Don’t you love it when you see something inspiring and it snowballs into a creative whirlwind? That happened to me this weekend with this photo I saw over on the blog Making it Lovely:
The navy wall is probably what drew me in initially, and I love the way it offsets the other colors in this picture, but it’s that gold leaf sitting on the shelf that got my mental gears turning. Let’s get closer:
Since sharing images of our favorite holiday tables last week I’ve been thinking about creating my own, and this leaf was the perfect starting point. I went and sifted through my crafting stash and pulled out some sheets of black poster board, a utility knife, a pencil and a cutting mat. I used the inspiration picture as reference for drawing the leaves with a pencil, then used the utility knife to make the cut outs.
Once I had six leaves cut out I put a sheet down in our carport, waited for the wind to abate, and then I gilded them with Krylon metallic spray paint in Gold Leaf. I let the paint cure for 24 hours before bringing them inside.
I wanted to set off the gold of the leaves with a dark tablecloth, so I purchased a canvas drop cloth from Home Depot and a bottle of RIT Dye in Navy Blue from the craft store.
I’ve never dyed something this big and heavy before, and it was kind of a nightmare. I ended up needing three bottles of dye (and approximately a zillion gallons of rinse water) to get this color, and it’s still not as dark as I originally planned. I was too afraid to put the dye straight into the washing machine even though the directions on the bottle assure me I can – any dye veterans out there who can put my mind at ease?
Once I’d cleaned up the tidal wave of blue, I assembled my tableware – glasses, plates, and flatware – all of which was gifted, thrifted or borrowed. I made the candles in blue and yellow goblets from the thrift store using the teacup candle tutorial but, since I don’t like perfumes mingling with my food, I left out the fragrance.
I really love the nubby, organic texture of the dropcloth – Mera thinks it looks like handmade paper.
I’m not a fan of tall centerpieces – nothing stifles a dinner conversation quite like having to peer through a a decorative hedge – so I kept it low and pretty simple. I love the story of Persephone and pomegranates, and at this time of year I start to really need the promise that from these dark nights we’ll emerge back into the light. I cut a couple pomegranates in half and set them out along with two ceramic ones my mom brought back from Crete.
I’m not sure just what the greens I used are, but if you hear any stories about a lady purloining berried greenery from the edge of the grocery store parking lot, they ain’t true.
Making these leaves was really fun, and I think they’d look beautiful hanging in front of the window as decoration too. If you’re feeling real fancy, you could even make little ones to use as place cards.
And in case you missed it, Julia over at Cuckoo 4 Design did a feature last week on Mera and her glorious herd of creatures – definitely go check it out. If you’re one of our new readers who found their way over from there, welcome! Check back in on Wednesday for a fun post from Mera about holiday attire!
Oh I so love it! Very very pretty
Thanks Julia! The gold with blue is making me happy 🙂
You’ve created a beautiful table setting.
Thanks! Hope you have a wonderful week!
So beautifully festive!
Wow! That looks really great. Love that you were in turn inspired and inspiring with this project.
Beautiful table Katie—the perfect complement to those gorgeous blue walls!
I love those walls more as each day passes 🙂
That feature on Mera is fantastic. Oh, those doggies! But best of all: “is your a**hole frozen?” Priceless. I’m somehow hanging that up in my office.
I know, right? My husband and I have adopted it as a life philosophy too. It really puts everything in perspective. 🙂
Oh good for you y2knina for coming back to comment about the Mera and her critters piece – it IS wonderful (as are they)!
There will be pomegranates on our table this week! Thank you!
Glad to hear it HQ! Have a wonderful holiday!
I love your leaves! And the table looks just wonderful. I’ve never seen napkins done that way. And the feature on Mera was great. Thanks for letting us know about it.
I loved seeing (and reading about) Mera’s brood! Thanks Carol!
Lordy lordy lordy!!! You really slam dunked this look! I absolutely love it and the gold leaves totally rock.. excellent look..
Wow, thanks! Have a happy holiday!
The cut paper leaves are just gorgeous! And the navy cloth truly does look like handmade paper. Happy Thanksgiving – lucky guests at your pretty table!
Thank you! I really like the texture of the drop cloth – and I’m thinking of maaaaany projects that would benefit from that handmade paper look too. Happy Thanksgiving to you too!
Just lovely, Katie!
Thank you! Thinking of all my Crete sisters as the solstice approaches!
This is lovely! Rit dye is fine in the washing machine — done it many times (top loader). But that technique doesn’t tone your arms like doing it in a bucket does! So pros and cons on both sides.
Ah, your comment may give me confidence to try it! Interspersed with push ups so I can have the best of all worlds. Thanks!
gorgeous! I love those leaves…they look time consuming, but truly stunning. and, i love the diy tablecloth…seems like a good way to get the perfect color..your hardwork paid off!
Thanks so much! They actually didn’t take too long (except for waiting for the paint to dry) – just the length of an episode of Serial 🙂
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