Entertaining with Olympus Minerals

Summer has officially arrived, and we’ve enjoyed soaking up the sun, enjoying longer days, and gathering friends and family for relaxing together. There’s nothing better than creating a space in our homes that evokes the magic of summer and decorating our kitchens, dining rooms, and even backyards with accents and items ideal for entertaining. But for many of us, entertaining can feel stressful if you’re lacking the proper serverware and tabletop items that really make a gathering stand out. Read on to learn how our new products can transform any party or gathering into one to remember. 

Easygoing Entertaining 

One of the biggest advantages of entertaining during the summer months is that there is more freedom in the way you entertain and decorate your space in preparation for guests. Unlike other seasons that carry with them a more festive or buttoned up approach, gathering friends for a dinner or an afternoon lunch can be curated with ease and without sacrificing any details or taste when it comes to your home’s decor and the choices you select for dining and tabletop items.  

One of our favorite ways to entertain in the summer is through creating an elevated take on a backyard gathering by using elegant cutlery while keeping the more accessible outdoor dining elements in place. Our Agate Cheese Spreader is a favorite for sharing cheese and wine with close friends on the patio, and our 5 Piece Agate Flatware Set is ideal for serving for an outdoor candlelit dinner with family. Another favorite piece that’s a necessity throughout summer is our Agate Bottle Opener which features a sleek, natural stone trim and comes in a variety of colors that compliment any environment. 

If you have an outdoor kitchen you use for entertaining, collecting dining and serverware that compliments the outdoors through a more natural and organic aesthetic is an approach that allows you to choose items you might not typically pick as your serverware in a more traditional indoor kitchen. Take our Agate Bowl, for example. The bowl is carved in a purposely organic manner to evoke the natural elements from which it came, and embodies an aesthetic that fits nicely in an outdoor setting. Our coasters, which are ideal for nicer wood tables whether they’re located outdoors or in the kitchen, also have an elegant yet organic aesthetic, and give an added layer of summer playfulness through the wide variety of colors and shapes each coaster set comes in! 

An Evening Dinner Party

We love bringing elements of summer into a more upscale evening dinner party by using serverware and barware that has character but remains subtle and refined. Our coasters-- items that are always needed during labor day parties or gatherings when people tend to mingle with a cold drink in hand-- run the gambit in their color and form, touching on the more elegant side with our popular quartz coasters and rose quartz coasters, to the more unique with our bright pink agate coasters or our gnarled agate coasters. Because of their natural shapes-- these pieces are crafted from fine minerals, after all-- the coasters come in different sizes to accommodate multiple different glass sizes from standard cups to smaller wine glasses or juice glasses. 

Agate, which is a translucent variety of microcrystalline quartz, has such a wide variety of quality and color that we are able to craft items that look and feel significantly different from one another in style and form despite the fact that they come from the same semiprecious stone. Our line of cutlery is predominantly made from agate but each of our items, from our bread knives to our carving sets and cake stands, are distinctly different from one another and versatile in their presentation in every type of home or kitchen. 

In the case of an elegant evening dinner, our Agate serving set is understated and functional and blends well with other pieces from our cutlery and serverware lines. If you’re celebrating a special moment with friends or family, our cake stands are completely unique and stand out among other more traditional cake stands, and, like many of our other pieces, exhibit an effortless connection to nature and the outdoors. A newcomer to our collection, our candle holders create a mellow yet luxurious mood for dinners that are more ornate and formal. Other favorite tabletop decor items that add a touch of elegance to an intimate dinner soiree are our napkin rings with gold trim and our Agate plates which come in a subtle yet impactful silver or gold trim. 

Creating a Versatile Tabletop Display

We love that Summer always brings an air of casual living; rigid routines are set aside in favor of more flexible schedules, family gatherings, vacations, and a greater appreciation for friends and time spent together. When it comes to entertaining or decorating for an event, taking a more versatile and unconventional approach is welcomed as it mirrors the more free-spirited tone of summer. 

One of our favorite methods of entertaining during summer is to let the decor flow together easily instead of focusing on making every detailed aligned and perfect. So many of the products in the Olympus Minerals line follow this same thought and process, because each piece exudes its own character thanks to its composition and build. Slight imperfections, especially in stones, make them more beautiful and unique because they’re closer to their original forms. When we’re preparing for a party, we enjoy mixing all of our coasters together and bringing in pieces like our Agate Slices as tabletop items to create a more distinct and one-of-a-kind atmosphere for guests.