Table Settings {Alameda County Fair}

My entry in the Alameda County Fair!
Table Setting theme La Vie En Rose
{French movie about Edith Piaf}

Last year when Dave and I went to the Alameda County Fair I saw Table Settings as a competition.  Immediately I was drawn to them!  Table Settings are like throwing a themed party for one!  I love to decorate for parties!  I made a vow to give it a shot next year.. and so... here it is... next year and I entered the county fair!



I spent months planning and pinning ideas to create a sultry, Parisian themed table to honor Edith Piaf.  {Not related to this.... but when we were in Paris this past March, I actually visited Edith Piaf's grave and placed a red rose on it to honor her beauty.}  I learned how to fold a napkin like a rose {thanks YouTube!}, and created a menu in French loaded with delicious cheeses!

The Eiffel Tower I got during our trip to Paris!
The black dishware I got at a thrift store.

I spray panted to bottoms of these dollar store wine glasses to work into the theme.
The gold salad plate above was also spray painted on the bottom side.

I spray painted the dollar store flatware with gold paint, too!

French inspired menu in a dollar store frame.
My intentions were for the menu to resemble a chalkboard menu...
but while I was making it in Illustrator, it didn't look quite right.
So I decided to make a dark gray background instead.

The fluer de lis candlestick I got on a 50 States of Yoga trip to New Orleans!
The bird cage is from Joann Fabric. The rose and frame are from the dollar store.

This was one of our own cheese knives... that we had never used!
I decided we wouldn't miss it if I sprayed it gold.
A friend saved a wine bottle for me... and fortunately it was French!

The fabric base is a piece of foam poster board covered in
fabric from Joann Fabric.  The tassel on the Eiffel Tower
is from Joann, too.

I went to the fairgrounds the day before the fair opened to set up the Table Setting.  2 weeks later, Dave and I returned to enjoy the fair and see how I did!  I won an Honorable Mention ribbon!  Yay!  I am soo super excited!  They also write a critique, so you know how you can make improvements.  I got 2 low scores on menu/dishware because I had a wine glass and water glass on the table, but I did not list wine, nor water on the menu.  In my head I figured the bottles of wine and water as part of the setting would serve as the connection, but that's not how it works and now I know!  Otherwise, I received high scores in the other categories and they loves my color palette.  So excited!  I can't wait until next year to give it a go again!

Honorable Mention!  Woohoo!

This is where my table setting was in relation to the others. 

First Place!

Second Place

Third Place

Another Honorable Mention table setting.

This was a youth submission that I loved!

A youth submission Second Place!

After all the table settings ooos and aahhs...  we checked out the rest of the fair, grabbed some fried fair foods, and visited the goats and sheep!

We had a great time.  It wasn't nearly as hot as it was last year and it was pretty darn exciting to win a ribbon!  Until next year county fair!