Uncle Sam's 4th of July Tablescape

June 23, 2026 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

I created an Uncle Sam Tablescape seven years ago and I have wanted to do another one for a few years now. I finally gathered what I needed for this one. Uncle Sam figures are difficult to find, the good ones anyway. I am happy with the ones that I found for this tablescape. This tablescape is very different from the older one. You can see that one as well as 300+ other themed tablescapes that I have created on my blog here: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/tablescapes . I post a different and new themed tablescape every week. This Uncle Sam tablecloth came from Spoonflower online. Their tablecloths are expensive so I wait for them to go on sale.

I looked for a long time for an Uncle Sam salad plate but I couldn’t find anything that I liked. So I found these paper Uncle Sams on Etsy and I set them on a simple small white plate. I really love this image of Uncle Sam! I was struggling with the plate stack trying to get the colors right and decided that I really needed a small white plate to set on the top of the stack and I didn’t have one. I found these white melamine plates on Amazon. They come in three different sizes and I bought the smallest 7 inch size, just what I needed for this plate stack.

This salad plate is made by Fiesta and the color is called Scarlet. This set is part of our every day dish set.

This dinner plate is another Fiesta plate and the color is navy blue, I think! Sometimes it is difficult to sort out the colors of Fiesta plates depending on how your monitor shows colors.

This is a Mikasa Color Spectrum Charger in the color Alpine White. I have this charger in several different colors and I bought them all on Ebay as I saw them over a few years. The Internet says that this pattern was only made between 1992 and 1993. I am not sure that is true but in any case they are no longer being manufactured. I have been trying to get six of this white color and pattern for years with no success until this last year when suddenly I found six at different places online after occasional google searches. You need to have patience when you are looking for things for tablescaping, that’s for sure!

You can really see the tablecloth Uncle Sam design in this photo. I bought this frosted white flatware set on sale online at Wayfair several years ago, it was made by Cambridge. It is 18/0 so the fork tines are a bit sharper than they would have been if it was 18/10 but I really liked the frosted white color on the handles. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

This plastic Uncle Sam napkin ring is actually an outdoor tablecloth clip. The back is a clip but when I saw it a few years ago I realized that I could use it as a napkin ring also. I can’t remember where I bought the red cotton napkins. To read about the What, When and How of napkin rings please click here.

I found these Sebastian Miniature Uncle Sam figures on Ebay. When I saw them I knew that I could use them as place card holders. Sebastian Miniatures are a line of small, hand-cast, and hand-painted figurines created by American artist Prescott W. Baston, Sr. starting in 1938. Originally designed as educational tools for classrooms, they evolved into collectibles depicting historical figures, literary characters, and everyday New England life. This figure was made between 1975 and 2013. To read about the What, When and Why of place card holders, please click here.

I think the red glass goblet on the left came from Crate and Barrel a few years ago. I had been looking for some simple red goblets and I grabbed these when I saw them online. I only bought six and I wished I had bought more but Hubby found six other red glass goblets at HomeGoods that are so similar you can’t tell the difference. The polymer Monique Lhuillier Campania navy blue goblet on the right came from Pottery Barn a few years ago. I am still on the lookout for a simple navy blue glass goblet that is a true navy blue and not cobalt blue or a purplish blue. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying goblets for your tablescaping collection including the colors that I use most often here.

I love Johanna Parker products, her designs are so cute! I like Uncle Sam and when I saw this Johanna Parker Uncle Sam cookie jar a few years ago I bought it. I can’t remember where I found it. I set it on a Pottery Barn drink dispenser stand.

I wanted to add two smaller Uncle Sam figures on the left and right of the centerpiece and I found these BkeeCten wood Uncle Sam figures on Amazon. There were five different designs in the set.

To see over 300+ different tablescapes that I have created please click here. If you are on Facebook, join my Table Settings and Tablescape Ideas Facebook group (4,000+ members) for lots of tablescaping inspiration! Just click on the Facebook Search box at the top of the page and type in Table Settings and Tablescape Ideas or click here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2553689988183392

If you live in Southern California join our Facebook tablescaping group Southern California Tablescapers BTS Group. (200+ members) https://www.facebook.com/groups/440356398581157 We had a gathering for tablescapers last year in the Los Angeles area and we are planning another one this fall. You won’t want to miss it!

Don’t miss the Tablescape How-To tab at the top of my blog for DIY tips and tricks. That link is here: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/tablescapehowto

I put a new tablescape on my blog every week, please check back!

A Flag-tastic Fourth of July Tablescape

June 14, 2026 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

I love creating 4th of July tablescapes because the colors red, white, and blue always look great together. I decided to just use a white cotton tablecloth on this tablescape so that the colors would really pop out. I think the tablecloth came from HomeGoods many years ago. You can see 17 other 4th of July tablescapes that I have created as well as 300+ other themed tablescapes of mine on my blog here: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/tablescapes .

The idea for this tablescape started with this melamine flag salad plate that I found online at Pottery Barn. The pattern is called Cabana Americana Bunting.

