Winters are long here in PEI so, when Easter arrives, I am ready for some bright and cheerful colors. This Whimsical Easter Tablesetting is casual and quite simplistic and yet very seasonal and colorful. Continue reading Whimsical Easter Tablesetting
Category Archives: Easter
Tulips and Easter Eggs Tablescape
This Easter-themed tablesetting is perfect for the host or hostess who is not overly knacky with arranging flowers. Tulips make a stunning bouquet as they come in such an array of fabulous colors. With their stately long stems, tulips practically arrange themselves!
This bouquet came from Bernadette’s Flowers in Stratford PEI and these tulips are greenhouse-grown here on the Island at Vanco Farms in Mount Albion. You can read my story following my visit to Vanco Farms by clicking here. While Vanco Farms, as of January 2019, no longer operate a retail outlet at their greenhouses, their wonderful tulips are available at local florist shops and supermarkets from January through to mid-spring. They also ship off-Island as well. They are a top quality product.
What makes this bouquet so easy is that, if you get tulips from a local florist shop, they will arrange the bouquet for you with some filler flowers as accents. Basically, all you need to do is carefully remove them from their packaging and place them, already arranged, into a favorite vase as I have done here. Easy-peasy.
Because it’s Easter, I am bringing out the good Royal Albert china for the occasion. It’s light, bright, and airy and the deep pink in the tulips and the purple filler flowers pick up the floral colors in the Lavender Rose pattern of the dinnerware.
In this tablesetting, I have opted to use white cloth placemats and to expose the wood in my dining table. The charger plates are a soft shade of pink-mauve, in keeping with traditional pastel Easter colors. Charger plates are one of the easiest ways to change out the look of dinnerware. For this pattern, I have about four different colors of chargers I use and each will bring a different look to the table.
The napkin fold I have selected for this tablesetting is the whimsical bunny ear fold. Easy to do, this adds a touch of whimsy to each placesetting. The design also produces a small cavity in which to tuck a special little treat. These napkins have a sparkly silver thread running through them that gives understated bling to the tablescape.
Scatter a few Easter eggs around the centre of the table and you’re done!
I hope you have enjoyed a little glimpse into my Easter-themed tablesetting. Have a wonderful Easter!
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For other Easter-themed tablesetting inspiration from My Island Bistro Kitchen, click on the links below:
Easter Tablesetting
A Casual Tablescape for Easter Brunch
The Bunnies Are Ready for Easter Breakfast Tablesetting
Springtime Yellow Tablescape
Tulip Time Tablescape
Peter Cottontail Tablesetting for Easter
Tulip Clusters Springtime Tablescape
Tip Toe Through the Tulips Easter Tablesetting
The Bunnies Are Ready For Easter Breakfast Tablesetting
It’s all about whimsy, springtime, and bunnies in this earthy-themed tablesetting for Easter morning breakfast.
Simple stalks of pussywillows are casually contained in a glass vase and secured by colorful Easter eggs at their base. Easter eggs are strewn about the table in and among whimsical little green moss bunnies. I really think the trio of green bunnies is on an Easter egg hunt!
These little fellas are so cute!
The green faux-moss bunnies are kind of a refreshing change from the traditional pastel colored bunnies.
In a departure from traditional placemats, I have used squares of imitation moss. The white dinnerware pops atop the green moss mats. White dinnerware works for any occasion and really is a good investment. I’ve used very plain flatware in keeping with the informal tablesetting.
Simple napkin rolls are held in place with pewter napkin rings that feature springtime daffodils. These were made by Seagull Pewter in Pugwash, Nova Scotia.
This setting is meant to be fun and informal.
The bunny eggcups keep the bunny theme going.
Little Easter chocolate bars adorn each cup but are easily set aside and replaced with a boiled egg, if desired, at breakfast. Who says you can’t have chocolate for a breakfast treat!
I have added a couple of larger faux moss-covered whimsical bunnies to my dining room mantle to coordinate the theme throughout the room.
Joyeous Easter!
