So what do you do when you want to render a little payback to your adult children for their snarky teenage remarks regarding your parenting skills? You throw a little party for THEIR children that includes almost nothing but sugar…then send the little ones home for THEM to deal with! 🙂 That’s my plan for later this week. Bad, bad Grandma!

Even with children, I like to dress the table in washable linens. A white full-length linen is topped with a red poly-cotton cloth that is rife with whimsical gold stars and swirls. I bought several of the top layer linens several years ago on clearance at Bed Bath & Beyond but have never had occasion to use them.

Lunch will start with fruit-filled red or green Jello (cut into Christmas tree shapes) served on the green glass salad plates. That will be followed by grilled cheese sandwiches, carrot sticks with ranch dressing, and crispy sweet potato fries on the white Corelle plate.

The simply folded napkins are actually plush white wash cloths tied with green and red curling ribbon. I pick the cloths up at Sam’s Club to stock our bathrooms for use as hand towels like this:

 I keep a separate stash just for little hands at luncheons (and barbeques because I’m masochistic like that! :-)). After lunch just toss ’em in the washing machine with a little soap and Clorox® to soak for a day or so, and they’re good as new! (If a stain remains, I use the cloth for polishing silver.)

The white flatware is from TJ Maxx and is just “formal” enough for 7-10 year olds.

I bought these fun ice cream soda glasses several years ago at a store that is now defunct. You can probably pick up something similar from Pier 1, Old Time Pottery, or even Dollar Tree where I bought the red & white reusable straws. I’ll be serving a choice of strawberry or chocolate fudge ice cream sodas.

I went rogue on the place card holders. I don’t know what these things are intended to be, but I thought they’d make great holders! I bought them from Hobby Lobby a few years back.

Keeping with my infamous motto of “go big, or go home”, I plopped this massive sleigh in the center of the table filled with  a big ol’ snowman and all sorts of goodies that the kids can take home after the party. I bought the sleigh and snowman wholesale about 10 years ago. The giant red, green & white Christmas candy canes are from Dollar Tree (2011). Man, I love that place! I created a very different snowman tablescape last year that you can see by clicking here.

Beneath the sleigh is plush cotton “snow” scattered with oversized ornaments that look like wrapped candy from Dollar Tree.

Keeping with the candy theme in the sleigh is a huge plush “wrapped candy.” I had 2 of them, but can’t find the other one! Maybe by Wednesday…..

I bought these fun painted wood “Ho, Ho, Ho” signs at Pier 1’s Christmas clearance last year.

I couldn’t let the china cabinet go unadorned. I bought this cute little dude at Burlington’s Christmas clearance last year for $1.97 (90% off)!!!!! This is another store that has great everyday prices and phenomenal clearance sales!

I am still grinning about the great deal these giant Santa hat chair covers were at….you guessed it…Dollar Tree! They fit nice and snug on our dining room chairs and give the room a really festive look! (I’m just praying they don’t discolor the chair fabric!)

And the pièce d’ résistance…the candy/dessert buffet!!! Candy, cookies, cupcakes…lots, and lots, and LOTS of sugar!!!!!!!! Bwahahahahahahaha!!!!!!! The fun figurines on the candy bar came from Burlington’s Christmas clearance last year. The assortment of glass canisters are from Hobby Lobby, TJ Maxx, and Home Goods. I created a more glamorous candy/dessert buffet for a friend’s Sweet Sixteen x Two birthday earlier this year. Click here to see it!

I’m picking the kids up around 11:30 and bringing them back to my house. I don’t want their parents to drop them off for fear they won’t come back to get them once they see what’s on the menu! 🙂 I can’t wait!!! I’ve never felt so deliciously evil in all my life!!! 🙂

Please join me at Susan’s place, Between Naps on the Porch, for Tablescape Thursday again this week to check out what other tablescapers from around the globe are doing to celebrate the Christmas season!