The Living Table

For all you over achievers out there (including myself), this is the ultimate tablescape for your next garden party. I call it the living table. It is not expensive to make and your guests will be talking about it for months! It uses sod and live plants to create not only a beautiful tablescape but quite a conversation piece.

I started with a 30" by 72" folding PVC table available at most hardware and craft stores. On top of that, I centered a standard 4' by 8' by 3/4" piece of  plywood. Nothing fancy, just something to make the table a bit larger. Next, I stapled a heavy duty plastic drop cloth onto the plywood to prevent it from warping. Now the fun begins. Get enough sod from your local nursery to cover the plywood. Be sure to allow for a couple inches of overhang when measuring for the sod. Lay the sod onto the plastic pressing the edges together to hide the seam.

For the center piece, pick up any number of plants currently in bloom. You are actually going to plant them in the sod so get the small 6-pack size of plants. They will be the easiest to plant. Visualize where you want your center piece to go and begin cutting out pieces of the sod to make room for the plants. In this particular tablescape, I added a small table top fountain to the center of the flowers.

Next, we need coasters. You don't want your stemware of glassware to tip when someone sets it on the sod. I again went to my local hardware store and for a few dollars purchased a 4 inch diameter, 6 feet long fence post. I had one of the employees cut it into several 1 inch thick discs (they looked at me like I was nuts but what the heck!). Figure out where your place setting is going to go and arrange the coasters accordingly. Once you have the placement figured out, use a utility knife and cut around each coaster. Remove the round piece of sod and fit the coaster into the hole.

For candles, I bought a cheap bamboo window shade (I think it cost me 2-3 dollars) at the hardware store. Cut out pieces of the shade to wrap around different sizes of candles. Secure them with a hot glue gun. For this table, I cut the tops at an angle to add more flair. Once your table is finished, you can water it lightly every other day or every day depending on your climate and it will last for a couple weeks. 

Use your imagination and have fun with it!

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