Since Father’s Day was on the “First Day of Summer,” I promised a special tablescape dedicated to the Dads, Dads to be, pet Dads, and Grandpas because I couldn’t prepare two tablescapes in one day. So men, this is for you…..

(Click on photos to enlarge)

When I sat down to think of a theme for this tablescape, I kept thinking about the usual Dad sports like hunting, fishing, and golfing; but unfortunately I don’t have dishes for any of those themes. What I do have are dishes for a safari. So here we go… 

Let me start off by saying that I just love animal prints. I have a den that is decorated in accents of animal prints. I don’t even have a favorite pattern. I like them all, cheetah, leopard, zebra, you name it; in just about every item they can make. I like animal prints in home furnishings, pillows, clothing, and obviously dishes; which lead me to purchase the dishes I am using today.

Here is a sample of just a few of my other animal print purchases from my den…

Coffee Cups

Throw Pillows

The Den Rug

Canisters (This is where I keep wrapped candy for movie night)

(Notice the safari wall paper? I only have this on one wall as an accent.)

 I even have a cookie tin that is a leopard pattern. The cookies that came with the tin were awful, but I just wanted the tin.

I found my “safari” dishes while shopping many years ago in Bloomingdales with my mother. We both saw them at the same time, looked at each other and without saying a word, my mother immediately knew my wheels were turning and I was going to buy them.

 I bought the entire set including platters and serving bowls. The china features lions, leopards, zebras, tigers, elephants and giraffes.

What more could you ask for?

The dish is by Sakura and the pattern is called La Menagerie; designed by artist John Zak in 1996.

I wanted to take as many colors as I could from the dish for the tablescape, so looking at the leopard, I am using a cocoa brown tablecloth. I wanted to add a little punch of color with gold napkins to bring out the color of the giraffe. I used clear lucite napkin rings not to take away from any other color on the table. 

Thanks to the zebra, I chose black woven placemats and white charger plates

The flatware for this tablescape was easy. Many years ago, I was lucky enough to find and purchase animal print flatware from one of the thousand catalogs I receive on a daily basis. I mix and match the flatware pieces for each place setting. 

I chose smokey black goblets for the glassware.

 I decided to re-purpose the coffee cup to the set and instead of using the coffee cup for a hot beverage, I am using it as a personal candy dish for each place setting.

I filled it with safari wrapped mints that I found online. I always like to have something unexpected and fun on the table.

I purchased two zebra photo frames and decided to use them to feature the dinner menu instead of a photo Think outside the box.

I printed the menu myself and just cut it to fit the frame. I placed a frame on each side of the dinner table.

Now that the dishes are all set, we move on to the centerpiece. I took some of the pieces from my den to showcase as a centerpiece. This is usually displayed on my fireplace mantle and it is a walking herd of elephants and the last one is just too pooped to continue. (There is always one…).

My favorite elephant…

The table needed some greenery and height so I borrowed some of the reeds from a floral arrangement in my den. I didn’t want to add a safari vase to the table and take away from the pattern of the dishes so I displayed the reeds in two clear cylinder vases with some river rocks. I had some river rocks left over, so I used them for table confetti.

I wanted to keep this tablescape somewhat masculine, and not use any candles; but I purchased the perfect set and just had to use them. They are animal print votive candles and I placed one at each place setting. Now I feel better and the tablescape looks finished.

And that completes my belated Father’s Day tablescape. I wanted it to be short, sweet, and simple.

This theme can also be used for a masculine birthday If you do use it for a birthday party, this is a photo of the candles that I would recommend you use.

(Most party stores carry these candles)

I hope you liked the tablescape and got some ideas to use on your next Father’s Day or birthday celebration.

And just for the Dads, I found a cocktail online called

“The Leopard” 

(Haven’t tried it, but I will make it for Bob and report back).

Here are the ingredients.

5 oz. sparkling wine

1 oz. orange juice

1 oz Amaretto di Sarrono

and an orange slice

So once again, Happy Belated Fathers Day from DishingwithDiane.com to all you wonderful men.

Instead of just one day a year, I hope all the Dads have 365 great days all year long filled with love, health and happiness.

Until my next post, stay well and make every day a celebration!

Diane

Place Setting

Tablescape Details

Sakura La Menagerie dishes from Bloomingdales

Cocoa Tablecloth from Linens and Things

Gold napkins from Bloomingdales

Safari flatware from Ross-Simons catalog

White chargers from Pfaltzgraff

Black woven placemats from Bed, Bath and Beyond

Black Goblets from JC Penney

Herd of elephant table accents from various specialty shops

Safari mints from Oriental Trading

Safari votives from Amazon

Glass cylinder vases from Michael’s Arts and Crafts

River rocks from Michael’s Arts and Crafts

Zebra photo frames from Homegoods

I’m participating in Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps On The Porch

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