Mothers Day Bouquet, Tablescape, and Mantle

I think the saying should be “May Madness” not March Madness. I have a dozen or so posts waiting for me to have time to give them the attention they deserve, but I’m bumping this one up the queue since Mother’s Day is THIS SUNDAY, and I thought you might be looking for a little inspiration. Among other festivities this weekend, we held an early Mother’s Day Dinner. I shopped the house for some homey feeling decorations and set a pretty table to honor my MIL. This flower arrangement and tablescape would be great for any Mother’s Day breakfast, brunch or luncheon, as well. Very feminine but fresh!

The colors and bouquet are inspired by raspberry lemonade, with pale yellow and soft pink flowers. I set the table with a lace table cloth and pulled out a few pieces of vintage China I inherited from my grandma as accents on the table and the mantle.

Since we served the meal restaurant-style (with my 11-year-old as waitress), we didn’t set around the plates. I wish I had taken a close-up shot of the silverware. We wrapped it up in a white napkin and wrapped the napkin with a paper doily (from my Dollar Store stash). Then we tied it up with a bow made of yellow-striped bakers twine.

BSB was responsible for the lemon accents on the glasses, and we put a few raspberries in each glass, that would later contain fresh lemonade.

At each place setting, on top of another dollar store doily, was a small bud vase with a mini-carnation. (I found the bud vases years ago at Target. I love pulling them out for things like this!)

I had also used those paper doilies to make a simple garland for the mantle, which is decorated with some vintage and a few not-so-vintage pieces in cream and green, with pink flowers. I have since added some of the bud vases to the tray under the mirror, and love it even more.

This flower arrangement, which served as a centerpiece and gift, came together pretty quickly. We had lots of mason jars on hand, so that made the perfect “vase” for my arrangement. I’ve seen others do the lemon-slice thing, but hadn’t tried it before. The way I came up with to do it, was to insert a plastic drinking cup inside the jar and wedge the lemon slices between the jar and the cup. My cup was just the right size, except that the top was too wide to get past the mouth of the jar. I cut a slit length-wise in the cup and squeezed the top of the cup together to insert it fully. Then I pried the cup up as I slid the lemon slices down and all around the jar. They look really pretty! (I have no idea how long they last like that before going bad).

I had purchase some wild-looking tulips and mini carnations. I wanted more of a garden look, than a floral shop look. I cut them to rest just above the mouth of the jar. Then I filled in the gaps with the carnations. I tied yellow-striped bakers twine around the jar to finish it off.

Considering we had my son’s birthday party (trains! Post to follow) the night before, I was pleased how well we pulled off this dinner, with out too much stress. BSB grilled steaks and steamed vegetables and his sister brought a spinach and berry salad, and cheesecake. We had been planning to go out to eat, but couldn’t arrange babysitting for all of the children, so this restaurant idea, was an attempt to have a nice meal for the grown-ups while the kids dinned on hot dogs in the other room. Of course, the youngest two, kept wandering to hang out with their parents, so it wasn’t quite a restaurant experience, but it was served with a lot more love!

What are your Mother’s Day plans?