I decided to just set the salad plate on a simple white dinner plate. This dinner plate was made by Ralph Lauren and it was called Club Porcelain. I bought them at HomeGoods several years ago. I really like having a simple white dinner plate in my tablescaping collection and I use it often. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying dinner plates here.

I found these Avanti Liberty Woven Braided Round Placemats at Macy’s online. I knew that they would be a great addition to my 4th of July tablescaping collection.

When I want a flatware set that is a darker red I reach for this set. The frosted red handles are actually prettier than they show in this blog photo. This flatware was made by D & D Inox in Italy and the pattern was called Roma. I bought them at Neiman Marcus or Bloomingdales during a major sale many years ago. I really like the marbleized design on the handles. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

I think these navy with white stars napkins came from Sur La Table several years ago. I bought the red metal napkin rings on Amazon several years ago. To read about the What, When and How of napkin rings please click here.

I can’t remember where I bought these metal star place card holders. I have had them for years. The set came with three navy, three red, three turquoise, and three white stars in the set. To read about the What, When and Why of place card holders, please click here.

I have been searching for a simple true navy blue glass goblet that is about eight inches tall for years. I have some that are navy and made of acrylic like this one but all I can find are blue glass goblets that lean toward a darker cobalt blue color or a purplish blue color. I keep looking! These acrylic blue goblets came from Pottery Barn a few years ago and the pattern was called Monique Lhuillier Campania. These red glass goblets were made by Cristal D’Arques-Durand and the pattern was called Antique Ruby. They are a pressed glass diamond and fan pattern. I bought them years ago a few at a time on Ebay until I had the number that I wanted. They were made between 1990 and 2008. I recently bought them in green also so I could use them together at Christmas time. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying goblets for your tablescaping collection including the colors that I use most often here.

Every time I use this white wood flag stand on a tablescape I get lots of questions and comments about it. I bought it online at Grandin Road many years ago. I really love the design, with all the flags it definitely makes a statement! Someone even had a carpenter friend look at the photo and build a similar one for them. Sometimes I see something and I just must have it and this flag stand was one of those times!

I found this star salt and pepper set at a gift shop on a trip up the coast a few weeks ago.

I found this Transpac patriotic mason jars salt and pepper set on Amazon. I have such a weakness for cute salt and pepper sets.

Ready for 4th of July!

Don’t miss the Tablescape How-To tab at the top of my blog for DIY tips and tricks. That link is here: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/tablescapehowto

I put a new tablescape on my blog every week, please check back!

A Sea-ing Stars Summer Tablescape

June 08, 2026 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

I love starfish and I have been thinking about putting a starfish themed tablescape together for a few months now. We live about a mile and a half as the crow flies from the Pacific Ocean and I used to walk along the ocean and watch the dolphins jumping through the waves. I love the sound of the sea. I bought this navy with white starfish tablecloth on sale at Spoonflower online. I have created two other starfish themed tablescapes, one two years ago, and one six years ago. You can see those tablescapes as well as 300+ other themed tablescapes that I have done on my blog here: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/tablescapes. This tablescape uses only two colors and that’s exactly the color scheme that I wanted it to be.

I was so happy to see these melamine small white starfish plates at Pottery Barn several years ago and when they went on sale I grabbed them. I had been looking for small white starfish plates for a couple of years. I love the bright white color and the design on them.

I wanted to add cobalt blue Fiesta dinner plates to my tablescaping collection and I finally bought some online at Everything Kitchens LLC a few years ago. This pattern was our everyday dishes pattern before we remodeled our kitchen but they were really worn so we replaced them with red ones after we finished the kitchen because the kitchen design is white with red accents. I now have this Fiesta dinner pattern in several different colors and I use them often on my tablescapes.

This is a Mikasa Color Spectrum Charger in the color Alpine White. I have this charger in several different colors and I bought them all on Ebay as I saw them over several years. The Internet says that this pattern was only made between 1992 and 1993. I am not sure that is true but in any case they are no longer being manufactured. I have been trying to get six of this white color and pattern for years with no success until a few years ago when suddenly I found six at different places online after occasional google searches. You need to have patience when you are looking for things on the secondary market for tablescaping, that’s for sure!

I bought this frosted white flatware set on sale online at Wayfair several years ago, the set was made by Cambridge. It is 18/0 instead of 18/10 so the fork tines are a bit sharper than I would like but I really liked the white frosted color on the handle. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

I can’t remember where I bought these white cotton napkins. When I started tablescaping I bought napkin sets in many basic colors because I knew I would be using them often. I bought the metal starfish napkin rings on Amazon. They were gold but Hubby spray-painted them navy blue for me.

To read about the What, When and How of napkin rings please click here.

I found these white starfish place card holders on Etsy a few years ago. They were made from real starfish. To read about the what, where and how of place card holders, please click here.

I had very very tall white goblets in my tablescaping collection but I had been looking for shorter white ones for a long time. I finally found these white goblets at Walmart several years ago. They were made by Artland and the pattern was called Veranda. I decided to use two white goblets with this pattern at each place setting on this tablescape to help break up all the navy blue. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying goblets for your tablescaping collection including the colors that I use most often here.

