Centerpiece of the Month is a monthly centerpiece event where folks snap photos of their table-toppers and send them here. I round up all the photos from one month, a week into the next (June COTM is posted July 7). Please send your ideas, the more the inspiration for us all, the better!

The photos are in! The tables are set! Grab your forks and knives and imagine a dinner served around these lovely centerpieces. All were crafted, created and captured during the month of June. And all, ultimately, were enjoyed while friends and family ate meals at these tables:

Tigerfish from An Escape to Food brings us, appropriately, a centerpiece with all things food. I loved the description of it as ‘green jewels and noodles’ (try saying that 10 times in a row FAST):

Glenna from A Fridge Full of Food brings a new twist to life is like a bowl of cherries… hers is a decorative centerpiece where the cherries float charmingly in cocktail glasses:

Laurie’s Charming Designs brings us soft tones with a rustic backdrop. I can almost smell these blooms, can’t you?:

Myriam from Once Upon a Tart has a gift with food, flowers and photos. I look forward to her centerpieces every month:

Sandi from Whistlestop Cafe delights us with this bold, playful combination:

I got a royal kick out of this creative piece, and loved Katie from YumSugar’s description of a Suess-ish centerpiece (way to think out of the box, I mean vase!):

From Sher at What did you eat? is this elegant, meaningful vase full of flowers (thanks for sending this Sher, they are beautiful):

Dayna from Vegan Visitor brought this simple, herby centerpiece in an eggcup (can you spot the oregano?); what a great idea! Now I am picturing a long, outdoor table laced with eggcup-and-oregano centerpieces:

Shn from MishMash created an orange bowl, complete with ice, green herbs and orange slices: brilliantly creative!

Joy from A Spot of T captures citrus with iris in this clever photo (it almost looks like stained glass!?):

And this month, despite its crazy-busyness, I did manage my own centerpiece! This one in all its humble simplicity is easy to love for one reason—my son picked me the flowers:

This month’s roundup of COTM is a testament to telepathy. Seriously: I kept Centerpiece of the Month a complete and utter, undisclosed perhaps remiss secret. Was I even hosting it this month? Did COTM get lost in the shuffle? I told no one, posted no where, advertised and proclaimed not a whiff, and yet a few lovely folks remembered, despite my lack of advertising. If I could take a picture of brain fumes in a vase, that would have been my centerpiece for May!

We are about to sell our home, I finally found a rental home, mapped and rerouted carpools, emailed teachers, planned vacation and packed boxes, lived through a car accident, and occasionally snagged a dose of late night television for some simple, well-earned, before-I-collapse-into-bed, eye candy. Between painting and caulking and tiling, scrubbing, priming and spackling, I forgot to snap a photo of a centerpiece…

…but Sandi, Myriam and Joy kept COTM alive. And with enough flare for those of us with too busy, head in the sand, eye’s half mast, food? Flowers? On the table? Leave it to:

Sandi from the Whistlestop Cafe who filled her table with gorgeous gardenias:

Myriam from Once Upon a Tart who in her busy-ness remembered to email a last minute bit of brilliance with her pink-inspired table topper:

And Joy from A Spot of Tea who nailed my weak spot with a centerpiece inspired with vintage glass:

I collect green and amber vintage glass, most notably goblets and cake plates (it is a weird fetish and I cannot seem to help myself). Though two summers ago I saw some pink pressed glass at a yard sale; to this day I wish I had bought it! But then again, where does one store all that glass? And what if you have to pack it all to move!? Thank you friends for inserting art and lovely table-tops into my life when I could not!

I hope your June tabletops are summer-inspired! Should we come up with a theme? Anyone? Thoughts? Ringing in summer?

Little tables popping into my inbox. Pretty candles, inspired foodie art, blooming and fresh flowers: these ideas and inspired photos come to me as a contribution to Centerpiece of the Month (COTM). I started this humble event because I get a kick out of tabletop ambiance, the stage we set for the food we serve! If you want to join it is easy: just shoot a photo and send it along with a link (instructions here).

Myriam from Once Upon a Tart had 3 centerpiece pics, it was so hard to choose which one to post here (click on her site to see the others):

Sherry from What Did You Eat? brings us a whimsical mooing centerpiece, Carrie the Cow whose day job is that of a watering can:

Dhana from Fresh Kitchen had a glass vessel full of backyard treats, including my favorite: tomatoes!

