Christmas Tablescape

Christmas...how I love to decorate for Christmas!  There's a fun link party going on this month, and one of the themes  is Tablescapes!  

A few years ago, after many, many years of waiting, we bought formal dining room furniture.  I shopped and shopped and landed on a traditional antique set that I will cherish forever!  Our formal dining room has been my favorite room in our home ever since!

I hosted my monthly lunch group at my home yesterday...here is a peek at the table!

I've collected Spode's "Christmas Tree" china for years, and we use it for our "everyday" tableware the entire month of December.  It transfers to a formal place setting perfectly.  Below the plates, I placed simple gold chargers from Wal-mart, and as a base, a red beaded placemat/charger, also purchased at Wal-mart!  (I have collected these over the years and pick them up here and there during the year).

The three-piece, mirrored centerpiece may be a bit difficult to see here, but it is so beautiful, so versatile, and reminds me of my mom.  A family friend from my hometown graciously gave this to me out of her elderly mother's things this year because she knew I had been on the hunt.  It is all the more special to me!  

Our dining room is largely decorated in silver and gold for Christmas, and lots of candlelight is gorgeous on the mirror!  A set of beaded votives from Paul Michael and simple glass cylinder vases (Wal-mart/Hobby Lobby/Garden Ridge) adorn the mirror.  I popped floating candles from Hobby Lobby in the cylinders.  One of the easiest and prettiest ways to get elegant light!

The glass "fishbowl" is a go-to piece for every season, and I filled it with silver and gold ornaments purchased last year at Michael's after Christmas.

I love the different textures of ornaments together.

At each place setting, I placed a Christmas Cracker!  Have you seen these?  My mom used these at her table, and they are an inexpensive, fun, and festive touch to any table!  Each guest pulls apart the "cracker," and it pops similarly to a cap gun, opening to reveal goodies inside!  Click the link above to read the history.  

I purchased a set of 8 Christmas Crackers last year after Christmas at Pier One for half off.  They are a little pricey at full price, but really pretty.  But today, I found a set of 8 at Party City for $9.99!

Dollar Store reindeer ornaments hung from the chandelier with clear fishing line.  This, too, is a very inexpensive way to add flair to your table area!  

Here is our group about to enjoy Almond Torte for dessert!  (That is, after Dutch had already run off with one guest's entire piece!)  

Melanie was behind the camera in the group photo.  Melanie, me, and two others in this lunch group have been getting together since 2001!  We started as a playgroup, then I moved away, the group evolved a bit, then when I moved back to Little Rock, it soon became a Lunch group due to playgroup consisting of way too many kids to keep it fun:).  So lunch it is.  And I couldn't ask for a sweeter group of girls.  

After my guests left, it dawned on me that I could not remember the last time I set the table with pretty things (with the exception of obligatory Holidays)...or went to someone else's home to a sit-down meal.  (We get together with families all the time for dinner, but as you know, it's wild and fun and chaotic with kids)  

I encourage you to get out your pretty things...your wedding gifts you haven't touched in years...and have a few friends over for lunch or dinner.  It doesn't have to be fancy or expensive or hard to pull off.  Your guests will simply be glad you asked!

Come back later this week where I will post the Shrimp and Grits we had for lunch!  You will Seriously. Love. This. Dish! 

See you back here soon!

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