For more Easter-themed tablesetting inspiration, click on the links below:
Tulip Time Tablescape
Tulip Clusters Springtime Tablescape
Tip Toe Through the Tulips Easter Tablesetting
Springtime Yellow Tablescape
Peter Cottontail Tablesetting for Easter
Easter Tablesetting
A Casual Tablescape for Easter Brunch
Easter Breakfast Tablesetting
Tulip Time Tablescape
2019 Update: As of January 2019, Vanco Farm mentioned in this posting is no longer operating its tulip retail outlet at their greenhouse operation in Mount Albion, PEI. Their fabulous tulips are still available, though, at various locations throughout PEI, including major supermarkets and florist shops.
Living in Atlantic Canada, it’s not unheard of to still have snow in April. That’s one reason why I like to use springtime elements in my tablesettings beginning as early as possible – if I can’t see spring outside, I can at least create a spring zone in my dining room which is what I’ve done with this tablesetting.
I love paying a visit to the retail outlet at Vanco Farm greenhouses in Mount Albion, PEI, a short drive from Charlottetown. They grow fabulous tulips all winter long in their big greenhouses. If you haven’t already read the story I wrote about Vanco’s tulip-growing operation, click here.
Sometimes, I have a particular color scheme in mind when I make the drive to Vanco’s. Other times, however, I go with an open mind in search of a color or type of tulip that will inspire my creativity in developing a tablescape. This is what occurred with this tablesetting.
When I arrived at the greenhouses, they had these spectacular double flowered tulips in a coral pink shade with a soft ivory/pale yellow edge. They resemble peonies because they are packed with layers of petals. They were too delightful to pass up so they became the focal point of this Easter tablesetting and inspired the color theme.
If you are a regular reader of my food blog, you will recall that I sometimes like to corral the elements of my tablescape into a container such as a basket or tray. This keeps the table clean and nondistracting. This is also a good choice if you plan on removing the centerpiece from the table during the meal and replacing it with a ham or turkey on a platter. It’s much easier to pick up one container off the table than several individual items.
What I have used today for the base of the centerpiece is actually a silver mirrored bathroom vanity tray — I’m a big fan of repurposing items I have around the house.
To keep the focus on the flowers, I have used a white milk glass vase. This conceals all the tulip stems so they are not competing for the eye’s attention and the colorful tulip blooms just pop above the white vase. The plain white vase also coordinates well with the dinnerware.
To add some interest to the centerpiece, I’ve also placed a bird’s nest on a small companion piece of white milk glass and added a small Easter figurine. Adding elements that connect and enhance each other is a trademark of effective tablescape creations.
The little bunnies, like the one in the photo below, are actually egg cups but I use them to hold decorative eggs, small chocolate bars, or even flowers in tablesettings other than those prepared for breakfast.
If desired, add some colorful Easter eggs casually strewn about the table to complete the seasonal tablescape.
If you can only afford one set of dinnerware, I recommend buying plain white in the best quality you can afford. White is so completely versatile. I maintain you can’t set a poor looking table if you go with white dishes! There are so many styles, shapes, textures, and colors of white dinnerware. There are blue whites, grey whites, beige whites, and brilliant whites. I have three sets of white dishes and none of them are the same shade or made of the same material. The ones in this tablesetting are made of porcelain and are a contemporary design.
With white dinnerware, it can be paired with solid or patterned colors for table linens and the look is easily changed completely, sometimes by simply switching up the charger plates. And, the best part of white dishes is that food looks really appetizing against the white background. In today’s setting, I have used basic pale pink/mauve charger plates to frame each placesetting and to give the air of a well set table.
For glassware, I have chosen some pieces of cut glass to add some sparkle to the table.
I rarely use paper napkins in a tablesetting. However, these matched perfectly so I used them for that reason and also because they are stiff enough to be able to stand in the design I have chosen for them. Cloth napkins, particularly my large dinner napkins, would have been unlikely to have had the same effect.
Because this is a casual tablesetting, I have opted to place the mugs atop the plates, allowing them to form a leaning post for the napkins. This gives a great pop of color to the white placesettings and also keeps each placesetting clean and simple. This is a casual tablesetting so it works. I would not, however, choose this arrangement if I was setting a very formal table.
The only table linen I have chosen to use in this setting is a short runner made of handmade Belgian lace that I brought home from a visit to Bruges. Using minimal linen on the table keeps the look airy and casual.