Glenna from a Fridge Full of Food consistently brings warmth and thoughtfulness to her home; check out her centerpiece:

Sandi from Whistlestop Cafe brings us a piece from Alabama springtime:

Janelle from Brown Bag Blues (my other blog is a porche) snapped this photo:

It’s my birthday, the one day a year for unabashed, unsolicited self-promotion, a new cocktail and, apparently, a week full of getting a hair cut, painting my toes and getting back in the pool. Is it denial or determination? Eh, let’s not decide. Meanwhile, let the party begin:

Two quick pats on my back, pour myself a birthday drink, then take a tour of multiple tabletops.

Pat on back number one: a mention of my humble little blog in Seattle Magazine. I was swooning at the mention, tickled to be part of the Seattle squad of food bloggers. (Page 87 bottom right, not that I would know). Matt of Roots and Grubs was the journalist and I am grateful to have been part of his roundup.

Pat on back number two (”happy birthday to Meeee-eeee”): I started a second blog. It has been in the works for months and happily last month, I added Brown Bag Blues (www.brownbagblues.com) to the world wide web. The site is all about making lunches: ongoing ideas, bagable foods and drinks, bagable recipes and above all: staving off the brown bag blues, blahs and boredom. What to put in your child’s lunch? How about yours? Running out of ideas? If you have brilliant brown bag ideas I would love you to email them to me so I can ‘bag ‘em’ on my new site. Yes, the puns can be exhausting—but it is my birthday after all. And I can pun if I want to.

That last song had to be the cocktail talking. Where was I? Oh yes! The cocktail: just mixed it up. Have been wanting to pour a pink cocktail, to toast a dear friend of mine who is currently battling (and beating!) breast cancer. So here is to you, my friend, a pink cocktail: 1/2 vodka, 1/4 guava nectar (organic of course), 1/4 soda, squeeze of lime. I am proud of you, and drinking pink to prove it.

The tabletop tour is brought to you by inspired foodies and creative folk, who have shared their centerpiece inspiration during a particular month (“Centerpiece of the Month” or COTM). So birthday or not, the 7th of each month (in this case April) is the roundup for the prior month’s centerpieces (in this case March).

Joy from a Spot of T has this amazing mirrored vase brimming with pussywillows.

Sher from What did you Eat? has a fun round of pinks with fabulous sprigs of rosemary.

Glenna from A Fridge Full of Food includes a bona fide chef for her mood-setting tribute.

Myriam from Once Upon A Tart creatively used old cans and made them new.

Brigitte from Kuchendunst aus Singapur decorated many tabletops in her home, the one here is just the beginning!

Sandi from Whistlestop Cooking always puts so much thought into her centerpieces; I look forward to seeing her monthly creations!

Brie from the Playful Palate steals my heart: I have a weakness for food centric centrpieces!

Shn from Kitchen Mishmash put this topper into my inbox—and onto this tour! I couldn’t resist these naturally dyed eggs: how cool!

Janelle from Talk of Tomatoes! Yes, that is me. And yes, I get to have two pics: hello, it’s my birthday? I actually borrowed the thistle centerpiece: it is the brainchild of a friend of mine. Loved her centerpiece, need to keep an eye—and camera—on her tabletop in the future. The Forsythia branches come from my yard, and found their way into a wine carafe.

I look forward to another year, am grateful to each of my readers, my friends and my dear family who give me daily inspiration, encouragement and joy. My birthday is happy because of you.

COTM is a monthly celebration of Centerpiece of the Month, where food bloggers—and whomever else is so inspired—come together to share tabletop inspiration.

February COTM was posted once, then experienced technical difficulty and so here is the replacement post. So sorry if you have looked for this post in the last few days, only to find it missing! AND to all of you who so graciously commented on the original post, I apologize for your lost words. But alas, the flowers are still in bloom and the food beckons in these lovely ambiance-creating centerpieces:

Sher over at What Did you Eat is ringing in spring with these lovely irises.

Joy T. at A Spot of T used this round of COTM to top her curio tea cabinet with silk flowers.

Doodles from Peanut Butter Etouffee edible centerpiece was inspired by Valentine’s Day; it wouldn’t last long at my home!

Sara, The Winemaker’s Wife, doused her table with all sorts of goodies on Valentine’s Day.

Whaleshaman from Jelly Pizza shares this very feng shui centerpiece: love the flowing branches!

Glenna of A Fridge Full of Food created a table setting inspired by gifts from her aunt.

Sandi’s red-inspired centerpiece from Whistlestop Cafe is endearing—I especially love the strawberry. Can you find it?

This white dish with heads of garlic is my humble addition, a formal bow to the pungent and powerful garlic. I always seem to have food centerpieces around!