We hosted my parents along with my brothers and their families for Mother's Day. Family get-togethers are always loud and rambunctious at our house, to say the very least. And this one was no different! I decided to make it all about the mothers - mine, my sisters-in-law and me. The men and the boys just got to tag along!
Last Mother's Day, I went all out and had a very feminine theme. You can read all about it here. Below is a quick look back at my tablescape. I chose to use my wedding china along with Tiffany-inspired diamonds and robin's egg blue accents.
This year, I went in the opposite direction. I think it turned out to be casually elegant and very beautiful, but it is a definite stark contrast to last year. Here's a wide view of my table.
I began the planning with my menu on Friday. I wanted to do something that I could start the night before and put into crockpots so there would be less to do at the last minute. Jewell has discovered seafood (bless our wallet's heart!!) and I've been promising to make her etouffee like she gets at The Shrimp Basket. So, I planned the menu of shrimp and sausage etouffee, coleslaw, corn on the cob and hushpuppies. A light lemon cake rounded out our meal. I'll share all these recipes later this week.
Since we were going to be eating a "soup", I knew I wanted to use my soup crocks. I found these on sale about ten years ago at a kitchen outlet store. I think they were $5 a box for four covered crocks and a bean pot. You know me, I bought several boxes and gave sets to mama and my SILs. They're a little more casual, so I started digging around in my dish pile to find something that would work with them.
The plates underneath came from Carolina Pottery. The dinner plates were $1.49 each and the salad plates were .99 cents each! I got them when we were at the beach celebrating our 1st anniversary...14 years ago! I ran them through the dishwasher Friday since they haven't been used lately. When Gerald was unloading them, he said, "I've never seen these!" I assured him we have used them a few times. I bought them because I thought they were very "Southern" and they matched the walls in my dining room. And, oh yeah, they were cheap!
Rounding out the placesettings are some things you've seen before. The placemats last made an appearance at Mama's Orient Express birthday dinner. The green highball glasses are "Sweet Swirl" by Noritake. We got these as wedding gifts. The clear coffee mugs are "Cheap" by Dollar Tree! I bought these one winter. I love to drink hot chocolate with whipped cream out of them. I pulled them out since I don't have coffee mugs to match the plates. The flatware is my everyday pattern, "Austin" by Yamazaki.
Saturday afternoon, I had some time to myself so I went to Hobby Lobby and walked around, just to see what I might find. I knew I planned on using the dishes and placemats above, but I didn't know what I was going to use for a tablecloth. I have an off-white cotton tablecloth that matches the napkins above but I thought it was too stark against the darker dinnerware. I stopped in the fabric department and found two perfect prints - on clearance!
The black floral reminded me of the flowers on the plates. The black also repeats in the trim around the placemats. The checkered print on bottom is actually a little more burgundy than red, and it went well with the plates, black print and my walls! The off-white napkins lighten it all up a little and pick up the off-whites in the different patterns. I like the way it coordinates without being too matchy-matchy.
The red checkered fabric was 54" wide. I bought 54" for a square. It was on clearance for $4 a yard. The black print was on sale for $5 a yard and I bought 45" of it. Together, my fabrics cost me less than $12! Usually, I finish them with a neat little hem, but since I bought it Saturday, I was short on time. I ended up just straightening the edges with my pinking shears. I plan to hem them in the next couple of days before I wash and put them away. They'll last longer that way.
The dining room was set for women only (the men all ate at the kitchen table), and I had each daughter sit next to her mother, including me! I used a little corked bottle for the mothers' place card holders. I had each daughter write her mother a special Mother's Day message which was later rolled up and placed in the bottle for each mother to take home. I got the idea from the Miss Manners craft party we had back in February at Nancy's home.
I used craft paper and a little leaf stamp I already had
to make the girls' place cards, as well.
I am so proud of the floral arrangements running
down the middle of the table.
Here's a peek.
I'll show you how to make them on Wednesday!
The candles were part of my post-Halloween Walmart score.
They are pumpkin-scented, but the color was perfect, and they were .10 cents each!
So there you have it! The table setting for my Mother's Day 2015 luncheon. Over the next few days, I will share with you how to make the rope-accented vase above, as well as give you the recipes for the etouffee, hushpuppies and lemon cake.
I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day and were able to spend it with your mother, your daughter, or if you were lucky like me, both!
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I'm so glad you stopped by my neck of the woods!
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