Shell Jewelry to Match my Tablescape!

An early birthday present from my Mom - a necklace, bracelet and earrings that match my seaside tablescape! And I found the perfect silk top that perfectly matches the colors in the necklace. Now I just have to schedule a dinner party and plan a seaside menu.

 

Bicycling on the Beach

I just finished my latest tablescape that I’m calling, “Bicycling on the Beach.” The whole table idea started when I spotted three painted metal bicycles at Big Lots a few weeks ago - the bicycles just made me think of beaches! I’m still working on taking photographs so I’ll just post this one that I took with Instagram.

I ran around town to pull together the tabletop accessories. I already owned all the plates and chargers - I just had to dig them out of storage in various rooms around the house. The table is a combination of purchases from Kohl’s, Big Lots, TJ Maxx, Michael’s and Pier One. I love the turtles - they’re supposed to be tea lights but I turned them into salt cellars and made sure they all pointed  in different directions so it would look like they were crawling off to the ocean.

Tablescape photographs

I posted some photographs of my Christmas 2011 dinner party tablescape - they are under the tablescape tab above.  Here’s a sneak peak:

Furoshiki-Wrapped Bento Box Tablescape

My first experience with a bento box was at a pool-side lunch at the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Fla.  I fell in love with the idea, so after we returned from our trip I got on-line to find out more about these Japanese lunch boxes.  I found a listing on E-bay for some lidded boxes that are black on the outside with a red-lacquer, removable, divided tray on the inside and bought eight boxes to have at home to use for dinner parties.

During my research I discovered that the Japanese would use the bento box as a lunch box and would carry it to work wrapped in a furoshiki.  A furoshiki is typically a square piece of cloth that is wrapped around the bento box with a knot tied on the top to use as a handle. 

I used four of my bento boxes and wrapped them in a square piece of black sheer fabric.  I pushed chopsticks into the knot on the top, and added accessories to create a “Furoshiki-Wrapped Bento Box Tablescape” for a Japanese-style dinner on our sunporch.