Cranberry Christmas – Squared

December 6, 2011July 29, 2017 / Alycia Nichols / 41 Comments

If you like decorating with cranberries at Christmastime, this is a look you might enjoy. This is the version of it on a square table (also suitable for a round). To see the Tuscan-style (long) table version, click HERE.

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Instead of placing the 6-ft. oblong tables end-to-end, they are placed side-by-side to create more of a square.

Because of the formal nature of this table (bread plate, additional flatware) and the oversized charger, it will seat just 8 guests. Using the more traditionally sized 12″ charger and eliminating the bread plate buys about 8 extra inches on each side and will let you seat 10.

This large silver bowl is filled with water topped with fresh cranberries (3 bags here) and floating candles. Cranberries naturally rise (you’ve seen the Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice commercials!), so the look is achieved without any extra work! (Note: Carefully place the candles in the arrangement so as not to get the wick wet.)

The same small floral arrangements placed at each person’s place setting on a long table HERE are used to surround the massive silver centerpiece bowl on this table for a completely different look.

Creamy white full-blown and spray roses, red berries, and bits of winter greenery in silver julep cups are the perfect accent. Depending on how they are arranged, fewer small arrangements are required for the square table.

The same 27″ silverplated candlesticks used on the Tuscan-style table are used here, but a fourth one has been added to completely surround the center bowl. The same silver mercury glass votives are used here again, but in a different pattern.

So that’s one table with two distinctive looks. The silver pedestal bowls used here are 17½”H and 19″W which is pretty doggone hefty. In this case, size doesn’t matter….you can get the same pretty look using a smaller bowl with shorter candlesticks.

More tables on this site using a square table:
“Christmas Progressive Dinner“
“Pheasants & Peacocks“
“Serpents & Skullduggery“
“Sunflower Simple”
“Flamingos in Paradise”
“Roses in October“
“Noel Progressive Dinner 2010“
“It’s the Great Pumpkin“

Don’t forget to check out Susan’s Tablescape Thursday!!!

Pheasants & Peacocks

November 22, 2011November 5, 2021 / Alycia Nichols / 46 Comments

After Sunday’s very unexpected and very unnerving decorating fiasco (click here if you missed out on the horror of it all), I have finally regrouped. I figure I haven’t time to wallow in it with all the cooking and cleaning left to do before guests start arriving on Wednesday night. (I have forgiven myself for being such a nitwit, but I will never forget!!! :-))

I spent minimal time on this new centerpiece, but I think it will suffice. Ramon helped me rearrange the tables into a square shape rather than the original 12-ft. long oblong. It seats 2 fewer guests, but we’re also seating in the dining room (click here for those photos) and on the lower level for football fanatics.

A couple of full-length ivory linens drape the 6-ft. tables kissed lengthwise to create an “almost square” which will seat 10 of our 24 guests.

A deep chocolate charger is foundation to the exquisitely detailed Alex Piefers brown peacock china I bought a couple of years ago at a boutique called Home Finishings here in Lee’s Summit. I have an unnatural attachment to this china. It’s just so….cool! 🙂 I used it last year at my friend Jean’s house, too, in a post called Shake Your Tail Feather! (According to an unsubstantiated Google source, these dishes were manufactured by the Johnson Brothers in Britain, discontinued in 2003. I’ve been unable to find any other useful information on these beautiful dishes.)

I chose Complementary faux mother of pearl napkin rings (Old Time Pottery) and flatware (Target). The ivory Bed Bath & Beyond napkins are simply folded twice lengthwise, secured with the ring, and draped vertically across the plates.

I like the height of Godinger’s “Chelsea” collection stemware.

Everyone should be pretty well fed!

The new centerpiece made up of various sizes of LEDs, faux cabbages, pumpkins, pinecones and a few pheasant feathers is set atop a 28″ silver beaded-edge cake plateau. The mantel decor complements the centerpiece with several of the same elements.

I certainly hope that you and yours enjoy a safe and loving Thanksgiving! After stuffing yourself with turkey and pie on Thursday, throw on your elastic waist pants and pop on over to join tablescapers from all over the globe for Susan’s Tablescape Thursday!

It’s the Great Pumpkin!

October 20, 2010July 25, 2017 / Alycia Nichols / 14 Comments

Those of you who know me know I love to eat! Luckily, so do many of my friends! We enjoy dining like the Europeans: slowly and with purpose. For this casual 3-hour dinner on the deck, the pace fit the menu and the colors are all about the season!

Inspired by Charles Schultz’s wonderful classic cartoon, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”, I created this autumn tablescape for a few close friends who just wanted a quiet but fun evening.

Each place setting featured a rusty, almost orange-colored metal charger that I picked up at Tuesday Morning several years back. Brown rimmed yellow stoneware from Pier 1 was perfect for our entrée. Pumpkin colored melamine dishes from Target took on the salad, and brown rimmed green soup bowls were there for a delicious chunky tomato soup with crabmeat which could have been a meal in and of itself!

Taking full advantage of my newly purchased David Stark book, Napkins With a Twist, I pulled together this fun fold with this colorful cotton napkin from Stein Mart. The fold is incredibly easy to do, despite all the resulting nooks & crannies. Each napkin is topped with a mini pumpkin and faux autumn leaves. (See this napkin used in another fall tablescape HERE.)

