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I was looking for my vintage red teacups and saucers this week, and ended up unpacking another full box of dishes. If you're new here, we just moved to coastal MS, and because we're in a small rental home for a year, we're leaving a lot of boxes packed. You can read more about our journey HERE.

Back to my dishes...I have been using my vintage ironstone and dishes to add simple decor in our new home, like this easy platter wall. I have another plate wall I hung in my office, which you can see HERE. I've come up with a super inexpensive and easy method to hang small plates using household items.

With July 4 just around the corner, I wanted to show you some easy ways to set a beautiful tablescape. I gathered my vintage red, white and blue dishes, along with some fabric napkins, and put together three different tablescapes, each with its own unique centerpiece. These ideas are so easy to replicate, even if you don't have the same dishes. I will link to several items if you want to recreate this look. Keep reading for my tips!

Just a note: I'm using my vintage dishes and decorations. You may love more modern style, and that's great! Use my ideas as a springboard to gather ideas and inspiration to set your own July 4 patriotic table!

Let's start with a blank canvas. Here is my table. I'll be using the same ruffled tablecloth as a base for each of my styled tables. Let's go!

My red and white dishes situation is limited. I have some Christmas dinner plates, and then I have a set of 2 red transferware teacups and saucers. Even without a full set of dishes, I'm going to show you how I repurposed Christmas dishes for July 4th, and we'll talk more about the table centerpiece I used.

As I was looking at my Christmas dinner plates, I realized that there was nothing "holiday" about the design around the edge. When I added a blue and white lunch plate, suddenly I had patriotic vibes!

• white wood charger (similar HERE)
• red and white Christmas dinner plate
• navy blue polka dot napkin ( blue check napkins would also work)
• blue and white lunch plate (similar HERE)
• tarnished silver cutlery

Nope. These dishes were found at the thrift store and HomeGoods at different times. They are vintage reproductions, meaning they have the look of true vintage pieces, but they're newer. These dishes get used in our home.

My centerpiece took just minutes to throw together! It's a thrifted basket filled with 4 stems of these red geraniums and a single stem of cosmos from Hobby Lobby. I tucked in a trio of coffee stained flags ( see that tutorial here).

Keep in mind: A larger centerpiece like this is easy and can simply be lifted off the table when you want. The larger size, with bold colors, doesn't need a lot of fuss. It's simple and effective.

Let's reset the table for another look, this time a little bit of a softer patriotic look. I'm again layering my dishes because I love how many different looks I can show you!

The wicker chargers add texture and color to this patriotic table. My ruffled cotton napkins are actually holiday tea towels that I found at Hobby Lobby - I love to repurpose items all year long! My Currier and Ives "The Old Gristmill" dishes are so beautiful on their own, they really don't need a luncheon plate to cover them up. But I wanted to show you some options.

Tip: You'll notice in both of the ideas below, I used a neutral lunch plate so that the patriotic accessories I added would pop and not compete with a busy plate.

I added one of my double sided fabric covered stars and topped it with a little wood block with the number 4 (I made several of these for the seasons, please let me know in the comments if you'd like a tutorial!)

Idea #2:

I topped the neutral lunch plate with a trio of my chippy patriotic DIY spindles. These are made from old chair pieces and it's really easy to give them a vintage look with chippy paint!

My favorite ironstone pitcher is filled with these faux blue hydrangeas and white hydrangeas, with a little flag tucked in. I used one of my red Christmas dishes and a white charger to ground the centerpiece on the table.

Again, you can see how simple this is, but it looks so patriotic and beautiful! You don't need to use a bunch of flags, one is very effective. However, the next table setting does use more flags, just to give you another idea.

Once again, I reset the table by layering some of my vintage white ironstone dishes and tea cups. The colors of this table are much softer, while still lending itself to patriotic style. 

• wicker charger
• blue and white botanical napkin (see similar HERE)
• white ironstone dinner plate
• white ironstone lunch plate
• vintage  red and white transferware saucer
• vintage teacup with pale blue linen napkin

This table has a much softer look due to the white dishes and lighter colored napkins, but it stills says "patriotic". It's really all about the look that you're wanting.

Tip: To create the fan shape, I folded the napkins back and forth, then tucked them into vintage teacups so they would hold their shape. You can see details for this folding technique here.

If you have a lot of dishes, this layered table setting is a fun way to show off your electic mix of dishes!

Let's take a closer look at the centerpiece on this red, white and blue table.

I gathered several white milk glass vases and set them on a wood charger along with one of the red striped napkins. Then I simply popped a coffee stained flag into each charger.

Note: while this patriotic centerpiece is simple to do, it feels busy. Why? It's made up of multiple smaller pieces and there's no definitive backdrop.

This table is my least favorite, even though I thought I would love it! I have used flags and milk glass together before, but I think they're more effective when the backdrop is neutral and not so busy. See this post to see what I mean.

I would love to know which of these 3 patriotic tables is your favorite? Are there any ideas you'll take away from this post? Please leave me a comment and let me know ❤

bringing beauty to the ordinary,