For other Easter and springtime tablescape inspiration, click on the links below:
Tulip Clusters Springtime Tablescape
Tip Toe Through the Tulips Easter Tablesetting
Springtime Yellow Tablescape
Peter Cottontail Tablesetting for Easter
Easter Tablesetting
A Casual Tablescape for Easter Brunch
Tulip Clusters Springtime Tablescape
If you are looking for a tablesetting that is casual and contemporary, consider using single flowers in individual vases as opposed to the traditional floral centerpiece. This is an easy-to-do tablescape for anyone, even those who are not knacky with floral design. If you can fill a vase with water and place a flower in it, you can do this tablescape!
Vases
White milk glass has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years and remains, at time of writing, quite trendy. It’s clean, unobtrusive, and nondistracting on the table. One of the things I like best about milk glass is that it’s opaque meaning the flower stems are not visible. The other great thing about milk glass is that it’s inexpensive and often available at thrift shops for very little money. In addition, it’s easy to mix and match milk glass shapes, sizes, and textures and still have the tablescape work and look aesthetically pleasing.
In this setting, I have used a mixture of heights and designs of milk glass bud vases because this makes for a more interesting tablescape design. Always opt for an odd number of vases versus even numbers as this is more pleasing to the eye.
Positioning of Vases
The vases can be interspersed along the center of the table as shown in the photo above.
Or, as demonstrated in the following photo, they can be grouped into clusters of two and three and strategically placed in the center of the table.
The vases can also all be clustered close together in the center for a real concentrated burst of color making this a very versatile style of tablescape.
With this type of tablescape, it’s easy to adjust the number of vases according to the size of the table. For example, if the table seats 12 or 16, add more clusters of vases here and there down the length of the table.
Flowers and Greenery
I have chosen tulips for this design because it’s springtime and I love tulips! However, any single bloom flowers will work – roses, Gerbers, daisies, carnations, etc. Two blooms can be added in one or two of the vases but try to keep the whole setting informal, simplistic, and not too contrived or equally balanced. It’s also attractive if the heights of the tulips are varied, too.
To add more interest and some visual weight to the look, I have added a small sprig of salal to a couple of the vases, but not them all. Adding salal to every vase is starting to cross over into the zone of trying to have every vase identical. Also, adding some wispy bear grass adds texture and interest so long as not too much is added.
The tulips were greenhouse-grown here on Prince Edward Island at Vanco Farms in Mount Albion. Click here to read the story I wrote a few years ago on their tulip production.
For unity, I recommend going with all one color of flower for all the vases as it’s less distracting to the eye and looks more coordinated.
Table Linens
In modern, contemporary and casual tablesettings, it’s very common to forego tablecloths and, as shown in this setting, to let the wood of the table be visible. It gives a lighter, more airy, and less fussy look to the table than if a full tablecloth was used. I have opted to use basic white placemats simply to “ground” each individual placesetting.
I’m a big fan of high-quality plain white napkins because they go with almost anything. In this setting, I have chosen the pure elegance napkin fold and placed it in the center of each plate. Because the top plate in the setting is patterned, the plain white napkin keeps the setting more simplistic and less distracting than if a patterned napkin was used. This napkin fold dresses up the setting, giving it a wee bit of height. Placing the napkin on the plate keeps each place setting neat and tidy.
Dinnerware
I advocate for the use of white dinnerware because it shows food to its best. However, I also like to set a pretty table with my formal Royal Albert “Lavender Rose” china. But, sometimes, the china can be a bit formal for the occasion. In these situations, I pair pieces of my china with my white porcelain everyday dinnerware as I have done here.
Pale pink charger plates have been used to frame each setting topped with the white dinner plate and then the Lavender Rose salad plate on top. This salad plate gives color to the setting and the colors match the tulips. By mixing the plain white with the patterned china, it makes for a more interesting setting without becoming overly formal.
Glassware
The wine glasses I have selected for this setting are quite tall. They have a simple sleek shape, almost reminiscent of the tulip shape. These work well with a contemporary/modern tablesetting.
Flatware
Because I have gone with a more casual contemporary look for this setting, I have used a simple design of flatware. I have not included the dessert fork and spoon because those can be placed on the table along with the dessert course. Foregoing them in the initial setting helps to keep the look of the table clean and simple, particularly when there are five vases as opposed to one single floral centerpiece.
I hope you have enjoyed viewing this springtime tablesetting! It’s great to see bright cheery colors after a long winter!
