Monday, October 6, 2014

A Purple Fall? Really?!

I approached this fall table with trepidation.  I had bought new salad plates for a fall table, but when Kathleen from Cuisine Kathleen issued a challenge for a fall table with the rules being: NO orange, lots of purple, plus a requirement that it had to "scream fall", I was in a real quandry. So, I started to plan my table.  I knew I could create a centerpiece without too much trouble, and I did have some purple items in my tablescaping stash, but I REALLY wanted to use my new salad plates that had been patiently waiting in my dish closet for recognition.  So, this is what I came up with:



Here's How It Was Created:

I started with a tablecloth I had gotten at Anna's Linens.  I had been wanting to use this colorful cloth for a while and this seemed like the perfect time.  I always associate fall with "apple pickin' time" and with the colorful apples on this cloth, it was part of my plan to have my table "scream fall"! Luckily, the apples are red, the pears yellow and the grapes purple!



Next came my purple straw placemat I found on sale at HomeGoods.  I love these round placemats that are so popular now; they act like chargers in a plate stack and really help delineate the beginning layer of the stack.



My purple dinner plates from Anna's Linens were an obvious choice for the next layer.




The next addition to my table could eliminate me from the challenge, but I just couldn't help it.  These salad plates from Hobby Lobby jumped into my shopping basket in the middle of summer!  I'm hoping the "touch" of orange gets covered by the napkins, or maybe looks more gold than orange in the photos (wish I knew if photoshop could change the color of something!) Anyway, I have been waiting to use these colorful plates (they are marked Fall Table, 2013; now I know why they were on sale this July!) for a while, and as far as tablescapes go, they don't really have a long shelf life, since these colors won't work in many other seasons!  I also thought the colorful pattern would work well with the tablecloth and add more of a "country feeling" to the table.




To top the stack I chose a green napkin from Pier One and napkin rings from Bed, Bath and Beyond. I then decided to add a band of burlap ribbon around the napkin and a faux fall leaf to make the place setting reflect fall a bit more.





I completed the place setting with my Treble Clef flatware from World Market (it matches the napkin rings well).  I also added my purple wine glasses from Hobby Lobby.





The centerpiece is grounded with an antique wooden shoe polish box I found while antiquing two weeks ago on a road trip through Ventura. It is resting on some straw from Michaels.  I placed the matching napkin from the new tablecloth on the bottom of the box and added the following to the display: faux purple flowers, faux grapes, a white ceramic pumpkin  and a grapevine wreath all found at Dollar Tree. The wooden thread spools were found while antiquing in Santa Cruz. I then added random faux fall leaves, hoping to make it look like they just landed on the table from a passing fall breeze!  I placed an eggplant in the front for some added interest, and added purple!  Flanking the box are two purple votive candle lanterns I recently found at Target!



For accents I added two pieces.  One is a wooden box I found at Michaels (for the "Apple Challenge" last year!) that I filled with a mango and apples to coordinate with my tablecloth and the fall season of apple pickin'!  The other accent piece is a flat pottery piece made by a very dear friend (actually my roommate from college: we live 3,000 miles apart, but are as close as ever after 49 years of knowing each other! Thank you, June!)  This piece holds a place of honor in my home, and I'm glad I got to share it with you on this table. My hubby just purchased the wooden spoons from our adventure to the William-Sonoma store this past weekend!






So here is my purple fall table.  I don't know if it "screams fall", but perhaps it whispers it to you.  I had fun completing this challenge and giving a unique look to a fall tablescape.




I'll be linking up to Christine's Table It!  on Monday at www.rustic-refined.com
                               Kathleen's Let's Dish! on Wed. at www.cuisinekathleen.com    and
                               Susan's Tablescape Thursday  at www.betweennapsontheporch.net

Many thanks, ladies, for continuing to host these wonderfully fun parties!! Be sure to take a look at all the creativity going on at these sites!!

If you'd like to follow my blog, go to the top, fill in your email address where indicated and hit       "submit"! Thank you.

Many thanks for your comments.  Your encouragement is always appreciated.    Rosie

















23 comments:

  1. I love, love, love this table. I love the purple straw placemats. They are a perfect texture to use with this lovely fall tablecloth, they pick up the color of the plums beautifully. The dinner plates look so pretty with the Hobby Lobby salad plates. And the napkins are perfect match to the shade of green in the leaves of the tablecloth. Everything works together beautifully. I am still working on my purple fall table, I hope to be ready tomorrow (I think the challenge for me is to get the color purple to look good in my pictures).

