said "We should take a trip around the world!". That was perfect. Since we couldn't make up our minds as to where to go, we might as well see everything. Well everything that we could fit into the little time we were away.

So we hitched a ride with Teddy. He was already all packed & ready to leave. He said he had room in his suitcase for us, so Maude & I packed up & away we went.
Our first stop was Las Vegas. Teddy had a convention there. So while Teddy was busy at his meetings, Maude & I decided to do a little gambling.

Maude was my lucky charm. We hit the big jackpot & won enough money so that we could travel around the world. "Where to next?" I asked Maude. She said, "How about Venice? I've always wanted to ride in a gondola." So Venice it was. We said goodbye to Teddy in Vegas (he lost all his money gambling so he wasn't able to continue on with us).

Next stop, Venice. Here is Maude & I on our gondola ride in Venice Italy. It was so romantic. Just what the doctor ordered. Since I'm a pretty good singer, we didn't need the gondelier to sing to us, so I kicked him off the gondola to give Maude & me some privacy. Kim had told me how romantic Venice is & she was right. Everyone should go to Venice & ride a gondola. And if you can't get to Venice, you can ride a gondola in Vegas too. But Venice is soooo much better.
Next Maude wanted to go to Paris. Since we were in a romantic mood, what place is more romantic than Paris? So off we flew to Paris, the city of lights. Our favorite spot in Paris was the Eiffel Tower. There's one in Vegas too, but the real one in Paris is a lot bigger & has better views. Plus it's Paris!!! No comparison!
While in Paris we decided to see the Paris Opera House. Maude loves the musical Phantom of the Opera & wanted to see where the story was suppose to be about. We even got to play the phantom's organ. But we never saw or heard the phantom. Maude was a little dissapointed.
After Paris we went to London. Here we are visiting Big Ben. We went to visit the Queen, but she wasn't at home.
Maude next wanted to go to Transylvania to see if we could see Dracula. She loves Dracula and vampires. Here we are at Count Dracula's castle. We couldn't find Dracula, so Maude wanted our picture taken with one of his gargoyles. If you can't have Dracula, I guess a gargoyle will have to do.
Next we went to Budapest as Maude had heard about the famous Turkish baths. A little too old & grungy for me. But Maude felt rejuvinated afterwards. And that is what is most important.
By this time Maude had seen most everything she wanted to see in Europe. She was a little cold & wanted some warmer weather. So we stopped off on a deserted island. It was deserted all right. There was no living thing on this island. Luckily we found this piece of driftwood so we had some shelter for the night. We got off this island as fast as we could the next day. Deserted islands aren't all their cracked up to be.

Maude said she wanted to see some wild animals. So we stopped off in Africa to go on a safari. Wow! Seeing the animals in their natural habitats was amazing. We got a little too close to a lion during our safari (see below). But it was totally worth it as we got such a cool photo. I'm just glad we weren't dinner for him. You might not want to try this one yourself, we had some other birdies on the safari with us who did become supper. Just glad it was them & not us. Is that selfish?
After Africa we decided to give the Carribean a try. Found an island with people, a nice hotel with a nice pool. We met Rex while hanging out at the pool. Rex is the local celebrity. We lived the high life while hanging with Rex. We got kind of bored hanging out at the pool and beaches while in the Caribbean so Rex suggested we go to the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico & see the Mayan ruins. So off we flew. Here we are with one of the artifacts found there. Is that statue sticking his tounge out at us?

Here we are climbing up the steps of the Pyramid Kukulcan at Chichen Itza. It is the most visited ruin on the Yucatan penisula.
During the Spring and Fall equinoxes, (March 21 & Sept 21) the setting sun creates shadows down the steps of the pyramid that resemble a snake descending. This is a popular event to see and usually draws big crowds.
Next we decided to fly to Japan. Here we found pachinko machines to play. They were quite fun & entertaining. It was almost like we were back in Vegas playing on the slot machines.

By this time in our holiday we were ready to head back to the states. We stopped off in Florida so we could swim with the dolphins.
Tried some white water rafting on the Colorado river while visiting the Grand Canyon.

Stayed in a haunted house down in Louisiana. Didn't see any ghosts though. Big disappointment. Maude was happy, she doesn't like ghosts (unless it's the Phantom of the opera).


And finally we arrived back home. Stopped off in the front yard to see if the strawberries had grown while we were away. Nope. Looks like no strawberries yet. Too bad, we love strawberry smoothies. We are just glad that we decided to fly instead of taking the boat we were originally booked on. Looks like Christopher Columbus was wrong. The world is flat!!!
Oh well, Maude & I are happy to be home. There's no place like home. The end!

And since most of the photos were taken in my backyard, I am also linking up with Outdoor Wednesday hosted by Susan at A Southern Daydreamer. Be sure to visit her blog & see all the participants there as well.

Welcome Spring Tablescape

It's play day again. And what is play day? Why of course it's Tablescape Thursday. The day we get to play with all our dishes & accessories to make beautiful tablescapes. This is fast becoming my favorite day of the week. And I am not alone. As you will find out if you go to Between Naps on the Porch. Susan has a fabulous Easter table this week and you will also find links to all the other participants.

Well I didn't do my planning very well. For the past 2 weeks I have posted my Easter tablescapes. I guess I should have saved one of them for this week. Oh well. But we are not having Easter at my house this year. We are going down to San Diego to my parents house. I'm a little bummed as I was looking forward to setting up my Easter tablescapes for family. Maybe next year.

But never fear, I still have a spring tablescape for you. And I am excited about this weeks offering. I feel this is the best one I have put together. I hope that you feel the same.

This week we are back in my living room dining area. All the furniture in this room is Mission style. It was my husband's furniture before we got married. Even though it wouldn't be my first choice (I'm more of a Shabby Chic girl), I have learned to love it.

For my centerpiece I hunted around my house for various items I could use. The pineapple concrete finials (I guess that is what you would call them. I asked my hubby what he would call them & he said "ugly". Men!) came from my backyard. The larger one originally came from Home Goods a few years back. The smaller one came from Marshall's a couple of months ago. The piller candlestick was a thrift store find & a leftover from our wedding. Two of the green balls came from Michael's on clearance & the one in front came from the Dollar Tree. And of course my Target birdie S&P. They have now flown the coop since I took these photos. But don't worry, I'm sure they will be back next week on 4/15 just in time for Susan's Target Birds on Holiday extravaganza. And then we will find out what they have been up to on their little holiday.
I've used my JC Penney Home Collection clearance plates.

My napkins were a clearance find at WalMart. For my napkin rings I used drapery clip rings & attached a silk gerber daisy flower (from a dollar store) & a piece of blue organza ribbon (the candle holders from Dollar Tree came tied up with this ribbon).
I set up my table on a Saturday & took my photos during the day this time. They turned out so much better. See what happens when I actually plan ahead? I get better results.
I found the blue candle holders at the Dollar Tree. The placemats are from Marshall's on clearance. The silverware is my everyday set by Oneida. The pattern is Michaelangelo. I've again used my Libby goblets from WalMart.


One final look at my table. I just love how this table turned out.
Well I hope you enjoyed my spring tablescape this week. And I hope that each of you have a wonderful Easter (if you celebrate). I will be enjoying mine with my most of my family. Only one of my brothers & his kids won't be attending (they live out of state). But I will get to see my parents, both my sisters and one of my brothers and their families. Family is one the most important things to me, so I will be enjoying getting to spend time with mine. I will even get to see my grandson. Yipee!!

Can't wait until next Wednesday to see what my Target birdies have been up to. I miss them already.