Tablescapes: Patriotic and Summer

Hot weather is here where I live and that means it is time to transition from spring decorations to summer. Since May ends with Memorial Day and then June leads into Independence Day, I decorate with a Patriotic theme for the first part of the summer. I enjoy the red, white, and blue colors and love all things Patriotic, so getting out and setting up these decorations is a fun task for me.

Tablescaping is the first step with quilted placemats and napkins purchased several years ago on a shopping trip in Fredericksburg, Texas with my sister; we both bought two placemats, napkins, and napkin rings and later wished we had been able to afford more as they are good quality and attractive on the table.

Of course, my beloved every day Blue Willow dishes are perfect for a patriotic setting. As much as I love fine china, it just doesn’t seem right for a casual theme and that is what summer and patriotism are all about to me. I have several varieties of Blue Willow patterns and I find it fun to intentionally mix and match them!

After I pulled out a full place setting of the flatware, I wondered what I was thinking as it was way too dressy for this setting, so I picked it up. I rarely eat at this table, opting to either eat outside at the patio table or sitting here at my desk in front of the laptop, so no utensils are needed anyway. Although, if I should find some inexpensive red or blue handled pieces, then I would be tempted to add them!

Speaking of inexpensive, the two glasses are from the Dollar Tree, or as my fellow blogger Betty of Chambers on the Road’s friend calls it, the Five Quarters Store. I’ve made three trips there today. First trip early this morning was to buy a $5 rug to put in front of the cat’s litter box; I walked out with a large bag of treasures. I put the bag in the car and went back in the store and walked out with a few more items. This afternoon, I went back again and bought more. I have no shame.

So why do I have no shame? Because I was buying lemons! Lemon plates, glasses, and placemats to use after Independence Day! At first, the dishes didn’t really impress me but I liked the placemats. So I bought two (I thought) thinking they would look nice with the Blue Willow for everyday eating. And, yes, as I put them in the car I thought, well, why not get the plates and glasses. After all, they weren’t plastic. The plates were heavy ceramic and the drinking glasses were real, breakable glass. Thus the second trip back in the store.

The third trip happened a little later when I realized that I had accidently bought 3 placemats instead of 2. Uh oh. The only thing to do was buy another placemat and 2 more plates and glasses to make a total of four place settings. The lemons were growing on me and I really liked the way everything looked together. I’m glad I went back today because their inventory had been severely depleted in just a few short hours! Now I need to find coordinating cloth napkins and napkin rings, not to use but to add to the two place settings that will go on this table.

Only problem: where will I store this set when summer is over??? I’ll think about that in August.

Hurray for the red, white, and blue. Hurray for lemons and summertime eating!