Creole Tablescape

It's Tablescape Thursday and a big thanks to Susan @ BNOTP for hosting! Please be sure to visit Susan and all the scapers here!

Have you ever heard of D.H. Holmes? Neither had I until now...

I was shopping in the GW and ran across these 4 spectacular salad plates...a beautiful speckled white stoneware; 2 with a crab and 2 with a shrimp/crawdad. I also found 2 chowder/gumbo bowls, both with a crab. I know you know the thrill!!

This is on the back of each plate and bowl...
I got curious...who was D.H. Holmes and why was there dinnerware designed for him? It didn't take much research to find out! Daniel Henry Holmes opened a restaurant on Canal Street in New Orleans in 1849!! That explained the shrimp and crab motif! Oh the thrill!!
The D.H. Holmes main building was considered a landmark primarily because of the clock on the front of the building. "Under the clock at D.H. Holmes" was the proverbial place to meet someone. (Courtesy of Wikipedia) The restaurant closed in 1989 and is now a hotel. To find out more click D.H. Holmes at the top!

How these beauties ended up in Missouri, I'll never know...but that adds to the history right? Right!

That was all the inspiration I needed to create a Creole Sensation!!

I brought out a festive tablecloth in a seersucker fabric with all the right colors. I used water hyacinth chargers and a beautiful sunburst plate with a slightly tiki feel

I had to do it...Pickle jar hurricanes! How fitting!!

The crab bowls are fantastic!

I also use IBC Cream soda bottles for my bud vases! :)

I used a twiggy basket to hold a cylinder vase with sand and a candle...

I gotta tell you how special that lantern is...it's and authentic, oil burning lantern, solid brass. My dad bought that for me years ago...second-hand of course! :) It's one of my favorite pieces!