Welcome To Our Butterfly Garden Tablescape!!!

Welcome to The Butterfly Garden Tablescape – If you are someone who likes to view the whole before the parts, the following video should begin if you hover here for less than a minute…and it will show you what the table and dining room looked like as a whole.

In the Beginning…There were Napkin Rings

There is always a catalyst for a tablescape, it seems, and for this tablescape, the catalyst was the Butterfly Napkin Ring Set I found on eBay. It was made by Franklin Mint, and featured 12 different kinds of butterflies. I was excited that the monarch was in the set – I remember learning the name of that butterfly before any others as a child and it was also exciting to see the bluish/purple butterflies that I had first seen at the butterfly exhibit at the Natural History Museum. I love this realistic set of butterfly napkin rings and the price was good, for such a large set of napkin rings with a display case included.

The butterflies and the flowers on these are both three dimensional, which gives them a great look. I thought they would be incredibly easy to build a tablescape around, however I ended up having a hard time doing so, as the variety of colors ended up clashing with some plates I tried to use. So eventually I decided I would use them with my green Bordallo Geranium plates. But as I tried to put it together, the butterflies seemed washed out with all that green. So I searched periodically for a salad plate that would work and eventually I found the Franklin “Butterflies of the World” plates on eBay. These plates are colorful, and many of the plates featured the same butterflies as on the napkin rings. I was excited to find these plates reasonably priced on eBay. I thought that I would still use the Geranium plates for my dinner/charger plates as they have gone so well with many of my flower, animal, and other “nature” plates. However, there still did not seem to be enough color on the tablescape, so I abandoned that plan, and tried other plates I owned.

The “Butterflies of the World” plate is shown with the Bordallo Pinheiro “Geranium” Charger I first tried. Do you also feel that the Geranium Charger, (although it matches the leaves on the butterfly plate in color) lacks the pizazz needed for this tablescape?

The Plate Stack

When I tried the following plates, and placemats, the color seemed to “come alive” and I knew these were the “look” I was hoping for.

The start for the “plate stack” was a scalloped lime green placemat from Homegoods, and on top of that was placed the Hobby Lobby gold charger (sold often at Christmas time in recent years). At the top of the stack, are the Franklin Mint “Butterflies of the World” plates by Franklin Porcelain and John Wilkinson – 1983. I have 8 different plates displayed on the table (I picked my favorites of the 12 I have). I love how each one has a different kind of butterfly, as well as a different kind of flowers!

The Flatware

I chose to use one of my favorite flatware patterns of all time – see below.

The flatware is made by Godinger, and is called “Butterfly”. I love the gold butterflies and flowers that accent this stainless flatware. It is available at Amazon and many department stores.

Placemats and Napkins

The placemats are from Homegoods in 2022 and are marked “The Prairie” by Rachel Ashwell. I love their large size as they are visible even under some of my largest chargers, which I appreciate! The gold napkins are from Amazon and were purchased for Christmas 2022.

Centerpieces

For the centerpieces, I chose to use vases of flowers, and butterfly figurines set on driftwood. The flowers are from the spring collection at Hobby Lobby. I wanted them to have a meadow or wildflower look – with many colors and kinds of flowers – to go with the “Butterflies of the World” plates.

The vases were purchased on eBay a few years ago to go with my hydrangea dishes. These vases are vintage crackle glass and are from the brand – Luminaire.

I love that they coordinate with the flowers and butterflies on this tablescape, as well as with the dishes shown below.

A Special Spring Table for Someone Special

Other items in the center of the table include the butterfly figurines, shown below. They are also from Franklin Mint’s “Butterflies of the World” collection. I like the way each butterfly is feeding on a different kind of flower.

The central centerpiece on this table has a surprising origin. I had been looking for some type of ceramic log to use to display these butterfly figurines, but was having no luck finding a realistic or inexpensive decorative “log” when I was surprised by a “Gift from the Lake”. Normally our “gifts” from the lake are 2 X 6 inch by 8 foot wood planks from other docks that have washed up in our dock/swimming area. These are generally very water logged and very heavy, and we need to pull them out of the lake, as they are hazards for boats, jet skis and even for the boat lift mechanisms. However, this recent “gift” was a happy surprise, because it was a nice sized piece of driftwood, light in weight, and perfect for my butterfly tablescape.

In the Dining Room

On a shopping trip in “Old Town Spring”, a shopping village in the greater Houston area, I was excited to find some unique and beautiful butterfly suncatchers that I thought would look great with this tablescape. I have placed 4 butterfliles and one dragonfly, on each side of the window, near each curtain. In certain photos they seem to be outside the window, and flying off to find nectar. The suncatchers from the left, and right of the large window are shown below.

Also in the dining room are some Fitz and Floyd butterfly candle holders from 1992, I purchased these on eBay and Replacements.com.

If You Plant The Zinnias … They Will Come

As some of you may have read, our new puppy likes to eat – well EVERYTHING – including toxic plants, so we have had to do major plant removal, to get plants out of our yard that our other dogs had never been interested in eating. Although this is a challenge, it is so nice to know that Simba is safe in our yard. Some of the plants we had to take out were the exceedingly toxic – Oleanders and the vincas. (If you have those and are interested in taking them out, please contact me and I will send you a post I am working on regarding things to beware of when removing toxic plants, as sometimes the removal can be a very dangerous process as well.) We have decided to keep our yard free of plants toxic to dogs or cats, (even though we don’t have cats, we have some neighbors who do) and now we are very aware, that at any time you may end of with a very sweet pet, who is very likely to eat ANYTHING! Now that they have both the oleanders and vincas have been removed, we chose zinnias and crepe myrtles as our replacement plants. We wondered if the zinnias would draw the butterflies, as the toxic vincas had, and we are happy to report that the zinnias have brought even more butterflies this year (and the best thing is they are not toxic to the dogs).

