Jute napkin rings and a beachy tablescape

When I put out my beach mantel decor, I usually follow suit with a beachy tablescape. At least I did last year and this year. I made some changes this year, as last year I only had a centerpiece.

Let's take a look:

I purchased a set of white dishes with a Greek key pattern (Ross $19.99). They will be useful for many other tablescapes. I also picked up four of the blue goblets from Dollar Tree. I really wanted some rattan chargers or natural braided placemats, but I decided I had purchased enough and made due with the bamboo placemats. These came from Dollar Tree too and last year I used them to make a runner under the centerpiece. I'm using some fish net from Michael's this year as a runner.

A closer look at the place setting:

The napkin rings started out like this:

50 cents for the four of them from a thrift store. A little hot glue and some jute twine and now we have these:

My favorite part of this is still the centerpiece. I used some decor sand (purchased at Michael's last year) and sea shells, along with thrifted votives and white candles.  I recently learned from Robin Flies South that you can use grits for sand. That's a great tip. I wonder if you could dye it with food coloring for colored sand. Have any of you tried it?

Here's the centerpiece all aglow:

I hope you have enjoyed my little tour of my tablescape. I'll be sharing at Tabletop Tuesday and Tablescape Thursday, and Feathered Nest Friday. Thanks for stopping by.

On a side note, the hubby and I went to some yard sales and thrift stores Saturday. I picked up a floral arranging book that has some neat idea for centerpieces and placemats. I also picked up some napkins, salad plates, and glasses. I hope to share some more tablescapes in the future created with my thrifted items.