Setting a beautiful dining table creates the tone for the meal.
Decorating a table sets the tone for events like an afternoon tea party or a formal dinner party. Although flowers as table decorations always offer a safe choice, other options exist to enliven the party decor. These options take into account the theme of the event, making the table decorations more personalized. Does this Spark an idea?
Bento Box
The Japanese bento box functions as the dinner plate to serve the delicacies of Japanese dining. If you're putting together a Japanese dinner for guests, consider using the bento box to create a Japanese-themed centerpiece. Take a bento box and remove the compartments so that it becomes an empty box. Fill it with sand; you can find decorative sand at arts and crafts stores. Depending on the size of the box, fill three to five clear glasses of various heights with water and insert them deeply into the sand. Place floating candles in the water; lotus flowers make a theme-appropriate choice. Insert flowers like orchids into the sand the complete the look.
Personalized Accessories
Afternoon lunch parties are a way to reconnect with close friends, and the decorative elements you put on the table reflects these good feelings. To commemorate this occasion, create a special party favor centerpiece. Fill little flower pots with goodies that each guest would like, such as seed packets, colored pencils, popcorn or movie passes. Use metallic markers to paint their names on the pots and place the pots on an old-fashioned raised cake plate. The key to this centerpiece is to make each cup specific to the guest to whom you're giving it. These little trinkets become the party favors that the guests take home at the end of the party.
Fall Fruits
Fall fruits like pumpkins, gourds and squashes make colorful and pretty items to use in a table decoration. Pick out several different mini-pumpkins, gourds and squashes. Look for a variety of colors and sizes. Additionally, you can use items like walnuts, pine cones and fall leaves. Place these items in a low dish with the largest pumpkin in the middle and then put the gourds, squash, leaves and other items in and around the pumpkin. You may also want to put candles in the mix as well.
Winter Garden
During the winter holidays, decorate a table that doesn't have a Christmas theme, but rather a winter theme. This look is crisp and understated and relies on a cool color palette. Gather some branches, clean them and spray paint them white. Allow them to dry according to the instructions on the can. Locate clear glass flower vases and fill them with the branches, making sure that the finished products vary in height. Place the vases in the middle of the table, with the tallest arrangement in the middle and then flank the other vases around the middle vase. Fill a few tall glasses with water and add blue floating candles. Finally, place assorted blue and silver Christmas tree bulbs around the arrangement to add visual interest to the piece.
Tags: floating candles, gourds squashes, into sand, middle then, table decorations, with water