A Flamboyance of Flamingos – From Florida – Fly in for our Featured Feast

The Flamingo Tablescape Video

Flamingo Inspiration

Today’s table was inspired by the flamingos themselves. I can remember being fascinated with flamingos as a child – the way they balance on one leg, and can completely fold up and hide the other, their bright colors, the way they hang out in groups (called a Flamboyance of Flamingos), the way their knees bend backwards compared to humans and many other things. I don’t remember exactly where I first saw flamingos, but I always associate them with Florida. I’m guessing that I first saw them in Cypress Gardens Florida. I grew up in a suburb of Cleveland Ohio and since winter can involve a snow even in April, many “Buckeyes” head to Florida for spring break, for the sun, the sea, and many tourist destinations like “Cypress Gardens”. (in my younger days Florida was not famous for Disney World, as it had not yet been built – although the land was being gradually purchased in secret). It is hard now to believe that there once was a time with no Disney park in Florida.

Cypress gardens was famous for its world class garden, its swamp ride, water ski show, flamingos, concerts, and many other things.

Cypress Gardens is the site of Legoland now, and Legoland has kept much of the original gardens, and also continues to have a waterski show (though the show features skiers in Legoland character costumes, rather than the traditional costumes of Cypress Gardens.

The Flamingo Dinnerware

I found the Flamingo Dinnerware at Sur la Table around 2012. It is Melamine and contains a dinner plate, salad plate and pasta/soup bowl. The soup bowl was not used in this tablescape. At the beginning of our time in the lake house, we only purchased dinnerware that was lake or ocean related, in order to have the dishes fit the “weekend getaway” idea. At this point we had fish melamine dishes and seashell ceramic dishes. This seemed like a fun set to add. Overtime, the lake house dish collection has grown to include additional themes.

Pictured above is the dinner plate. I love the single flamingo, the hibiscus flower, and palm leaves in the dinner plate. The palm leaves placemats in the center of the table coordinate well with the plates. I often add hibiscus flowers from our yard to this tablescape, however, most of our hibiscus plants succombed to the freese this year and we haven’t yet had time to replace them.

New to the Tablescape this Year

When I’ve done this tablescape in the past, I have used pink placemats, but this year I decided to reuse the fuchisa Kate Spade tablecloth that was in the recent “A Special Spring Table for Someone Special” post.

In addition, the flowered napkins by “April Cornell” are new this year and were purchased from Homegoods. I love the way they coordinate with the pink, green and blue in the flamingo plates. I bought these napkins just because I loved them, even though I was not sure if I had anything else to coordinate with them. I was surprised and happy to realize they went with this tablescape.

Also, new to the table this year are the above beaded and feathered flamingo napkin rings that are from the closed Pier 1 store. Although I am partial to ceramic napkin rings, I love these and they have the advantage of being ideal outdoors in a light wind as they are unlikely to blow over and break, and they are great for very young guests.

The flatware was a Homegoods find, that I bought specifically for this table. The pattern name is “Claro” and it is made by “Godinger” I love the way the flatware looks with the solid tablecloth.

The Bobbing Flamingos

My very favorite things on on this table are the metal flamingo figurines. I saw them in Hobby Lobby a few years ago with the air movement in the store making them bob up and down. I thought they would be perfect for this tablescape. I also love that each one is posed a little differently – one looking forward, one looking back, and one with his neck bent forward.

To see the bobbing action of the flamingos, check out the autoplay video that preceeds the “Flamingo Inspiration” heading at the beginning of this post (it takes a minute or so to load) . The flamingos “bounce” or “bob” when the table is bumped, when a ceiling fan is going above, and outside, whenever a light wind moves thru. For heavy winds the flamingos will need to be anchored with rocks, or seashells or perhaps secured to the table in some other way.

The Plate Stack

The Plate Stack begins, as my animal, plant and Christmas tablescapes often do, with a Bordallo Pinheiro green charger. On this table I used the Geranium Charger – a current pattern. However, the vintage “Lemon Leaf” Bordallo Pinheiro Charger would be great as well (often available on eBay or Etsy). The second plate is a dinner plate from the Sur la Table Flamingo set, which is then topped with the Sur la Table flamingo salad plate. Although this Sur la Table Flamingo dinnerware set has been discontinued , the Sur La Table store frequently has some type of flamingo plate, as does Homegoods.

