Thrifted Tablescape
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I messaged my friend Kellee last week and asked her if she wanted to go with me to an estate sale. It started at 9 am, so we had to leave by 8 am, just to get there by the starting time. We pulled up a few minutes early and there were way more cars there than I had anticipated. I found the listing for the sale on FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE and I could tell that it was being put on by the family...not by a company. The family-run ones are usually my favorite because the prices are better. I didn't see a lot in the pictures of this sale, but there was one thing in particular that I wanted...a HUGE ceramic SWAN PLANTER!
When we got to the sale and saw all the people, I was a little disheartened, but not too worried. Then we got up to the house and found that the people running the sale had let people go in early and shop. There were people already checking out when we got there!! I raced through the very unique mid-century home, filled with about four different levels, getting to a back room where I was looking for anything familiar from the online pictures to help me know that's where the SWAN would be. I spotted a table of figurines and there it was on the floor!! I couldn't believe it was still there!! I scooped that beauty up ASAP.
My friend Kellee made her way into the room then and pointed out that I'd been so excited about finding the swan I wanted that I'd been blind to the other one sitting on the floor with it. To be fair, the other one was filled with tacky silk flowers, so I hadn't noticed it. I was going to get TWO SWAN planters!! So, we shopped around that room some more and I needed to set my things down because I couldn't carry anymore. The sale was very chaotic and I knew better than this, but one of the gals running the sale said my stuff would be ok under a table. I put a sold sign on them and then did some more shopping.
Well, we got back to the first room and I realized someone had scooped up my swans from under the table. I was so upset and started asking around the room for them. Turns out some other woman had grabbed them and had another woman guarding them. I grabbed them so fast, exclaiming they were mine. The checkout gal who told me they'd be ok under the table confirmed they were mine, so I paid for my stuff and headed to my car as fast as I could. We ended up going back in and shopping a bit more, but boy was my blood pressure up!
Lesson learned...your stuff is never safe at an ESTATE SALE. I had something similar happen a while back and it would have upset me so much if I hadn't gotten the certain item. So, you have a few options...
- Take a buddy who will stand by your stuff and keep it safe.
- Check out as soon as you can't carry your stuff anymore.
- Take totes with you that have a lid and a sign on top that says: SOLD.
Obviously, it's not a life-threatening event, but it sure is annoying when people take things from the hold or sold piles at an estate sale. Part of it happens when the sales are chaotic and not well-staffed, but a lot of it is because adults turn feral at times like these.
But...you didn't come to hear all that. Although, I think it's an interesting story and there's a lesson to be learned! I didn't, however, intend for this to be a food blogger's post where you have to scroll for days to get to the recipe...ha!
Now, for those beautiful swans!
This year, I hosted Easter for my family. I will be honest in saying that my heart wasn't really in it, although, my sister had given me other options. I chose to do it because I didn't want to have to travel with food...it's always easier when people come to us. So, I got up on Easter morning and started prepping the food, assuming that I would just clear the table of its regular decor and just have it be plain for us to eat on. I do this often and, when it comes down to the time for people to arrive, I decide that I still want to do something nice for the table. So, I quickly made a plan for what I could do and, bonus, it was all thrifted!!
The big, beautiful SWAN PLANTER popped into my head and I knew it would be perfect to fill in and anchor the tablescape. After I knew I was going to use that, I started pulling from my stashes. I grabbed an animal print table runner, two VASELINE GLASS CANDLE HOLDERS, and two pink taper candles. Once I had those arranged, I added a pothos plant from our basement guest room for the swan and two quilted jelly jars to hold a couple of alstroemeria stems each. And voila! The EASTER TABLESCAPE turned out even better than I'd imagined! While it was very simple, it had a lot of impact...between the size of the swan and the HOT colors of the candle holders and candles.
While this tablescape isn't anything earth shattering, I hope it's an encouragement to you to get creative...even when you're not really feeling it. Not only was I able to muster up the energy to put something together for the holiday, but I took the time to clear off the display that had been on the table since Christmas and had not been striking any joy in me. It is so easy to get into these creative funks, for lots of reasons.
My encouragement to you (and to me) is to just do it. Even if you don't feel like it, even if you don't feel like it really matters, even if you think your stuff is boring...you will surely be happy you did. Also, you have items to use and I promise they're not boring. Our brains get so used to the things around us, we almost get blindness to them. We need to shake things up to wake up our brains! I'll bet that if you do this one little act, you will likely get the motivation to keep it going!
A few more thoughts about decorating in general:
- If you're overwhelmed, keep it simple! My TABLESCAPE was so simple, but made such a big impact! Instead of lots of little things, consider using items with bigger scale! Peppering in color and texture adds a lot of interest too.
- You don't have to go out and buy new. That's it. End of story. I know you have things throughout your house that you can pull out to use.
- Make things special. It's easy to slip into the trappings of boring, everyday life, but it really does make such a difference to put in the time, even just a little, to make ordinary life feel like an event.
- Be willing to borrow. While this wouldn't work last minute, I know that your friends would be willing to let you borrow that perfect item that would allow you to create a lovely tablescape. You'll save money and some sanity from having to store even more.
- If you thrifted something just for an event, you are allowed to re-donate it. I created a DEVILED EGG BOARD using a Mancala game and knew that I wouldn't be using it again anytime soon, so it's in the bag to take back to the thrift store. I can always grab another one if I want to do it again!
As I've been writing this blog post, I realize that there are so many spots in our home that I want to change some things up. It's easy to get comfortable with the way things are and not want to take the time to switch them up. I hope that you've been encouraged to do the same. Afterall, if you're reading this, I'll bet that home is your favorite place too. Why not make a little extra effort and make it just the way you want!?
If you decide to get a little creative in your home, whether it's a tablescape, some shelf styling, or a gallery wall...I'd love to see! Share a pic in your stories on Instagram and tag me so I can see! You can find me at @hilaryprall.
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