Woodland Table, Butterflies, Spring, and Summer

Maybe I'm milking this theme for all it's worth, but last spring Violet turned 2 and eventually I had a little lunch with her in mind. At the time, her 2 most favorite things were Purple and Butterflies. Any shade of purple or any mirrored shape that could be construed as butterfly delighted her. She constantly called out the color or shape at stores. Hey Target cashier! Your scar looks like a butterfly! So how to incorporate both without it turning tacky or Disney? My solution was to use natural materials and greens to offset the cutsey-ness.

Violet dutifully demonstrates how to set the table.

A funny thing happened, Violet use to be so sweet and amicable and then she turned two. 

So here is the gist of how I put together the table: I combined two long rolls of sheet moss to make a table runner. I have used this over and over again. If you try this, you should unroll the packages a day or so ahead of time, they smell strongly of old moss and glue. Then I put a mossy log along the center of the table.

Bring in spring flowers, like violets, or ferns or greens you have growing in pots on your front porch, and forget that you are a grown woman and add lots of butterfly picks to them.

Add in loose cuttings of flowers or leaves and place in bud vases above each plate.

A small mason jar with greens and butterfly. Did I catch a butterfly for each girl? (I did look into having a box of live butterflies delivered that Violet could open on her birthday.. it was ridiculous.) No, it's a hair-clip! Here's how you make it: you could buy the pack at Michaels, rip off the metal hanger, and hot glue on a bobby pin. Like you couldn't have guessed.

I set the table using my standard dishes and lavender napkins. Feel free to add in little details like mushrooms, birds nest, or scattered flower blossoms if you have them sitting around.

"I", along with my husband and a ladder, hung large feather butterflies from the ceiling with clear fishing wire. Buy a reel of fishing line, and you're good for life. I hung them the night before Violet's birthday and the next morning I found her standing on the table, staring at the butterflies in awe. A picture I only have in my head.

You have a son?

Edible paper butterflies came from Amazon and I always have violets growing in my yard. 

Aggressive Butterfly Attacks Guest with Great Cheekbones!

Girls with their hair clips on.

You'll notice that in some of the above photos I am using lavender napkins and my drapes are brown velvet, while in other photos I am using dark purple napkins and have silvery blue drapes, the flowers are different too. You must be so confused, Jana. You see I did different versions of this lunch, same runner, log, and dishes, different details and seasonal flowers, but similar tune.

I had been itching to set a woodland fairy themed table, but knew Violet was too young to get it. Fortunately we had cousins visit us that gave me just the excuse I needed to go through with the ordeal.

Little fairy houses..

Little fairies hiding under ferns.  (I already talked all about the fairies, here.)

or captured

or as a take home..(I think this was worth the 20 hours I invested in shopping for, learning how to make, and making)

Sometimes guests wore flower crowns

Hey Trevor! Where's your flower crown?


The food.. get it? It's a butterfly.

The End. Stay tuned for Fall and Winter.