For other springtime and Easter tablesettings, click on the following links:
Tip Toe Through the Tulips Easter Tablesetting
Springtime Yellow Tablescape
Peter Cottontail Tablesetting for Easter
Easter Tablesetting
A Casual Tablescape for Easter Brunch
Springtime Yellow Tablescape
This springtime tablesetting has a yellow theme going on – after dreary winter months, it’s always good to see some bright and cheery colors and yellow is definitely in that category.
The three yellow floral arrangements, a tall flanked by two shorter complementary ones, add a burst of color in the center of the table. For a longer table, simply add more down the length of the table, alternating between tall and short arrangements.
The yellow tapers in glass candlesticks lend both an air of height and elegance. By keeping everything in the same color, the eye is not kept busy trying to focus on the focal point of the table. I find using all one color lends a more elegant look and feel to a tablesetting.
The yellow round placemats are an inexpensive way to pull the color down from the centerpiece into each placesetting. Good quality basic white napkins are a must! Using napkin rings is an easy and quick way to present napkins at placesettings. There are several ways napkins can be folded into the rings but this is one of the more classic. Made of pewter, these napkin rings have a daffodil design so are perfect for springtime tables.
I am a big fan of white dishes. First, food looks fabulous against a white background. And, second, white goes with anything which means a set of basic white dinnerware is a good all-round investment. With white dishes, you can go with any color scheme on the table so, although the dinnerware remains the same, the look can change dramatically simply by using different tablecloths, placemats, chargers, napkins, and/or centerpieces.
Adding lots of glassware to the table gives it a light look and feel – just what’s needed for a springtime tablesetting!
Don’t worry about mixing and matching glass candlesticks – in fact, having several different styles on the table makes it more interesting and takes away from the “matchy-matchy” look. To keep the look casual, just weave the candlesticks in at random among the flowers – they don’t have to be symmetrically placed.
No need for charger plates to frame the plates when round placemats are used.
For more tablesetting inspiration, click on the “Tablescape” tab at the top of my home page.
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Tip Toe Through The Tulips Easter Tablesetting
My color scheme for my Easter dinner table is purple and white. Of course, I am featuring the lovely spring tulips from the greenhouses of Vanco Farms in Mount Albion, PEI.
Lately, I have been using trays and baskets to “corral” the elements of my table centerpieces. I find this is an easy way to display a number of items in a centerpiece and it keeps them clustered as, otherwise, they sometimes spread aimlessly across the table without focus.
Today, I have used several pieces from my milk glass collection and added a small wire cage into which I have placed a bunny. Faux Easter eggs are a great filler to add interest to the tray. We often think that a bouquet of flowers in its entirety needs to be all in one container. However, a much more interesting collection, or vignette as I have done here, can be created if the flowers are distributed between several vessels and at different heights.
One of my favorite pieces of milk glass is the little bowl shown in the photograph below. It’s the perfect size to hold a small bird’s nest.
I have also chosen to carry the milk glass and tulip theme over to the tea cart where I have created another spring vignette in the corner of the dining room.
The napkin fold I have chosen is the Easter basket fold. This is a simple fold to do and I have used it to hold the cutlery and, what would an Easter basket be without a little chocolate tucked inside! Because the centerpiece vignette has several elements to it, I wanted to keep each placesetting as simple and uncluttered as possible. This allows the focus to be maintained on the vignette centerpiece.
I have used purple charger plates to frame each dinner plate and these coordinate perfectly with the purple tulips. I can easily change up the look of my Royal Albert “Lavender Rose” china by the use of different colored charger plates.
Purple is my favorite color so it’s an easy choice for me to work with this color scheme!
An added advantage of a “corralled” centerpiece is that it can easily be lifted off the table and replaced with a meat platter, for example, if you choose to carve the turkey or ham at the table. This way, your guests always see a centerpiece of some sort on the table throughout the entire meal, whether it be whatever was on the tray or the meat platter. The photograph below shows the table centerpiece when the guests arrive which is then removed and replaced with the turkey platter for the main course. The vignette tray is then easily returned to the table for the dessert course.
So, on the menu at my house for Easter Dinner is the traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings, one of my all-time favorite meals.
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Peter Cottontail Tablesetting for Easter
Today, I am sharing a slightly different tablesetting for the Easter season. The theme is pink and black and Peter Cottontail tip toes through the tulips!
