Monday, May 9, 2011

Alfresco Tablescape for Mothers' Day

'Mum are you awake yet?' They were the first words I heard this mothers day.  Beach House Brat number 1was beside himself about the present he had made for me at school.  His lovely little giggles and the joy on his face as I opened the framed sampler he had made were the best present I could have received.  It was priceless.  The sampler was beautiful too.  It was so neat and beautifully framed.

The dads had been secretly messaged by his wonderful teacher asking for a small contribution towards materials the children were making for a mothers' day project.  Of course, Mr Beach House kept forgetting to pay up but persistence from the BHB finally paid off.  The tariff was forthcoming and he was in business.
He told me that he chose the colours because they were beachy so I could blog about it.  I almost cried, he was just so happy with his gift and it was beautiful to watch.
My darling little girl gave me a lovely hand painted bracelet that she made at kindy.  I love the way the schools and kindys put so much store into mothers day as it really teaches the children the joy of giving and as we know there is nothing better than a hand made present.
After all the excitement of presents, I laid the table for lunch with my mum and cousins' arrival imminent.  We went green and  blue this year.  As we head into Winter the boat building business is a little tighter.  So in an attempt to keep the wolves from the door, I shopped the linen press to see what I had and this is what I came up with.  I purchased this tablecloth and matching cushions years ago when I was single and  blue and yellow were all the rage.  It is beautiful quality and brightens any table I think.  As for the flowers, my garden in its coastal position is full of very hardy plants with very few in flower as we approach the Winter months.
So I scavenged what was left  of a bunch of flowers Mr Beach House brought me the week before.  He may be alot of things, ole Mr Beach House, but for the duration of our marriage he has always brought me flowers.  That's probably because the flower lady knows he can't say no and she visits his factory complex most weeks to flog him a very expensive bunch of flowers usually made up of about 4-5 stems and lots of leaves.  Anyway, it has been very thoughtful of him to buy them over such a long period and it is a bright spot in our marriage.
The flowers, I shoved in an old coffee jar and I tied a gingham ribbon around them to tie in with my napkin holders. These were some ribbons I had lying around waiting to be used to hang several paintings. But as usual there are lots of projects half done around here and the ribbons were not used for their original purpose.
I like the idea of the ribbons not matching as the variation added texture and interest to the table.






Ikea always gets a work out in any of my decorating as I think they produce beautiful props that are very affordable.  I have used their vintage wine glasses here.  These are stored high in one of my cupboards and only come out for parties.  When I went to my regular wine glass cupboard I found I only had 4 contemporary wine glasses after breakages and leaving them at neighbours houses after impromptu drinky parties, so the el cheapo vintage glasses got a work out. 
The little ivy wreath is also an Ikea purchase and I use it to frame most things I put on the centre of the table.

Well my dears it's hard to believe we are just 3 weeks off Winter. The weather was a picture and it was short sleeves at 20 paces for most of the day. As the cousins walked through the gate they told us about their new hobby geocaching. So we got on the computer, found the co-ordinates for a cache  at the top of the headland we live on and after lunch the kiddos and Mr BH were off to find it with their nav sat in hand. Suffice to say the Beach House Brats are now converts and no doubt I will be bringing you a post in the near future on our new hobby!!!
We had a great day and I count my blessings every day that I am a mum.  It is such a hard job, the hardest I have ever done, but it's days like mothers' day...... just to see the look on the kids faces and their little giggles and smiles as they give you their little hand made gifts that make every minute of the hard slog worth it.
Best Carolyn
Today I am linked up with
PhotobucketBetween Naps On The PorchUndertheTableandDreaming<br><br><br><b>Join us every Friday...</b>

12 comments :

  1. What a sweet and wonderful post...motherhood agrees with you!! I, too, love waking up to a little gift from the kids, even though they are older now, they get so excited!

    Your table looks lovely, the pink and green go so well together! And your little ribbons around the napkins are the perfect touch!

    Wishing you a wonderful and happy Mother's Day, Carolyn!

    XO,
    Jane

    ReplyDelete
  2. the table looks lovely and i love your son's sampler!! so sweet... a lot of work went into it, no wonder he was so proud of it. so good to see kids and especially boys doing this hand work.
    cheryl x

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love reading your posts. I am always smiling or laughing when I finish. Thanks for the helpful hints i.e. IKEA wreath-great idea and it looked good on the table.

    ReplyDelete
  4. So pretty Carolyn!! Hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day!
    xo Cathy

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a sweet post, Carolyn. I love the beachy-colored sampler from your son and your gorgeous table. Am dreamy of warmer weather and eating outside - the cool temps and rain just aren't giving way this Spring in my region. Hope you have a fabulous week :O)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your table looks so beautiful and the gifts from wonderful. It is such a bonus when kids are so excited to give you gifts that they made, I love it!
    Geocaching is fun, I have only done it a few times but I am sure there will be more. Enjoy!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Aww what a sweetheart! The table looks wonderful too!
    Hope you had a wonderful mother's day! :D

    ReplyDelete
  8. Such a great deck and entertaining area. Love your tablescape. The colors are wonderful and the entire setting is so inviting. Thanks so much for joining TTT. Hugs, Marty

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a wonderful Mom's Day and a wonderful table. Great colors - and I really like those Ikea glasses. We have an Ikea in Atlanta now. I'll have to check them out.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Such beautiful colors! I love your tablescape.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Carolyn - You have designed such a beautiful tablescape. Love the colors - perfect for spring! Thanks so much for linking to The Sunday Showcase Party - I greatly appreciate it. I have featured this Sunday. Have a wonderful week.
    ~ Stephanie Lynn

    ReplyDelete
  12. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...