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From the plate to you, “I love the way you look at me, and the way you use your knife. I love the way you eat your food, you give meaning to my life.” If you’re lacking handwritten sentiments, one quick fix would be to pick up a pen and send a nice note to someone in hopes they’d write you back. The other would be to eat off these Poetry Plates and pretend they have feelings. Each plate can be customized with a special message on the back.
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Yep, it’s a plate with a strange sort of image- minerals, to be exact. Why would you need something such as this? You don’t, of course, but you might want a plate with weird mineral formation imagery just to appreciate/celebrate the strange and wondrous things found in nature, especially when the imagery has such nice color combinations. There’s little info available as to food safety, but I’d say any of these are more suited to catching keys and miscellany, just so you could see it each day instead of being tucked away in a cabinet.

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The next time you have a meal or appetizers outdoors, forego your regular dishes and dine on leaves! Silicone leaves, that is, so you’ll not be too Tarzan-ish. The leaves are made of flexible and durable food-safe silicone, and you’ll find that each one has a slightly different shape and shade of green.
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How about some colorful dinnerware for this season’s festivities? Variopinte* enamel plates were created as part of the A TAVOLA! project, where Stefania Di Petrillo created a dining room that’s easily transported via a clever packing plan/container. The plates are available in three sizes and can be stacked or used separately. Best of all, the enamel is durable enough to use out of doors should you fancy a picnic.
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Rethink your tablescape with the Savone plates by Metaphys. Inspired by the natural formations made by bubbles, these plates have divisions that allow you to present food with accompanying seasons or sauces, thus minimizing the number of dishes. (Also, if you’re not one to fuss with seasons, sauces, and other such accompaniments, you could perhaps use these as a sort of portion control guide for meals or snacks, as they are more modest in size.)

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Shapes! Color! Spice up your hors d’oeuvres with this mini serving set from Iittala. The Teema mini serving set includes three pieces of Kaj Franck’s basic forms- a circle, a square and a triangle. Use one piece for a small snack or all three and more for a proper tapas dinner.
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Whoa, check out these lookers. Bold patterns with a punch of color now and then is just what a ho-hum tabletop needs, and these hi-gloss porcelain plates will mix and match well with a plain white service. Of course, even if you decide to go crazy and get a whole set, you still won’t break the bank, as each plate is just under 4 bucks.
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Inspired by Oiva Toikka’s Kastehelmi (Dewdrop) collection, this dinnerware set is intended for holiday use, yet I think it would work just fine throughout the year. The red and grey colors are festive, sure, yet the dot pattern isn’t so “holiday” that you’d look strange using it in May or June.
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Happy Thanksgiving to you and your odd-yet-lovely family and friends! Have a safe and happy holiday weekend; posts will return as usual on Monday.

Shown: Altered Antique Plates by BeatUpCreations. May be used for serving or just as an interesting art piece. Each plate costs anywhere from $25 to $100.

Now, let’s not be hasty in calling each other dinnerware-obssessed nutcases (as referenced in the 24h Tuokio Tableware post). At times, it’s entirely appropriate to remember the name and pieces of certain collections, especially if they’re as graphic as this one. All pieces are dishwasher and microwave safe, so they’re appropriate for everyday use (thank goodness).
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If you would like a more established tableware set (i.e. nicer than what you bought at IKEA), you could do a whole lot worse than this set from Heikki Orvola. If you’re a complete dinnerware-obsessed nutcase*, you might recognize the 24h series, which Orvola designed for his own use. While perhaps the collection didn’t necessarily need improvement, Finnish designer duo Helorinne & Kallio added a little pep and pizazz (for lack of a better term) with the blue brushstroke pattern.
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These remind me of the Ink Blot series by Kathleen Walsh (which are no longer available as far as I can find) for obvious reasons. Inspired by the Rorschach test, you’re sure to have some interesting conversations based on what your friends and family see within the patterns. Figure 3 is clearly a giraffe’s face, don’t you think?

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Seeing as it’s the first day of the last month of summer, it’s worth reminding that you might as well take advantage of every moment outside if you’re experiencing nice weather*. There’s something about this bandana dinnerware that says ‘summer’ loud and clear. Sure, it’s got the red/white/blue theme, and a bandana design, but it’s also triple-weight melamine, which means durability.
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Ah, who among us wouldn’t enjoy eating off of a face from the National Gallery’s collection? It’d be satisfactory to say the least. The plates are melamine, so no risk of breakage at picnics or parties, and there’s a selection of 4 dinner plates, 4 side plates and 1 large platter.
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As we are now officially in the summer picnic season, take note of Veneerware® by Bambu. Fully biodegradable, these single use bamboo plates and accessories are the ecological alternative to the paper plate. And, for those of you that prefer ready made picnic kits, there’s a Veneerware Picnic Kit with Navy Tote from Branch Home available for $68.00 (see below).

Made from 100% bamboo and Certified Organic.
Sold in sets of 8.
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