By Leslie Linsley Special to The Citizen
It started when my neighbor brought me a short, square vase packed tightly with a gorgeous variety of cut flowers. He was on the island for the weekend (this being his vacation home) and when he left, didn't want the flowers to go to waste.
This set the stage for a creative fall table that led to the idea for having a few friends for dinner. I got out my orange and black candles. (Doesn't everyone have just the right colors for the season on hand?) I've scattered leaves down the middle and saved one for each place to serve as a place card.
A beautiful table, whether for two or a for crowd, sets the mood of the occasion. It might be an informal country brunch for 12 friends, a New Year's Day "drop-in" buffet for 30 or a family Thanksgiving dinner, but setting a lovely table can be a lot of fun, especially with things you may already have around the house.
One of my most successful tables to celebrate a shift in the weather -- and no, it doesn't have to be more of a reason than that -- is to line clear, glass mason jars down the middle of a bare table and fill each one with one cut flower in one color.
Using yellow, for example, as the theme of the table, it's easy to dress up plain linen napkins by tying each one with yellow, grosgrain ribbon holding a small, yellow bud under the bow. Bright yellow or lime green placemats reflect the color of the flowers. Plates should be white. So simple, so easy!
Everyone appreciates it when the host or hostess makes an occasion out of an invitation. It doesn't have to be fancy, but when you arrive at someone's home it should immediately feel festive.
Living in two resort towns, Nantucket and Key West, I attend many get-togethers of all sorts. I go to fundraising events, holiday parties galore and dinner parties for 10 as well as intimate dinner parties for four close friends. And I entertain occasionally.
My friends and acquaintances have a knack for making even a casual meal, served in the kitchen, seem like a special occasion. Best of all, we all do it with ease and creativity from the things we own. This is the key to entertaining -- making a beautiful table without pretension and without making the guests uncomfortable.
In my store we mostly sell plates and accessories for setting a table. We usually have six different tables set: One is a large dining table always set formally for 10, another is a small round table set casually for four and then there are others with different themes, usually related to the seasons or holidays.
The table settings change, of course, as merchandise is sold so we are constantly styling the showroom. And people often come in just to get ideas for centerpieces and clever uses of unexpected groupings.
Last winter my friend Michael Pelkey and I were brainstorming about a book of table settings and came up with the made-up word "Tableiciouos" for a possible title. It is meant to describe a delicious-looking table, and to achieve this is just a matter of looking at things with a creative, sometimes playful or sophisticated eye.
For example, a centerpiece for a Sunday brunch might be a basket filled with pastel- colored balls of yarn. If you are a sewing enthusiast, use spools of thread in a creative and beautiful container as a centerpiece or even ribbons.
One of my newspaper columns at Christmas time received lots of positive responses when I told my readers to take out everything red in their homes and create little vignettes on table tops. It might be a group of red, plastic mixing spoons in a white pitcher on the kitchen counter or a group of your child's toys on the dining table for a playful theme.
For my New Year's Day buffet last year I created a centerpiece of beaded flowers in a handmade piece of pottery I bought at the craft fair at Truman Annex one year.
For a publishing party to celebrate my Key West book, I covered a round outdoor table with lots and lots of leafy greens like spinach, kale and such that I got at the supermarket. I scooped out the centers of cabbage heads to hold various dips. Using green as my color scheme, I filled a tall, glass vase with just one large palm frond.
At other times I've used oranges and lemons, kumquats and limes and cranberries at Christmas time in creative arrangements. The materials for setting a table are endless.
On Nantucket and Key West, shells are a favorite theme. For a wedding, fill hurricane lamps with one large, white candle in each and surround it with sand, then top the sand with a variety of shells. Scatter more shells and white votive candles around each one. Tie napkins with one shell and lovely sand-colored satin ribbons.
Anyone who appreciates a beautifully set table can easily work with items found around the house or in the supermarket. Once you start looking at what is on hand in creative ways, setting a table becomes second nature.
Leslie Linsley has written more than 50 books on crafts, decorating and home style. She resides on Nantucket with her husband, photographer Jon Aron, and has a store on the island that specializes in her one-of-a-kind creations. Her latest book is "Key West: A Tropical Lifestyle" (Monacelli Press), with photos by Terry Pommett.