Late Summer Tablescape - Mulch & Paint

There’s Summer and then there’s late SUMMER…when the vacations are over, schools are starting back and the garden is beginning to dry up. This is the time when most of us spend our days in the air conditioning and begin dreaming of Friday night football games, pumpkins and cooler days. The end of Summer is like the end of a vacation–we’re anxious for the simpler things and the routine of ordinary days.

Me and the kids visited a local sunflower farm, The Anderson’s Sunflowers, and that is the inspiration for my Late Summer Tablescape.

Late Summer in Georgia brings us juicy peaches and watermelons as well as tall, regal sunflowers reaching for the sun. Below is a selfie we took while at the sunflower farm. We loved seeing how the sunflowers would gradually turn their heads toward the sun as it moved in the sky.

I wanted to decorate a small table we have in the lunchroom. (When we bought the house, I tried to make the room sound sophisticated and call it the breakfast room but somehow my kids named it the “lunchroom”.)

I was determined to make my tablescape as inexpensive as possible. The vase used for the centerpiece was a yard sale find. The sunflowers came from the grocery store. I found the plate chargers at Kirkland’s for $2.99 each. (I think that was my most expensive purchase with the exception of the fresh sunflowers.)

The white plates came from the Dollar Store. I had purchased a lot of these to use for Mary’s graduation luncheon. They are very sturdy and will go with any decor. The blue plates are a thrift shop find. They were priced at four for $1 because there were a few chips on them. I didn’t plan to use the plates for anything but decoration and knew I could hide the chips with the napkins. I found the plaid napkins at the same thrift store for $2. The small white bowls came from a yard sale.

We live close to outlet stores. There are specific stores I visit frequently and the kitchen supply store is one of my favorites. I stopped in looking for glasses (which I found at only $1 each) and saw these cute honey dippers and had to get them! Late Summer also means fresh honey. I have a local honey supplier that I buy my honey from. (I am addicted to honey.) He just came by a week or so ago with a fresh batch and I bought two quart jars…which won’t last long.

Spoiler alert: I didn’t make the cake. I have followed Kristen at Ella Claire blog for years. One of my favorite tricks that she teaches is buying a cake from the bakery, adding some additional glaze (which I made with powdered sugar, heavy cream and vanilla flavoring) and topping it with fresh fruit. This sour cream cake came from Kroger and I gussied it up with fresh blackberries and some mint sprigs from my yard. I must say, it was delicious! The sour blackberries and the sweet cake went well together.

Last Summer, I ate peaches almost every day. This Summer, it has been watermelon. I cut the watermelon up in small bite-size chunks that are easy to pop in my mouth whenever the urge hits me. I keep them in a large bowl in the fridge and am constantly grabbing a few bites throughout my day.