Blissful Beautiful Butterflies!

During the last couple of weeks Southern CA was invaded!  But, it's been a wonderful invasion. Over a million Painted Lady butterflies had left the deserts of Mexico and were flying to Oregon where their breeding grounds are located.  It was an amazing sight to see: swarms of butterflies were EVERYWHERE!  They were somewhat difficult to see individually because they were the size of a silver dollar and moving VERY fast. I was driving along Pacific Coast Highway right along the beach and had to slow down because I didn't want to hit any of them. I would have been sad if one had gotten killed on my windshield! Imagine all their work to fly up from Mexico only to land on the windshield of a car in Southern CA!  Mother Nature can certainly put on some beautiful shows, and this was indeed one of them.

I decided to honor this magical influx by creating a table filled with whatever butterflies I had in my dish collection.

This Is The Table I Created:

I started with brightly colored placemats I found at Pier One.  They sing "spring" to me and  I thought they were a good way to anchor my settings. I could see butterflies being attracted to the color and patterns!

I thought my burlap chargers would be a good way to start my dish stack. It's a natural fiber and works well with a nature theme.

I had trouble choosing whether to use a purple dinner plate or my favorite chartreuse green dinner plate, so I decided to use both! I'll let you decide which one works better with my salad plates that I'll be showing you next.

Here is a salad plate I found at Pier One a long time ago. I've been waiting to find the right time to use it. Turns out it is perfect for a post celebrating the Blissful Beautiful Butterflies that swarmed around So. CA this week.

Here's how it looks with the two different dinner plates:

I then chose the napkins that match the placemats. My favorite accent for this place setting is the butterfly napkin ring I found at Pier One when I first started tablescaping. I love its size, its colors and bling that it brings to a spring table! It's perfect for today's table!

I completed the place setting with gold-plated flatware on loan from my cousin. I felt the gold would highlight the yellows in the setting. I added purple goblets that I found at Old World Market.  They also complement the purple in the salad plates.

I decided to keep my centerpiece fairly simple.  I discovered I had two teapots that highlighted butterflies, along with matching teacups.  I also chose to use the beautiful vase of faux flowers that my cousin kindly made for me to use on my spring tables. Thank you, Karen! I added some porcelain birds to enhance the springtime theme and let the elements rest on a burlap banner. It adds some natural texture and also matches the chargers I'm using.

This particular teapot and cup and saucer is by Burton + Burton and its pattern is called Morning Meadow.

This teapot and cup and saucer  are from my collection of Lenox china and the pattern is Butterfly Meadow.  It's a popular pattern and graces my table as soon as spring arrives! Please note the butterfly handle on the teacup! I must add that both these teapots and cups and saucers were given to me by my Hubby! He certainly knows how to make my day!

I enjoyed putting this table together.  When I revisit this post, I'll remember how special it was to be a witness to the " Painted Ladies Migration".  I hope they had a safe time on their journey and have made their way to Oregon!

Happy Spring!!

I'll be linking up to Susan's Tablescape Thursday at www.betweennapsontheporch.net and Christine's Dishing It! and Digging It! at www.rustic-refined.com.

It's always fun to check out these sites and see all the creativity out there!

I thank you for your comments and appreciate them all!!