A Beachy Setting

It has been a whirlwind of a summer.  We have been to the beach for three weeks, and I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to share our vacation with family and friends.  Even though I am sad that the summer is coming to a close, I have great memories of fun times!  The weather continues to be hot through October, so hopefully we will get back there soon.

In the meantime, a beach tablescape will do.  It reminds me of eating delicious seafood, wading in the cool ocean, feeling the sun's warmth, and curling my toes in the sand.

I used a white and cream-colored runner as a base, and added a silver boat-shaped dish as the centerpiece, filled with an assortment of shells and votives.

I wrapped two cylinder vases with rope, and used these for my "beachy" arrangements.

A cream basket-weave design plate held my shell dishes which are tinted blue with beige.

Instead of using busy napkins with shell-design, I decided on plain white ones, with beautiful floral cut work.

The colors and textures of the shells are beautiful.

Starfish, shell, and votive holder add to the beachy feel.

A friend of mine gave me these great wine glasses that have a silver base with shells and a lobster.  The beverage stem has a silver rim.

A silver shell napkin ring holds the napkins in place.

Another close-up of the lobster wine glass.

Using battery-operated votives in the boat centerpiece keeps me from worrying about fire while entertaining.

The shell placecard holders were also a gift from my cousin.  Thank you!!

Your place is ready!  She-crab soup??

I hope you have enjoyed your summer.  Thank you for visiting with me today!

I also want to send my condolences to the families of the victims of the WDBJ shooting near Roanoke.  Alison Parker went to JMU, the same university as my daughter, and Adam Ward attended VA Tech, the university my son attends.  My heart aches for these families' loss.  Please pray for them!

--Betsy

A Casual Wedding Celebration

Can you believe that May is upon us?  I, for one, can't wait... as mild as March was, it seems April has been on the chilly side.  I have stayed busy, and I have been having so much fun, the time has just flown by.  For starters, dear friends of ours who now live in England came for a visit.  It was wonderful to see them, and to see their youngest daughter, who was four, I believe, when they moved away.  They were here over spring break visiting colleges!  Secondly, my brother and his girlfriend of hmm, five years? decided to get married.  They both had been previously divorced, and didn't want any memories of their former lives at the service.  So they went to a small, country church with just the two of them and the minister, and tied the knot.  Well, you know I couldn't let that go by without some sort of celebration.  So, sort of at the spur of the moment, we had a party.  The weather cooperated, and we had family and a few of their friends over for a celebration.  At their request, we kept it very casual. 

Since they are planning to live in Virginia Beach, and possibly North Myrtle Beach at some point in time, we decided to go with a beachy theme. 

Tulips greeted guests as they entered the back yard.

We splashed a few shells around ...

and used lots of yellow and white flowers on the tables.

The runners reminded me of beachy awnings or umbrellas.

The party got us motivated to get things ready for the season, so the pool was opened early, and everything is now ready to go!

Our cozy outdoor "living room"--ready for guests!!

The cake table--ready for the cake and champagne (please use your imagination, it's hard to get pictures at the last minute! lol)

Now, this is my kind of cake!!

Wish I could take credit for this beauty.  It was made by the folks at Cakes by Graham in Richmond.  The top and bottom layer were butter pound cake and the middle was chocolate.  It was not only beautiful, but oh so delicious!!  

This tablecloth was purchased recently at an estate sale, it is the perfect size for the little bistro table on our little deck.

We also had an assortment of brownies.  Each little umbrella identified the flavor.

As I said, this was a casual affair, so it was bbq, baked beans, slaw, mac n cheese, an edible fruit arrangement, chips, and vegetable tray.  

This picture was snapped before we "arranged" the food items on the buffet table.  Again, we kept it very casual.  Things got quite hectic in the last 30 minutes or so before the party began. 

We carried the theme inside as well, on the kitchen table, and ...

on the dining room table.

We had a great time, and it was really nice to finally meet some of my sister-in-law's family.  I could not have pulled this off at the last minute if it hadn't been for two people--my husband and my cousin, Pat.  Thanks to both of you for pitching in and helping me!!  

Thanks for visiting with me today, come back soon!!

A Beachy Setting

We are headed back to the beach for a few days, so as I'm thinking about getting my things ready to go, I decided to do a quick beachy scape for this week.  The summer has flown by, it seems, but I'm not quite ready to give it up.  We will spend a few days at North Myrtle enjoying the company of family, specifically our son, who is headed to college in a little over a week.

I love this runner from Pottery Barn.  It was the last one they had, and I couldn't resist.

The place setting consisted of woven chargers from Target, Gibson white plate, and these fun luncheon-sized plates with coral and shells.  I found them at an antique mall, and they are made in Italy.  I love their shape!  The shell bowls were purchased at GW. 

On one side, I used a large glass shell with smaller glass shells inside adorned with a starfish and a hurricane globe with sand, shells, and candle.

On the other side, I used a rattan candleholder, and coral on a stand.  Can't remember where they were purchased, probably TJ Maxx.

I found these cute little votives at Michaels last year.

This large shell came from Pottery Barn years ago.  I added small pebbles, shells, and votives.

Stems were purchased at Tuesday Morning.

Just a few more, at night...

Have a great week!  Thanks for visiting with me, I hope to visit with you soon.  I appreciate your kind comments!!

A Silver Sea Setting

According to the news, most of the country is experiencing a heat wave.  Now, I'm not complaining about the heat, I prefer summer to winter any day.  But it can get downright uncomfortable out there, so today we are inside with cool silvers and blues. 

The mirrored chargers remind me of the glassy waters of the ocean.  The runner is a Pottery Barn purchase.  The cool blue color work well with the napkins I purchased a while back at the beach.

The plates were purchased at the beach Home Goods store, and have a faint tint of blue. 

The shell placecard holders were purchased at the local antique mall.

The centerpiece is a silver coral candleholder, with silver pillars tied with ribbon and pearls.  Silver shells are scattered on the "sea" runner.

The silver bottles are another Home Goods purchase, and have different shell toppers.

I used my silver goblets, which were my mom's and a crystal iced beverage with a silver rim.  You can also see the silver goblets used here.

Another silver shell candleholder with a silver pillar, silver shell napkin rings...

and lots of silver shells along with silver mercury glass votives.

Another view

As night approaches,

and the sun goes down,

a quiet calm settles on the ocean~

Nocturnal beauty, with only a faint breeze to stir the waters,

the moon, quietly rising in an inky black sky

highlights the crest of each tranquil wave.

As we sit down, we give thanks for the beauty and serenity of nature

and all the treasures of the sea.

Thanks for visiting with me, hope you'll come back soon!!  I appreciate your kind comments.