Tablescapes?

I have long put “centerpieces” in the middle of my table, not only for holidays, but for every day, as well.

My favorite is the one I keep on my kitchen table – A chicken, napkins, toothpick holder, salt and pepper shaker, pepper mill…

For years all these sat on a rectangular placemat, attractively arranged. Then recently I switched to a round, less country quilted mat.

But now I’ve discovered “tablescapes,” and they’ve taken centerpieces to a whole new level.

My new favorite store is Rod Works. It’s a gift/decorating store located down at The Palladio,  our local “lifestyle center,” kind of an open air mall with lots of restaurants, a movie complex, interesting sculptures, and events sponsored by the center for the community. One of these days I’ll do a post about the center. It’s a pretty interesting place.

ANYWAY. Tablescapes.

They are kind of a table version of the vignettes that my store was known for back in the day (except that ours were done on the wall, with a shelf housing little treasures, then wall decor arranged around it.) Often people would buy the whole vignette – great cross-marketing.

Roadworks has everything you need to do them – all sorts of trays for a base, then scads of interesting things to use for groupings in whatever room you’re decorating. It would be fun to start from the ground up making one, but for now, I’m working pretty much with what I’ve got, then perhaps I’ll add a few touches later.

I did buy a wooden base from them, and a few silk gerber flowers (red, of course) to put in an antique bottle borrowed from another area of the house.

Here’s my first effort.

One of the things I like best about doing it this way is that with a firm base, it can be easily lifted off for eating at the table, where it was kind of a pain with everything just sitting on a placemat.

I took a few photos at the store of tablescapes they’d put together at Rod Worksboth to display their merchandise and show people what they could create for their own home, so in essence, my inspiration.

I think I like mine just as well.

I think I’ll be doing more in different areas of the house, and I’m REALLY looking forward to playing with them for the holidays!