I wandered around Pier One and a few other stores looking for tablescape inspiration. I had it in my mind, for my mom’s birthday dinner I wanted a couple new runners for the table to run horizontally instead of vertically. But, the problem with my idea was the price point. Table runners average between $25-$35 dollars a piece. So, in order to pull off the look I wanted, I’d have to drop around $60. Not in my budget. But, I always find, that “being broke, inspires creativity.” I hit JoAnne’s Fabric store, hoping for something to inspire me. Look what I found!
Craft stores and fabric stores are carrying large spools of “ribbon” for about $10. I saw in AC Moore, they used these spools of ribbons to create inexpensive wreaths. But, my ideas jumped out at me. This spool of ribbon would become table runners! It was a perfect color to go with the flowers I had bought, the late summer theme and had small threads of gold running through it for a little bling. I was able to get two “runners” out of one spool.
Then I laid a bamboo runner, I already owned, vertically across the two new ribbon runners. I love to build my tablescaping in layers with a lot of textures and colors.
See these chargers? They are actually bamboo, eco friendly, disposable plates. But, guess what? I’ve been using them as chargers for about 2 years! I love the natural wood texture and I think I bought a pack of 12 for about $5 (at a yard sale…someone had a huge stash of unopened packs.)
On top of the chargers, I placed my blue and white dinner dishes. My mother in law picked these plates up at Marshalls. No two patterns are the same. (Just how I like it!)
The other thing I love to do for table decor, is place flowers in unsuspecting containers. These are antique sugar and tea containers. They are both a little chipped, one is missing it’s lid, but I love how they look on the table. I bought the flowers at Trader Joe’s for about $10.
I picked up the green in the leaves of the flowers and added my apple green napkins from Pottery Barn, that I picked up in the clearance section for about $2 a piece.
Now, when I got those napkins on clearance, they only had 6 and we were seating 8 this evening, so I added two different colored napkins and placed them at either end of the table. One of those place settings was for my mom. My 14 year old son made these name cards. My mom is known by her drama students as The Queen.
On top of the bamboo runner, I added these newspaper place mats I picked up in a market in Manila, Philippines, for about $.25 a piece. Then I placed my hurricane candle holders on top, filled with a collection of wine corks we’ve been saving for years. The vintage gold glasses were given to me by Terrill when she moved out of state with her family.
My personal tip for tablescaping, is use lots of layers and textures…oh, and don’t be afraid of using color. What are your tips for setting a beautiful table?
