Thursday, March 31, 2011

Tablescape Thursday: All About The Eiffel

The name of the Lord is a strong TOWER; the righteous run to it and are safe.  Proverbs 18:10 (NIV)

March 31st marks the anniversary of the completion of the Eiffel Tower, which gave me a great excuse to put together an Eiffel tablescape!  But I can't do an Eiffel tablescape without mentioning my interior designer sister, who LOVES all things Eiffel.  In fact, I borrowed a few items from her (most of which were presents from me!) for this fun 'scape.


But before I get started, I want to share a few fun facts about the Eiffel Tower:
~ it took 2 years, 2 months, and 5 days to build & was completed March 31, 1889
~ it's main architect was Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the same person who built the internal frame of the Statue of Liberty
~ it's the tallest building in Paris, & until 1930 it was the tallest building in the world
~ it's height is equivalent to 81 levels in a conventional building
~ on a clear day, you can see up to 42 miles away from the top of the tower
~ strong winds can sway the tower slightly (during the storm of 1999, it moved approximately 13 cm from its original position!)
~ it's painted every 7 years in 3 shades of brown, with the darkest one at the bottom
~ it takes approximately 60 tons of paint & 15-18 months to paint it
~ it's open 365 days a year.......
So what are we waiting on?  Let's go!

For this simple tablescape, I chose a color scheme of black, white, and silver, with pops of bright turquoise blue. 




Once again, my black tablecloth, black rhinestone chargers, & black dinner plates get to participate......I've been getting a ton of use out of them lately!

 A turquoise napkin is layered between the charger & dinner plate....adding some definition.






Although I considered borrowing a set of my sister's Eiffel Tower salad plates so that they would be uniform, I decided to instead use my "Bon Voyage"  plates to give the table a little more interest.


I love how the scalloped edges of the salad plates mimic the dinner plates.





And as in many of my previous tablescapes, I'm again using my acrylic flatware from Walmart.  I can't tell you how much use I've gotten out of this flatware!  It's so versatile!



A coordinating spreader adorns each place setting as well, while miniature Eiffel Tower placecard holders sit just above.  {Seeing as how this was make-believe, the cards simply read: you, me, guest, & friend.}







And how fun are these goblets?







To add a little more color (& because I'm in love with turquoise), I used this great turquoise, slightly-distressed platter for the base of the centerpiece.  Then I simply displayed a black Eiffel Tower, borrowed from my craft room, as well as a black picture frame, to which I added turquoise paper & the menu (I really will be making this for dinner one day this week!), and a candle to add a little sparkle!






{This is about as French as my cooking gets!}




 Eiffel Tower salt & pepper shakers sit close by.



Here's a few more pics of the table:






All of this Eiffel tableware & I didn't even get to use all I had!  Oh well, there's always next time.

Here's a couple more pics I took just for the fun of it, showing some of the un-used "Eiffel-ware":
{an Eiffel tassel used as a napkin ring.....I love using tassels for napkin rings!}

{I also have these white Eiffel napkin rings!}

{And then there's the Eiffel cocktail picks......I guess I kinda like the Eiffel Tower, too!}

And I can't do an Eiffel tablescape without mentioning one more thing.  Remember how I said that my sister loves anything Eiffel?  Well, let me introduce you to my sister's 2 year old Maltipoo, whose birthday also happens to be in March.


Her name?  Eiffel!
{Here she is when she was a little younger.}
Isn't she cute?
But don't let the cuteness fool you!  She's a mess!  In fact, we have a couple nicknames for her:
Awful Eiffel & Eiffel Terror.  Get it?  Like tower, only terror?

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the tablescape. 

I'm linking with Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday & A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday.  Hope to see you there!

black tablecloth - Bed, Bath, & Beyond
black rhinestone chargers - Michael's
turquoise napkins & spreader knives - Steinmart
black dinner plates - by Rosanna
Bon Voyage salad plates - by Rosanna (I actually found these at TJ Maxx a year or two ago for $12 for the set.  They're normally about $40 for the set!)
acrylic flatware - Walmart
goblets - Ross (Z Gallerie also carries them) - I gave these to my sister a few months back, but borrowed them for this tablescape!
place card holders & salt & pepper shakers- also given to my sister by me, but I can't remember where I bought them.....I think maybe a local gift store called The Candy Basket....I've also seen them on the internet
turquoise platter - Wisteria
Eiffel Tower - either TJ Maxx or Hobby Lobby?
picture frame - TJ Maxx
candle holder - Hobby Lobby
tassel - Hobby Lobby
cocktail picks - Target Dollar Spot
Eiffel napkin rings - Ebay