TableTop Tuesday (a day late!)

Add interest with dramatic napkin rings.

Introducing TableTop Tuesday - a weekly visual update on tabletop styles we've incorporated into different entertaining occasions.

We'll be borrowing family dish sets and glassware, raiding the pantry for seasonal centerpiece ideas, opening the china closet, and pulling from the aisles of SavvyHostMarket.  Some of the most beautiful table settings have resulted from this creative exercise - perhaps you will have (or have had) some equally gorgeous results?

For today, we're taking a budget-savvy look at a few tabletop styles leveraging the investment in one new table runner - our Vintage Print Runner - by mixing in a few items already on hand. Shifting and swapping placesettings, glassware and dinnerware, it's interesting how easily you can introduce different looks.

Locate the salad bowl to the side to focus eyes on the accent plate.

TableTop #1 (above and right) incorporates some european charm.  Starting with French market themed accent plates - with images of patisseries and boulangeries originally from Williams-Sonoma, set against sand-colored dinner plates.

We paired these foundation pieces with matching 100% Cotton Cloth Napkins, and old-world glass salad bowls (originally from a clearance sale at World Market). 

Add an affordable Vienna Square Serving Set with a similar glass accent to the salad bowls to this ensemble.  Not only is it a favorite hostess gift, it's a versatile piece perfect for serving butter at the table.

Family heirloom vintage stemware mixes with Millefiore-style water glasses.  Fleur de Lis Napkin Rings add the final touch - engraved with "laissez les bon temps rouler!" (let the good times roll) they speak of old world traditional decor.

Layering tabletop elements adds visual appeal.

TableTop #2 (below) introduces elegant sparkle with crystal and crystals.  A polished lionshead white ceramic soup bowl houses a dramatic fan-style folded white 100% Cotton Cloth Napkins "belted" with the sparkle of crystals from the Etoile Napkin Rings.

Napkin folding offers an easy way to add tabletop character without cost.

Tuscan lead-free crystal Grand Cru Wine Goblets, a Waterford Geo crystal dinner plate, and Waterford crystal wine coaster add the final formal touches.

Don't like sparkle? TableTop #3 (below) adds a simple elegance with the silverplated weave of Vienna Napkin Rings against the fan-fold white napkin.

A white salad plate sets off the neutral dinner plate beneath.  Crystal glassware and serveware completes the elegant portrait.

Crystal pieces can play a supporting role in SO many tabletop styles.