Tablescape Thursday: Winter's End

"As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."  Genesis 8:22 (NIV)

February is winding down, which means winter is coming to an end.  Okay, so I know that winter isn't technically over until the 3rd week of March, but it my mind, once March hits, it's spring!  And boy do I have spring fever this year!  This has been one crazy winter....a week or so ago we had about a foot of snow, and then the last couple days we hit 80*.  That's Oklahoma for ya!  And this little taste of spring has left me wanting more! 

So this past weekend as I was packing up the last of my winter decorations (okay, I'll admit it, I still had a couple Christmasy things out!  Eek!), I decided that before I get out all my spring decor, I'd throw together one more wintery tablescape to signify the end of winter & the beginning of spring.   And when I say "throw together," I think this was the fastest I've ever put a tablescape together!  Usually I play around with it for a long time, sometimes hours, but this time, I just started throwing things on the table, & liked the way it looked right away!





 

(You'll have to forgive my wrinkled tablecloth!  Remember, I threw this together.  No time for ironing!)

I started by grabbing a couple of lanterns from our front porch.  I actually have 3 sizes, but decided I only needed the smaller 2 for my tablescape.  I LOVE these lanterns.  When I got them last fall, I attached some greenery with burlap ribbon, added a candle, and set them on our front porch, surrounded by pumpkins & gourds.  When Thanksgiving was over, I simply added some red berries to the greenery & surrounded the candles with faux cranberries, and they were ready for winter!  Now that winter is coming to an end, I'll be replacing the lanterns with a fountain that my hubby is putting together.  Since I was bringing them in anyway, I figured I might as well display them on my table for a few days.

Then I surrounded the lanterns with some "snowy" bird nests & greenery.  Even though they're snowy, the nests remind me that spring is just around the corner.

And, of course, I had to use my bird nest chargers....again to symbolize the changing of the seasons.

I chose to use my snowflake salad plates atop cream color dinner plates.  The edges of the dinner plates kind of remind me of snowflakes, too. 

The light green napkins tie in the color of the greenery & help to give the plates some definition. 

A little sprig of berries adds a pop of color to the neutral palette.

And because this time of year around here, you never know whether you'll need an iced tea or some hot cocoa, there's a goblet & a mug to quench either thirst.  A coordinating napkin, in a light tan color, is tucked inside the mug for a little extra pizzazz.

And my very favorite thing about this tablescape is that I didn't have to buy a thing........it was already stuff I had around the house.  (Hmm, maybe that's why it came together so fast!)

I hope you've enjoyed this "Winter's End" tablescape as much as I enjoyed putting it together. 

Tablecloth - Ross

Lanterns - The Market in OKC (Pottery Barn has the exact same ones, but I have to admit, they're about 2x as much as I paid!)

Greenery/Burlap Ribbon - The Market in OKC

Berry Picks - Hobby Lobby

Snowy Birds Nests - Affair of the Heart in OKC

Bird Nests Chargers - Pottery Barn

Green Napkins/Tan Napkins - Burlington

Cream Dinner Plates - Chris Madden Home Collection/JC Penney

Snowflake Salad Plates - GG (Gracious Goods) Collection/Horchow

Silverware - GG Collection/Horchow

Goblets - GG Collection/Ebay (Horchow also has them)

Mugs - GG Collection/Horchow

I'm joining with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.  Check them out to see all the beautiful tablescapes.