I wanted a white starfish to use as a centerpiece for this tablescape and so I googled it and this one popped up at Overstock online. It’s made of resin and the base is a clear rectangular box shape. I covered the base with faux white pebbles that I have had for a long time and then set the whole thing on a white drink dispenser stand that I bought at Pottery Barn many years ago to make it a bit taller.

I added two YZHZOM real starfish that I found on Amazon on each side of the centerpiece.

Just for fun I added a glass starfish that I have had for many years to the table. There is a funny family story about this starfish. When the kids were young it sat out on an end table in the living room. One day I picked it up and noticed that one of the legs was broken off and it had been carefully put back together so that the break wouldn’t show. I asked each child about it and no one would confess that they had broken it but the two older ones blamed the youngest. To this day no one will admit that they broke it. I suspect it may have been the cleaning lady but who knows! Hubby glued it back together and it has lived in one of my hutches since then. While setting up this tablescape I put it on the table and while I was putting the faux pebbles on the centerpiece stand one fell and it broke the starfish again, at the old break, and a new break, two legs off! Lol! Hubby will have to glue it back together…again!

Working on this tablescape makes me want to head up the coast and stay on the beach somewhere again!

Don’t miss the Tablescape How-To tab at the top of my blog for DIY tips and tricks. That link is here: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/tablescapehowto

I put a new tablescape on my blog every week, please check back!

This blog post was featured at Building Our Hive, https://buildingourhive.blogspot.com/ Please visit this blog, you will enjoy it!

A Berry Sweet Strawberry Summer Tablescape

June 02, 2026 by Beth Wilson in Tablescapes

This post is a repeat of a tablescape that I created and posted five years ago. I do that sometimes now because I have created over 300 tablescapes and I continue to have new followers that haven’t seen the older ones. I had been wanting to use these vintage Cemar strawberry plates on a tablescape for a long long time. The problem was their color, kind of a mauve dark pink. I had lots of strawberry items but they were all red. I had to wait until I could find some things to match them. The green tablecloth probably came from HomeGoods or Amazon, I have had it for several years.

I found these Cemar strawberry shaped plates on Ebay many many years ago, way before I started tablescaping. My daughter’s friends called her Strawberry when she was growing up because of her auburn hair and my mother loved strawberries so they became a favorite of mine to collect. I gathered them a few at a time as I found them online. Cemar was a California Pottery company in business from 1935 to 1955. It was founded by former Bauer Pottery employees Cliff J. Malone and Paul Cauldwell. The company was a part of a large growth in the sale of California pottery during World War II when imports from Asia were restricted or banned.

I was lucky enough to find both salad and dinner plates in this pattern. I found some bowls as well.

This charger was made by Mikasa, it was called Color Spectrum in Hunter Green. If you read my blog you have seen this charger in several different colors. These are really my favorite chargers, they are heavy and well made.

I think I might use this flatware set more than any other color I have. The set was called Madeline Green and I bought it at World Market several years ago. I really like the frosted design on the handles and this shade of green goes well with many color schemes. I use them throughout the year. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

When I was inventorying my napkins I discovered these napkins. I had forgotten that I had them because I hadn’t taken a photo of one yet. As I was pulling this tablescape together I was trying to figure out what napkins to use (all my strawberry napkins have red strawberries) and I suddenly remembered these mauve napkins. I probably bought them at HomeGoods, I have had them for several years. I found the pink strawberry napkin rings on Ebay a couple months ago. They have no markings. I knew they would work with these plates but they were more than I wanted to pay because there were 16 of them. I offered less (sometimes that works) but the seller refused so I kept looking. I finally came back to them because I couldn’t find any strawberry napkin rings that weren’t red. I knew if I didn’t get these, I probably wouldn’t use these strawberry plates on a tablescape for some time if ever. To read about the What, When and How of napkin rings please click here.

Because I had so many, I fudged a bit and I used these napkin rings as place card holders too. They are freestanding so they worked. I knew I would never find anything that matched otherwise! To read about the What, When and Why of place card holders, please click here.

The sage green acrylic goblet on the left came from our Pier 1 store before it closed. Dollar stores often have this goblet in different colors. I looked for tall pink goblets for a couple of years and suddenly World Market had these pink glass goblets a couple of years ago. They sold out quickly so others must have been looking for them too. I like the height of both these goblets. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying goblets for your tablescaping collection including the colors that I use most often here.

I found a vintage cream and sugar set several years ago to match the plates but not a teapot. Just as well, I have no room for one!

I also found a couple of vintage salt and pepper sets that matched.

Cookie jars are one of my go-to centerpieces and I was lucky to find this Cemar strawberry cookie jar that matched the plates several years ago. I have it sitting on a white drink dispenser stand from Pottery Barn. I added a small green doily for more definition.

I didn’t put the matching cup and saucer on the table because they are always to be placed on the table after the meal but I wanted to show one. I found them on Ebay several years ago too.

Time for some strawberries!

Don’t miss the Tablescape How-To tab at the top of my blog for DIY tips and tricks. That link is here: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/tablescapehowto

I put a new tablescape on my blog every week, please check back!