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  2. This table is perfect for fall! I see Fall Harvest with all of the fruit on display. You've brought out all the colors in the cloth with each different element. I love those salad plates, too, and would have to use them, as well! I picked up two on the discount shelf at Pier 1 that are similar. Beautifully done, Rosie!!

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  3. Purple for fall is a gorgeous idea! It's unique and you've used it beautifully.

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  4. Your table is gorgeous and you certainly met the challenge in my book! Love the purple glasses. Just brought home some fresh Virginia mountain apples myself. :)

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  5. You met the challenge beautifully! Love the dishes and the tablecloth- they have all the right colors and they speak harvest which comes along with fall! The napkins are so cute- great idea!

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  6. Rosie,
    Gorgeous Purple Fall Tablescape, dear one!!!
    I love how you brought the apples from the tablecloth into the centerpiece decor!
    This is one tablescape that follows the quote,
    "If you want to capture someones attention. . .whisper."
    The last photo is mesmerizing!!!
    Fondly,
    Pat

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  7. I think this table is absolutely gorgeous the touch of eggplants really made the purples pop and I don't think the leafy pattern with orange init will disqualify you.I just loved everything about this table WELL done.Susie

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  8. I think you met the challenge with flying colors (purple especially). What great salad plates, and the round purple placemats look great. Love the shoe shine box filled with Fallness. Well done. laurie

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  9. There is so much I love about this table...your tablecloth, the salad plates, the napkin rings...I could go on and on. It looks very fall-ish to me! Wonderful!

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  10. Beautiful table and I seriously adore those napkin rings and salad dessert plates!

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  11. looks wonderful Rosie, I love those HG plates, and the way you did the napkins looks so fabulous! You really tied a lot of things together and pulled off a very successful purple fall table!!
    Jenna

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  12. Rosie, your table is beautiful...love the tablecloth. The pottery dish your roommate made is so pretty. I really like the way you wrapped the napkin in burlap.
    Have a wonderful week.

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  13. Your table is perfect for Kathleen's Purple challenge! The shoe box centerpiece is awesome, I love it. The dishes, the tablecloth all is lovely. The water stems look very much like my Polish ones and are so pretty too. You did great!
    FABBY

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  14. Beautiful table! It all came together perfectly! Lots of neat and pretty details!

    Katherine

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  15. You did really well putting this table together. I opted out of the challenge since I have no purple at all! I love your plates and place mats - good staples - and your floral plate find this summer adds a fun touch to your table. The apple crate and apples scream fall and avoids the orange factor. Great job!
    Blessings~
    Kim @ Curtain Queen Creates

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  16. It's fabulous, Rosie...you certainly met the challenge, and it screams fall! I really like your idea of the burlap ribbon and leaf added to the napkin ring. Pinning that!

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  17. Ohhh - I just tried to comment on your lovely tablescape but I don't think it went through. I wanted to say that your table looks so pretty and that I love the pops of purple and how you managed to make the ruffle on the napkins actually look like fall leaves. I also wanted to thank you for visiting my blog and leaving me your sweet comment.
    Randee

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  18. OUTSTANDING idea to go with the tablecloth you used!!! I think pretty much everyone thinks of the abundance of fruits like apples, pears and grapes in fall, and this tablecloth is perfect!

    It's great that you used those salad plates with this tablescape. The colors are just right to work with the colors in the tablecloth. The patterns don't fight with each other, but complement one another very well since they're separated by the flat colors in the placemat and dinner plate. Your napkins are g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s!!! I love that soft, ruffly look! They remind me of either butterhead lettuce or romaine or even that pretty green leaf lettuce that also comes in red. Really luscious!

    You did a wonderful job of meeting the challenge! Bravo!!! Have a terrific weekend!

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  19. Great table. All the punches of purple are perfect. Love the glasses. Thanks for stopping by my place!

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  20. Rosie, another beautiful, creative and keeping to the challenge tablescape. Thank you for showing off my ceramic dish in such a wonderful setting. I wish we lived closer for so many reasons, but one of them is so that I can make you a complete table setting. So, give me an idea or picture of a dish I can make for YOU and bring on my next trip to California. Love Ya...Your Roomie...JUNE

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  21. I love it, Rosie, you did a great job. It def says Fall to me! I love those mats too, I got some in CTS in blue and natural. Thanks for taking the challenge, and I am so glad you enjoyed it. I had no idea what I was going to do until the day before, I think challenges make us use our creativity and exercise our brains! :)

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  22. Your table has so many elements that dinner guests would enjoy, and I loved your new plates. They definitely say Fall. Thanks for sharing this lovely setting.

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  23. Hi Rosie. I have a real affinity for purple. It's hard to use well and you've done a beautiful job! This is a lovely fallscape indeed!

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