My husband was not fond of the place cards/menus I created at the last minute (he’s a critic now!), and on second glance I think I could have done better. Desperate times called for desperate measures! The evening’s fare was printed on the back of each place card.

The centerpiece was a complete, total, and shameless rip off of the cartoon with the massively proportioned pumpkin surrounded by sumptuous mounds of fall leaves! I perched the pumpkin atop a small stand to lend a bit more height and drama.

I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or not, but it’s getting dark much earlier now so I’m able to actually light candles before guests come out for dinner at 7:30.

Two sides of the centerpiece were flanked by various seasonal gourds. Putting the gourds on two sides only elongated the centerpiece and kept it from looking too rounded.

It’s hard to tell in my amateur photos, but the entire centerpiece was subtly illuminated from underneath using these miniature LED votives. Hiding them throughout the leaves provided a soft glow to the entire piece.

Further illumination was provided by multi-hued pillar candles from Pier 1 placed on the 2 sides of the pumpkin not decorated with gourds. The tri-level orange wooden pieces were purchased a few years ago at Hobby Lobby and added to the tablescape just to add narrow vertical interest.

I really like these candles that boast four different but complementary hues.

I count myself lucky to be joining the ladies and gentlemen for The Style Sisters’ Centerpiece Wednesday and Susan’s Tablescape Thursday!

Au Revoir!

October 13, 2010July 27, 2017 / Alycia Nichols / 23 Comments

I can only live vicariously through others since I have such a profound fear of flying. Thank goodness I have lots of friends and family who are ready and willing to hop on a big metal bird at the drop of a hat! Their adventures become my adventures, and this time is no different. As our pals head across the ocean to Paris, France, they can reminisce about the bon voyage dinner held in their honor. And as they wine & dine in the great restaurants, they can giggle about my lame attempt at recreating the fine cuisine.

I am a pink freak, so it’s always exciting to do a table for someone else who shares that passion.

I always knew this “Eiffel Tower” would come in handy for something! As my globetrotting friends set out on yet another wonderful cross-Atlantic adventure, we said goodbye with a dinner featuring tidbits of decor and cuisine they will likely encounter in “gay Paree!”

We have said au revoir to summer here in the Midwest, but the outdoor temperatures belie that fact with daytime highs in the 70s and 80s. So to bring in a bit of autumn and tone down the pink a bit, I used chocolate as the base color for this tablescape.

Atop the creamy chocolate table linen are gleaming silver chargers & flatware to keep the brown from washing out and looking so flat. A plain, creamy earthenware with a decorative rim was used to show off the food.

Menu and napkin

I created the fun little menus on my computer using cardstock and fleur de lis brads from Hobby Lobby. The pink toile scenes reminded me of the French countryside in a time when men and women actually strived to be described as “genteel.” The fun font I used reminded me of the font used on the posters promoting the 1958 movie “Gigi”, set in turn-of-the-20th century Paris.

I recently bought another book on napkin folding. (Shh! Don’t tell my husband!) This cute little fold looks like a “petit pain.” (Translation: bun.) It was a lot easier to create than I thought it would be and looked really sweet at the top of each plate. (Check out the “Books That Make You Go “Ooh!” tab at the top of the page for more information “Napkins With a Twist” by David Stark.) For a complete tutorial on how to create this napkin fold, click HERE and scroll to Tip #33. To see other posts on this site using the rosebud napkin fold, see “Cupcake Colors”, “Springtime in Paris Mother’s Day Buffet” and “Mother’s Day Luncheon in Pink”.

This night was a little warm, and that just brought the sweet smell of these pretty posies to the fore. Wonderful! I chose roses and carnations because they are so pretty together, and the variation in the depth of pink in the roses was interesting. Both were clipped within an inch of their little lives to create the mounding effect at the bottom of the tower and to float in the clear oyster votive cups. Stray rose petals helped to fill out the look.

To add just a bit of height and visual interest on the outside of the tower, I arranged the roses and carnations in clear vessels with a just a teensy bit of greenery.

What’s an evening celebration without a barrage of candles, especially when the honorees’ destination is the city most commonly referred to as La Ville-Lumiere (City of Light). The background music included a little Celine Dion, Eartha Kitt, and the soundtrack from “Something’s Gotta Give” (one of my all-time favorite movies!)

For other Parisian-themed posts:
Springtime in Paris
Patisserie de Paris
French Poodle

Other pretty pink tablescapes on this site include:
Peaceful Peonies
Days of Wine & Roses
Peonies & Pearls
Chocolate Traditional
Platinum & Pink Valentine
Blushing Bridal Shower
Easter Floral
Easter Bloom
Pink Plaid & Posies
All A’Bloom In Pink For Spring
Pretty In Pink
Showered In Pink
Easter In Pink & Grey
Peony Power
Fairy Princess Party
Fairy Tale Wedding Shower
Blurred Lines With Shades of Pink
Tea Roses
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Pretty In Pink, Wicked In Spurs – Breast Cancer Awareness
Bald Is Beautiful – Breast Cancer Awareness
Pink & Purple Chocolate Christmas

Please pardon my French, but I am plein de joie to once again be a part of the Style Sisters’ Centerpiece Wednesdays and Susan’s Tablescape Thursdays.