Let’s start with the dinnerware. The pink background of each plate with a black and white bunny and border make this a dramatic set of Easter holiday dinnerware.
I started with my traditional white linen tablecloth as a blank canvas. I have opted to frame each place setting with a black charger plate which really makes the plate design pop, particularly against the white background. Matching black napkins complement each place setting. The pewter napkin rings feature a springtime daffodil design.
A little Easter bunny egg cup is set at each place setting along with an Easter-themed chocolate.
And, when all the elements come together, this is what each place setting looks like.
Here is an overhead view of the placesetting which I would class as contemporary-casual.
The beautiful pink and white tulips on today’s table came from Vanco Farms in Mount Albion, PEI. Click here to read my story on this Island farm that grows, sells, and ships tulips from their large greenhouses.
I am rarely without these beautiful flowers in my house throughout the winter and spring.
The tulips from Vanco Farms come in a vast array of colors and I can match up any color scheme of tablesetting with them. The pink ones I have chosen for today’s tablesetting are very delicate and procelain-like and they pop against their neighbouring white tulips.
A dressy yet simplistic and uncluttered tablesetting.
I hope you have a wonderful Easter!
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A Casual Tablescape for Easter Brunch
Easter offers so many options for tablescapes and tablesettings. Today, I am sharing a more casual, yet fun, tablescape.
My focus with this tablesetting is the “corralled” tablescape. I have used a wire tray as the base into which I have clustered the elements of the table centerpiece. Corralling keeps the elements tidy and together instead of having them spread out over the table.
This is an ideal option if you plan to bring, during the meal, a platter of roast turkey or ham, for example, to be carved at the table. It is easy to lift off the basket or tray with the centerpiece on it and replace it with the meat platter. The centerpiece can then easily be returned to the table for the dessert course so the table is never without a focal centerpiece during the meal.
I have simply used some faux grass in the bottom of the tray and added a substantial-sized bunny to give the centerpiece prominence and height. Then, I filled in the rest of the basket with a small bright pink geranium, a tiny bird’s nest, some Easter eggs, and some egg shells filled with tiny flowers and faux grass. A piece of egg carton provides a nesting spot for the egg shells.
It is not necessary to have fine china to set an attractive table. This table is set for Easter brunch so I have used everyday stoneware and, instead of formal napkins, have opted to use pastel-colored tea towels that match the color scheme of the centerpiece. Tucked underneath the charger plates, the tea towels take up no room on the table and do not compete with the tablescape or place settings.
I have dressed up each place setting with an egg cup filled with tiny flowers that connect each place setting to the centerpiece.
A few tiny Easter eggs and a small chocolate bar complete the place setting.
Happy Easter!
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Easter Tablesetting
It has been awhile since I have shared a tablesetting so I thought Easter would be a good opportunity to show you how I have designed my Easter tablescape this year.
I have opted to use my formal china for this setting. The pink and lavender floral design fits in with the traditional shades of Easter. I have charger plates in various colors for different seasons and events. This year, I am using a soft shade of pink that compliments the china well. This, of course, sets the color scheme for the tablescape.
For the tablescape, I am using a couple of squares of faux grass as the base. I have added a few small Easter ornaments and sprinkled some decorative Easter eggs here and there.
A number of years ago, I did a lot of decorative painting and painted designs on these wooden eggs.
I like to bring these eggs out every year and incorporate them into my Easter decorating.
At the head of the tablescape, I took a china bunny from my collection and presented her on a pedestal cake plate surrounded by Easter eggs. She commands the table, don’t you think! An easy-peasy tablescape.
Because the tablescape itself is somewhat busy, I have kept each place setting relatively simple so as not to compete with the table’s focal point.
This tablescape was quick and easy to pull together and, best of all, cost nothing since it was constructed using materials I already had. I am a big proponent of repurposing decorations from my existing seasonal collections of ornaments.
The other great thing about this tablescape is that, with no real flowers involved, it can be prepared several days in advance and enjoyed in the lead-up to Easter instead of for just a day or two. While I do love my floral arrangements, it’s not always necessary that they be in every tablescape. Also, this tablescape works well if any guests have scent allergies that can be worsened by the presence of scented floral arrangements.
So, there we have it….my Easter dinner table for 2014.
What are the elements you usually incorporate into an Easter tablesetting?
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