How to Arrange a Merry May Tablescape

How to Arrange a Merry May Tablescape

The Merry May Tablescape is filled with jolly, herbal May baskets and vintage ironstone dishes brimming with fragrant flowers from our little cottage. My first element of inspiration was an unopened green Damask tablecloth I found at Goodwill for $4. Sometimes an idea begins with the canvas of a tablecloth. It starts with gorgeous plates at other times.

Golden chargers from the Dollar Tree formed the base of each place setting.

Greenfield Village is an Iroquois ironstone pattern produced in the late 60s/early 70s as part of the Henry Ford Museum Collection. The design was taken from the style of the Pennsylvania Dutch colonists. The Pennsylvania Dutch are definitely my kind of people. I adore bold, colorful designs, especially for a May tablescape. I’m also a huge ironstone fan. It is lighter than stoneware, but not so fragile as china. Once you hold it in your hands and feel the difference, you will be hooked.

The Greenfield Village dessert bowl (below) contains fresh cilantro from my Aged Copper Patina Herb Garden. That little pot has been prolifically producing herbs since March. I wanted the table to smell like May, and the cilantro did the trick. This is the most fragrant tablescape I’ve ever arranged.

Interspersed among the Greenfield Village ironstone plates are my Martha Stewart Woodland stoneware plates. The Woodland plates are one of my three go-to sets that I use year-round. The embossed pinecones are perfect for the South Carolina Lowcountry, since our house is surrounded by Loblolly pine trees.

The napkins were folded to resemble a May basket. Perfect for a May tablescaspe!

Paper cones folded in May basket shapes envelope Oneida’s Golden Juilliard silverware. There is also a sprig of cilantro tied on each set with a light blue ribbon.

I don’t drink alcohol, but my pink and turquoise old-fashioned glasses were probably meant for that purpose. But, they were so pretty on the shelves at TJ Maxx. I had to have them to sip my sweet tea.

The place holders were made from cardstock and May scrapbooking stickers. It makes me happy to have the names of my family and guests written at their place settings. Isn’t that what everyone really longs for- a place at the table where they truly belong? Place holders convey the message that people are loved and welcomed at your table. I like to hand write them in cursive. Sometimes I let my children make place cards. A place holder or card made by a child has its own type of charm. The ones we use for Thanksgiving were made long ago by my children, and they are precious to me.

The Greenfield Village tureen is the star of the show, filled with flowers my husband bought me for Mother’s Day. The girls said, “Look Daddy, your flowers are featured,” when they saw the tablescape. I wrapped faux eucalyptus around a Savannah cake stand, then topped it with a Jeannette green Depression glass Sunflower cake plate. I placed the tureen on top, and embellished it with impatiens, black-eyed susans, and SUPER-FRAGRANT gardenias from our yard.

The small Anchor Hocking pitcher is filled with a fiery-red, thorny little bush that grows beside our porch. It grows at a slant, kind of like a mini weeping willow tree.

The Greenfield Village sugar bowl had a lid, until I accidentally broke it. At least I can still use it to hold gorgeous, heavenly-smelling gardenias from the bush outside my bedroom window. It is on top of an ABP 1900s bowl with a whirling star pattern.

I hope you enjoyed my Merry May Tablescape!

I’m taking over the former Heart & Soul link Up for Jennifer Wise from Life Tales Books. All things related to the home (no shops, parties or ads, please) can be linked up every Monday at 9 am EST. The new party is called the Little Cottage Link Party. Drop in, and link up!

Blessings!

Kristie

Linking up here

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Read A Woman’s Right to Come Home or How to Live Big on a Small Porch