I’m happy to report, in most areas, if you plant zinnias – the butterflies do come!

Sunset & Sunset

I photographed the tablescape on two different days and was thrilled to be able to watch two gorgeous sunsets. As I do often, I took a break a few times to go outside and watch the sunset and take some photographs of it as well. I want to share the sunsets with you from – both inside the house, and from the outside.

I love how the sunset, lake, trees and clouds are often reflected on our windows.

Link Parties and Blog Hops

I often participate in Tablescape Thursday at betweennapsontheporch.net, Please click on the link to see this website of one of my favorite bloggers – I especially love her “Tablescape Thursday posts” which are all about tablescapes and her tablescape post is followed by photos and links for many other wonderful tablescapers.  Her “Metamorphosis Monday” posts, which are all about “Befores and Afters” – is another favorite of mine. 

I also often participate in Marty’s “Inspire me Tuesday” link party at “A Stroll Thru life” I hope you can check out her website and her Tuesday link party which is followed by photos and links for many other ideas from her followers.

Recently I started following Katherinescorner.com. I frequently join her TFT blog party. The TFT – Thursday Favorite Things blog hop contains links on many topics with lots of great ideas. To get there click on the preceding link and go to her website and they check out her most recent Thursday – TFT post. At the bottom of the post, you will find many of her followers’ ideas. 

Recently I discovered the Imparting Grace blog, and I am really enjoying it. To get to this website click the preceding link and look for the “Grace At Home Blog party” which begins some weeks on Thursdays.

I have also started following SouthernSunflowers.com and recently joined their “Home Matters Link Party”. It begins each week on Thursdays. I hope you can check it out.

Very Recently, I started following KarinsKottage.com, and I am loving her blog as well, and can’t wait to see her Italian Castle remodel! I often participate in her Linky Party on Wednesdays . 

I have also started following EclecticRedBarn.com and am loving the “Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop” and I am also sharing on Eclectic Red Barn on Wednesdays at the You’re the Star Blog Hop. 

In addition I really enjoy Lifeasaleowife.com and share on the “Crafty Creators Link Party” and the “Happiness is Homemade” party on Mondays.

This year, for my first time, I have joined the “Home Imagined Link Party” at Masterpiecesofmylife.com. I love this website, and the hostesses and other contributors have some great ideas! To get to the home page, use the above link and then scroll down to “Home Imagined Link Party” and click on it to get to the Link Party page. A new link party is posted every other week. 

I have also shared recently on EsmeSalon.com. The following link, Senior Salon Pit Stop will get you to the link party on Esme’s site as well as getting you to some great recipes and other ideas!

This week, I joined the Saturday Sparks Party at Suzanne’s Pieced Pastimes Blogspot. I hope you can check it out.

I also wanted to share that my “Drawing Disney” tablescape was shared recently on the “Crafty Creators” Link Party. It was such a nice surprise to see that Nikki had shared that tablescape with her many readers. Thanks Nikki!

Update: Today, (October 4, 2023) I saw that my Butterfly Tablescape was featured on the You’re the Star Blog Hop at Eclectic Red Barn. Thanks to Beverly at Eclectic Red Barn and also to this week’s hosts Angie @ God’s Growing Garden and Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures.

I hope you will enjoy visiting these wonderful bloggers on the above websites as much as I do!

I hope you enjoyed the Butterfly Garden Tablescape and the Sunsets too. I would love to hear your comments! Do you have a Butterfly garden? Have you ever had item that you wanted to display as part of a tablescape, and it took a while to get the tablescape the way you wanted? That’s how this tablescape was for me, but I love the way it turned out. I’d love to hear about your tablescape adventures! If you would like to comment, please scroll to the bottom of the post for the comments section.

at Nikki had shared that tablescape with her many readers. Thanks Nikki!

Posts I Hope You will Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this nature related tablescape, I think you may enjoy the following posts too.

Simba’s Boat Bravery and Other Patriotic Holiday Adventures

Table Details and Origins for Butterfly Garden Tablescape

Gold Chargers – Hobby Lobby – usually available at Christmas time from October to December.

Muirfield Magnificence Dinner Plates – formerly sold at department stores, now sold at eBay, Etsy, and other resale shops. 

Butterflies of the World plates – from Franklin Porcelain – John Wilkinson (1983)– often available on eBay.

Butterfly Garden Napkin Rings – from Franklin Mint – often available on eBay. (I would not hang these in their display case unless you have attached Velcro to each napkin ring, and to each napkin ring spot in the display case, as they do fall out without the vecro pieces.  Also, handle them by the ring part and not the butterfly part, as the butterflies are very fragile.  Please don’t ask me how I know this…) 

Butterflies of the World figurines – from Franklin Mint – often available on eBay.

Godinger “Butterfly” flatware with gold accents – often available at Amazon or department stores.  

Gold Napkins – Amazon

Lime Green Round Scalloped Placemats – “The Prairie” by Rachel Ashwell – Homegoods Spring 2022

Waterford  Iced Beverage Marquis Markham – Macy’s

Hydrangea Crackled Glass Vases by Luminaire – sometimes  available on eBay

Driftwood Centerpiece – a lake “find” 

Spring Silk Flowers – Hobby Lobby – Spring 2023

Butterfly Suncatchers – discontinued at the store in Old Town Spring, where I purchased them – for a similar look, search Amazon for “Butterfly Suncatchers”. 

Fitz and Floyd Yellow Butterfly Candle Holders – from Fitz and Floyd, but discontinued – sometimes available at eBay or Replacements.com