Author / Book Birthday Tablescape

Author Brian Freeman's 50th Birthday

I had the honor of doing  a special tablescape for a successful author's 50th birthday in his Bay Area hometown.  Brian Freeman is an internationally acclaimed author of psychological suspense novels and has written and published 8 books (and counting)  which have been translated into numerous languages.  (see Brian's website for details).  

Brian's books never disappoint: His books are thrillers that you can't put down!

For this tablescape, I had the idea to feature his many novels, and since it's the author's 50th birthday, I'm highlighting the 50th page and the 50th chapter of books he's written.

This idea would work well for a book lover's or reader's birthday party.

Many of the author's books represent a  darker side of humanity, with the resulting "spilled blood" (coincidentally, the name of Brian's latest book!).   I am using the colors of black and white to highlight the colors of the written pages and the juxtaposition of good and evil. A red silk cloth surrounds the books representing the blood behind the drama and suspense.

The letters are raised in varying heights to show the ups and downs of the emotions evoked by  the characters, and the story line itself.  The letters are raised by using clear vases and hurricane lamps (recycled from past events).






 

Since Jo Ann's Craft Store had a 50%  sale on the blocked letters, it saved me from making them.  I made copies of the 50th page or 50th chapter  of the different books, traced the letters, cut them out and pasted them onto the blocks.

I realize that nowadays, no one literally "writes" by hand anymore - the work is normally done on a computer.  But,  I wanted a more dramatic effect to  symbolize terror and blood oozing from the writing.  Thus, the made-up writing quill (courtesy of a bamboo stick from the backyard). 

I had to find the right pages and chapters to fit the letters nicely. 

The Game

I've created a game to liven up the event: " How well do you know Brian's books?"  The goal:  identify which book(s) each letter is made up from.   It is more challenging (and amusing) because some of the words are cut out.  Fortunately, we had Brian  to easily and quickly identify all the books the excerpts came from.  

The word LONDON  is recycled from my Valentine's Day Tablescape - Day 5 .  LONDON  is where the author was first discovered.  His initial book, Immoral,  was also first published in  London.

All around the table are a  little cut out pieces of  red silk cloth to look like spilled blood.

The napkin is folded in white and red and is  designed to look like a working man's collar.  It represents that a sinister dark side lurks in every man.

The author's plate had an added red silk cloth to look like spilled blood.  

The Cake

Harmonizing with the theme color - A red velvet cupcake covered in white cream cheese icing and then topped off with  hardened dark chocolate with a  red flower was added for the blood effect. 

The Gifts

To keep with the dark theme, the presents were wrapped using the pages of his books and the rugged black ribbon to highlight the darkness in the passageway.  As an added bonus, Brian was given  5 presents each representing some of his favorite things and tying in with the 50th theme.

Shopper's Corner:

Clear vases - TJ Maxx

Blocked letters - Jo Ann's Craft store