The Woods at Whippoorhill: Summer Fruit Tablescape...Father's Day 2018

Gerald's parents were in town last weekend, so we invited my parents over, too, for lunch on Saturday. We love having my parents and Gerald's parents together whenever possible. The kids are so lucky to have both sets living so close to us!

It was a relaxing Saturday afternoon, and a much slower pace than trying to get it all done on a Sunday after we get home from church. I like to set a more masculine tablescape from time to time, and Father's Day gave me a chance to do just that. The blue and green was a little more masculine than many of my creations, but it was still beautiful! Let me walk you through it.

White linen tablecloth as a base, of course. I also put my leaf back in the table as I wanted to get all eight of us in the dining room.

I love this remnant of fabric. The pattern reminds me of Jacobean crewel embroidery. I found this years ago at Hancock Fabrics and first used it for a book club brunch inspired by a trip to Mount Vernon, the beloved home of George and Martha Washington. I also used it for an Orient Express birthday dinner for my mother. Both of those times, it was a lower layer, peeking out from underneath a yellow runner. Most recently, I used it for a Chinese-themed birthday dinner to accompany Brack's chosen menu. This time, it is more front and center. The vine-like pattern has almost a fruit-like appearance. Perfect for the rest of the tablesetting. I turned it sideways since I needed it to cover more real estate.

Next I added my navy placemats. You saw them most recently as part of my Mother's Day tablescape.

I love to layer, so I added the green "string" placemats. I like how you can see the blue straight through them. I've used them several times. Check them out at Easter back in 2016 and at Christmas the same year. They're so versatile.

I found these dishes last fall at my favorite thrift store. I got twelve plates at $1 each, along with twelve fruit bowls for .25 cents each. They are from the late 1960's and are called "Summer Splendor" by Artists' Touch. They are a deep chop plate and are covered in blueberries and blackberries.

At first I just placed them right on top of the green placemats, but they were a little small. I also decided to pull out my lighting equipment after this photo. The sun decided to hide from me!

I added my silver chargers - I liked the way the silver worked with the blue - and some silver-plate napkin rings we got as a wedding present. The green napkins show up a lot. I made them several years ago for St. Patrick's Day, I think. I use them more than just about anything else! Who would think green would be so useful? The flatware is my everyday pattern I got when we married. It's "Austen" by Yamazaki.

See how the fruit pattern is reflected in the tablecloth?

These are the same stems I used for Mother's Day this year - "Gibraltar" by Libbey.

I jokingly told everyone to be sure to take their allergy medicine before coming to lunch. Everything - literally everything - in the centerpiece came from my yard. The Kate Spade "Pitchford" pitcher shows up a lot on my tables. It is a great "vase".

I choose a pretty blue hydrangea from one of my bushes. I thought about doing an all-hydrangea arrangement, but since this was for Father's Day, I thought that might be too feminine.

These are literally WEEDS that were growing in our front pasture! Aren't they pretty, though?

Nandina always adds texture and shape.

I cut a few fronds from the Kimberly Queen ferns I have flanking my front door. I love the whimsy and organic shape they add. I added a few other things for shape and height, although, it was a little too high! I ended up taking it off the table while we ate so we could talk across the table.

An aerial view of the entire table. The three large vine balls came from Hobby Lobby. They're often in a bowl in my living room. The smaller twig balls came from Dollar Tree. I saw them a while back and picked them up with nothing particular in mind. I wanted something natural, and they just seemed to do the trick.