Celebrate Apple Month(s)!

Welcome to the best party of the week, Tablescape Thursday, hosted by Susan of Between Naps on the Porch.  Be sure to visit her site and see all the participants this week.  Last week I noticed alot of great tables with sunflower dishes and they were all different!  How many different sunflower dishes are there? (you will be seeing mine in the next week or two!)

 I am trying to hold off  doing a "fall" table since it's still summer here in Florida where everything is green and the temperatures are still in the low 90's everyday.  So I came up with a compromise and it gave me a chance to use these cute apple plates. I got them at the thrift store near me, located in a little cottage and run by the wonderful people of the Presbyterian Church. They take 50% off everything in stock on the last Saturday of the month which make the prices even more reasonable.  What makes it special to me, though, is that all the price tags are written by hand and the handwriting is identical to my mother's.  She was always very involved in our Church in NJ and helped run a Holiday Bazaar that was second to none.  She would love seeing my sister and me tablescape (probably be a little shocked to see me doing it!). 

Did you know that there are almost a dozen day-long apple holidays scattered throughout the year? There is also a National Apple Week and to top it off, National Apple Month actually spans September, October and November!  They certainly give us enough time to celebrate.   Apparently, the Apple's public relations staff is doing something right!

I decided to set the table in my Dining Room where the wood table would be an attractive backdrop for my place settings and centerpiece.  As tempting as it was to pick up every apple "item" I have seen lately, I tried to use things I had on hand.  Since there were only 4 of the plates, I removed the leaf from the table and  used 4 chairs.

 

Do you remember when I said I rarely have an original idea and "take" ideas from others?  I admit to googling "apple tablescape" just to see what others have done.  I was very impressed!  One of my favorites was this one by Alycia Nichols at Table Twenty- One.  I love what she did with  green apples.

Ok, I did pick up a few inexpensive items after I bought the dishes.  These placemats are from Ross and I've seen them used by bloggers before.

The gold stoneware plates are from Ross.  They are a great neutral color, nice and heavy.   No chargers today since the placemat is on the small side. 

These copper napkin rings are from Ross.  The double layered napkins are from Burlington Coat Factory . I used my teak flatware that had been my mom's. 

The glasses were a recent purchase from Home Goods.  They have a slight yellow tint to them and they seem to go with everything!  Thanks to Michelle for helping me pick them out.

These little apple dishes are also from my favorite thrift store.   I added some stones, a stick bundle and a candle.  These would look great with some red shiny candies (red hots, maybe?)

Someone had donated a collection of salt and pepper shakers to the thrift store and I couldn't resist these apple ones (or the watermelon ones or the lighthouse ones! $1 each set!) They were all in perfect condition so I'm sure they were treasured by someone. I like to imagine what the previous owner would think of her beautiful salt and pepper shakers being photographed and seen by hundreds of people. 

My favorite part of this table is the centerpiece.  I bought the wreath on clearance at Tuesday Morning  last winter before I even dreamed of tablescaping.  I layed it on it's side and added a few faux apples in between the flowers and leaves. Then I filled a hurricane vase with a combination of red and green apples to stick in the middle.  How easy (lazy) is that? 

The candle holder and the candle are also from the thrift store.  Someone had donated a few dozen Kirkland candles and they were half off!

I lit the candles and tried several times to capture the blue hour.  No luck this time!  You do get our view outside our Dining Room window. 

I love what candlelight does to a table.

I want to finish by saying how this tablescape was made possible (and affordable) because of one of the many Church sponsored thrift stores we are lucky enough to have throughout this country.  All the items are  donated and the stores are staffed by volunteers.  As great as Goodwill is, it is after all, a very profitable business.  Next time you have goods to donate, please consider your local non-profit thrift store, too.

Thank you for stopping by.  Please check out Creating Wonderful Spaces and see my sister, Elaine's tablescape for this week.  I always appreciate your comments and if you become a follower you will be sure to never miss a post!  Some of you have said you have had trouble commenting but please try again!

Did you notice I got through this whole post without one apple cliche (it wasn't easy, believe me!)?