Sur La Table store frequently has some type of flamingo plate, as does Homegoods, and many other stores as well.

The Flamingo Goblets

I was so excited a few years ago, when I walked into Homegoods and saw 8 of these flamingo goblets. These are glass, but I think the new ones sold this year are acrylic. I like both types, so I would have purchased either at the time, as long as they were pink. Surprisingly, to me, a lot of the newer flamingo glasses and dinnerware items often have a salmon/orange/peach/red tint – like the flamingos from the Caribbean whose diet contains shrimp that have eaten algae with a different carotenoid level than the algae in drier areas where the levels tend to produce pink feathered flamingos. I’m a fan of all the colors of flamingos, however, if color similarity on your table is important to you, like it is to me, you may want to chose flamingo table items in a similar hue.

Also in the Dining Room…

I added my Homegoods Flamingo Pitcher to the Dining Room – on top of my Jewelry chest of drawers, which I use to store some of my frequently used Napkin rings. Although this pitcher was originally purchased for beverages, I decided to display it with silk flowers for this tablescape.

Simba

Simba stopped by to say “Hi” while I was doing the tablescape. Dogs we have had in years past often laid underneath the table for the whole process, but Simba, weighing in at 80 lbs. is a little big to fit under the table admidst all the table and chair legs. So he has settled for just wandering in from time to time to say Hi”.

Outside the Window

A Lakeside post, is not the same without the lake, so here are some photos of the view outside the window while I was making this tablescape.

In This Post

To see what’s “Coming Soon”, and “Posts I Hope You Will Enjoy” please continue scrolling. Below these, you will find the “Table Details and Origins” section (where to buy tablescape items, etc.)and a “Link Parties” section. Then, at the very bottom of the post is a place to make comments. I would love to hear your comments about summer tables, traveling to Florida, Flamingos, Tablescaping or anything else you would like to share. Thanks so much for “stopping by”!!

Happy Summer!!!

Coming Soon

Posts coming soon are a Memorial Day Tablescape, a Tropical Birds Tablescape, A Retirement Table and A Seaside Table. I hope you can stop on by here at Lifeisbetterlakeside.com and check them out.

Posts I Hope You Will Enjoy

If you enjoyed this “bird” post, I hope you will enjoy the following:

Hummingbird Tablescape for Fall and Spring

and this one with ducks:

April Showers Bring May Flowers!! But Do They Also Bring Ducks with Umbrellas????

If you enjoyed the lake views, I hope you will check out the Sunset on the Lake” posts below:

A Glorious Sunset on the Lake – April 15, 2023

Sunset on the Lake – April 2, 2023

If you liked the pink tablecloth and other bright colors in this Tablescape, I hope you will check out:

A Special Spring Table for Someone Special

Link Parties

I often participate in Tablescape Thursday, Please click on the link to see the website of one of my favorite bloggers, which is followed by photos and links for many other wonderful tablescapes. 

I also often read https://www.astrollthrulife.net and participate in Inspire Me Tuesday, as well. It is on the Please click on the link to see the website of a another blogger who’s website I really enjoy, and it is followed by photos and links for many other ideas.

Recently I started following Katherinescorner.com. Today I have joined her TFT blog. The TFT blog contains links on many topics with lots of great ideas – click on the following link to see her blog hop this week – Katherine’s Corner TFT blog hop.

Table Details and Origins

For

“A Flamboyance of Flamingos From Florida

Fly in for our Featured Feast”

Flamingo dinnerware – Sur la Table – around 2012

Claro Flatware by Godinger – Homegoods – 2022

Bobbing Flamingo figures – Hobby Lobby 2019 approximately

Flamingo napkin rings – Pier 1

Acrylic Flamingo Pitcher – Homegood 2021 approximately

Hydrangea silk flowers – Michaels and Hobby Lobby

Spring  small dark pink flowers – Hobby Lobby

Kate Spade Larabee Dot Tablecloth – originally sold at department stores – now occasionally for sale on eBay or Etsy

April Cornell Flowered Napkins – Homegoods

Flamingo glass goblets – Homegoods

Palm leaf Placemats – Hobby Lobby – 2023? 

Lit Raz Imports Birch Tree with colored lights – Amazon

Bordallo Pinheiro Green Geranium Chargers –    Also available at Nieman Marcus, Horchow,  and Amazon  (when checking prices please be aware that some stores sell these individually and some sell them as a set of 2) 

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