Springtime Dinner with Friends

I love to have friends over for lunch or dinner or for coffee, tea and a chat.  I am usually very informal because we have very busy lives as everyone else I know does.  I have been looking at blogs and have enjoyed all of the wonderful table settings that can be done with a little extra effort.   I decided to give it a try.  My goal was to use things we had around home and to see what I could come up with.  I do love dishes and after doing this I think I will be watching for dishes to add to my collection, at the right price, of course.

This is how it all began

I found my light gold tablecloth, bright blue table runner

and my cream plates.

Now I have added the stainless utensils, bright gold salad plates and blue napkins with ribbon napkin rings

I started with this for a centerpiece and realized right away that there was room for improvement.  I began looking around for better options.

This is what I ended up with.

Here is a closer picture of my little bird in the flower pot

I couldn't find my moss to put in the pot so I used paper

from a gift bag I had received instead.

We had other little friends join us at the table

After setting up the centerpiece I added other dishes we would be using, testing to see if there would be room for all of the food and pitchers and glasses.

When I was sure that the serving dishes would fit on the table I went out and picked a couple of small vases of flowers  to add to each end.  There should be more flowers to pick soon.  Maybe if we get a little more sun.

I looked at the table for a while and realized that I had forgotten

glasses, here they are in the photo above.

Even little votive candles can make a difference

I hope that the table setting helped to make our guests feel welcome.  We did end up spending the whole evening visiting around the table.

I will be linking this post to Tablescape Thursday at

Between naps on the porch.

Cream plates are Johnson Brothers (I bought the 8 place set at an estate sale for $25 and I always have my eye open for more)