It is not very often that I get c-o-m-p-l-e-t-e-l-y excited by an article I read in a magazine. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I am always, getting the feel good vibe from my favourite rags (thats why there my favourites!!!) and literally LOVE spending an innings immersed in the pages of inspirational articles to be found between the covers of my mags. But to be tickled-pink-beside-myself and left, days later, still marvelling at the inspiration behind the totally sensational read … Well, pretty much unheard of in this day of content rehashing. That is until now!

Anyhoo, suffice to say that right now I am literally tripping over myself with excitement! Yes! My whole Woo Hoo moment (alright, blatant style crush rant ) has come about because of one of the best, spectacularly simple yet sensational, (not to mention ingenious!) ideas in table decor I have seen in a very very very long time. Courtesy of NYC based artist, Cathy Graham, I present … Ta Daaa … the three-dimensional table decorating composition!

What is that you ask? Well … According to Veranda magazine in which I found this fabulous article, Cathy Graham is an avid party planner (check out her book, Second Bloom: Cathy Graham’s Art of the Table, available in September) and wanted to celebrate the season sans the traditional take. So, instead of the flower market, she hit the farmer’s market.

The artist treated the tablecloth like any other canvas, creating the three-dimensional composition directly on the linen using vegetables and herbs. Nasturtium tendrils weave around the china; radishes and pea pods form blooms … okra is sliced to form little flowers …

It’s a stunning take on a summer scene and I love that the other elements of the table are played down so as not to compete with what is already happening on the table. The resulting product is light, bright, cheery and totally unexpected.

Isn’t this the most fabulous idea for the alfresco summer table? Alright, I agree, it may involve swatting the flies away if set up on the back lawn … but indoors or on the screened in porch … Absolutely Perfect! And in Cathy Graham’s words, ‘A little bit of whimsy will loosen up even the stuffiest of people’

Till next time.

Tipsy Pipsy xo