12 Days of Christmas Dining Room for the Christmas That Wasn’t

So…my first real post after a 2+ year absence. Hmmmm…I think I’m just going to let the photos do most of the talking. I’m still feeling this whole new WordPress thing out, but I decorated inside and out like it was 1999! No matter that parties and teas and luncheons will not take place here in these times of COVID-19. This is for US…for you! I’ll start with the Twelve Days of Christmas dining room and then move through the rest of the house in follow-up posts.

DESIGN INSPIRATION:

“12 Days of Christmas” dinnerware from the Better Homes & Gardens Christmas collection purchased 2 years ago but first used this season.

The pink dresses worn by the “9 ladies dancing” on the dinnerware drove the color scheme this year. I did my best to incorporate other elements from the song on the table including the “swans a-swimming” (the white porcelain swan centerpiece and the Limoges salt & pepper cellars), the “geese a-laying” (salt & pepper shakers my Mom brought back from her Bucket List trip to Dubai in early 2019), the gold (numbered napkin) rings, the partridge, and pears. The candelabra are from my days as a fine rental shop owner. As I’m still trying (without much luck) to select new dining room chairs, ballroom chairs with metallic gold covers fill the void.

I have never bought flocked trees because of the mess, but this year I couldn’t resist. Pencil trees are my jam now as a space saving measure, and these fit nicely in the dining room. Ornaments pick up the bright, festive colors from the dinnerware and include the “ladies dancing” (with a nod to Misty Copeland) and various wind instruments representing the “pipers piping.” The large gold metal reindeer have been used in other Christmas settings past including on the porch for “Better Late Than Never, Part 1”, flanking the single large tree for “Twas the Night Before Christmas Progressive Dinner“, and actually ON THE DINING TABLE for our “Christmas Progressive Dinner” back in 2011. A smaller version of the big boy reindeer makes an appearance here atop a storage chest on a silver tray filled with festive fruit, lights, and greenery.

The vitrine that was in our library for 15 years has now taken up residence in the dining room. Makes serving before and after dinner drinks (the norm if you’re a guest here for dinner!) much more convenient.

The smaller china cabinet on the east wall gets the full lighted greenery treatment that snakes through the collection of aluminum vessels, some filled with faux pears for the season. Inside, a simple pair of small evergreens (with more geese a-laying!) add a touch of Christmas. A trio of rustic evergreens tucked on the side of the cabinet add even more light to that corner.

That’s it for the dining room! It’s getting pretty close to Christmas, so I guess I’ll have to hustle it up getting the other rooms posted. See you soon!

If you’d like to see more Christmas settings from years past, just scroll down to “Christmas” under Categories toward the top of the sidebar to the right. You’ll pull up 30+ holiday entries from which to choose including a couple of my all-time favorites, “Black, White & Red All Over” and “Tartan on the Tee“. If you’re specifically looking for more pink-infused Christmas celebrations, pop over to my 2012 dining room, “Pink & Purple Chocolate Christmas” or a little something-something from 2014 called “Confectionery Christmas” both of which are very kid-friendly.

Thanks for seeing me through my return to blogging!
I hope to see you again and again in the coming months!

Pink & Purple Chocolate Christmas Tablescape

I was tickled when the folks over at iVillage asked me to submit a holiday tablescape for their rockin’ site. When I checked the feature out this morning I saw that I was in very good company with bloggers like Mary from “Home Is Where the Boat Is” and Laura from “Our Prairie Home“. I was also introduced to a few bloggers with whom I was previously unfamiliar, so hooray! 😉 (If you’ve never visited iVillage, you might want to. It’s pretty awesome. SO much information about home & garden, great food, health & beauty…everything for women who want to be in the know!) Thank you, iVillage!

The photo I submitted was of an unpublished Christmas tablescape, so since it’s out there now I figured I’d go ahead and give you the whole package. This is another tablescape created for my recent “Tablescaping a Winter Wonderland” class through MCC at Longview. It would be a great table for a “tweener” or teen Christmas party for girls who still enjoy whimsy but feel more grown up when you add certain special touches. And as my friend Delia pointed out, this tablescape would also work really well for a winter baby shower!
(Click on any photo to enhance/enlarge. Photos by Sheri L. Grant.)

While pastel pink and purple are not “traditional” Christmas colors per se, they somehow work when visions of sugarplums, cookies and candies dance in your head. A snowy blanket of white linen covers the table from head to toe as a base for the bubblegum colors.

Each place setting begins with a lavender acrylic charger from Michael’s Craft Store. A plain white Corelle dinner plate is separated from the lacy white Pier 1 plate with a shot of pastel pink found in the napkin. The bon-bon topped cupcake is the final ingredient to create this pink, purple and chocolate Christmas setting. The silver flatware is very dressy…one of those “grown up” touches to keep the look from becoming too cutesy for teens and tweeners. No menus used. They’re teens, so you can just text them! 😉

Delicately etched pink stemware is another grown-up touch.

These “sugary” pink, purple, chocolate & white figurines picked up at 75% off at Burlington‘s end-of-season sale last year were the inspiration for the table. The sparkly finish on them makes them shimmer in the light.

I am a forever fan of using food to help fill in a centerpiece. Not only does it look and smell great, but it adds color, texture and shape. Because everything is edible, that’s money saved! (Some of the food presented here is faux for class purposes.) I like to present food at varied levels on assorted trays, plates and bowls, and you simply can’t go wrong with glass stands! A little more color and shine is brought down to the base level of the table with pastel pink and silver ornaments.

The buffet behind the dining table wholly subscribes to my philosophy of “Go big, or go home.” An oversized sleigh draped in silver bead garland (also used HERE) rests on a bed of cottony snow, filled with shimmering gifts in the prevailing colors of pink, purple and silver. More sweets and ornaments are displayed in glass stands and jars. Additional tree figurines stand guard over a shimmering silver basket of neatly wrapped gifts.

The tea cart stands ready to serve more beverages in these cute glass tumblers striped in pink, purple & white found at TJ Maxx for just $1 each on clearance. Paper napkins in the same colors are laid out for dessert. A glass apothecary jar holds a pouf of “snow” topped with a pale pink LED candle and a few random ornaments.

More apothecary jars filled with snow, ornaments, and LED candles sit atop the china cabinet.

 


Sheri videotaped the room in its entirety to give you a little better perspective of the layout.  Just turn your volume down; otherwise you’ll hear me in the background running around getting ready for students to arrive! 🙂

For more teen/tweener-friendly Christmas tablescapes on this site, check out:
Sugar High – Payback!
Frosty the Snowman
March of the Penguins

For more Christmas posts on this site:
Cranberry Christmas
Cranberry Christmas Squared
White Hot
Winter Brunch
Christmas Progressive Dinner
Get Me To the Church On Time
Winter Cardinal
AND
check out NINE other posts all on the “Winter” page!

Join me if you will this week at Susan’s place for “Tablescape Thursday” anytime after 9:00 a.m. CST and at the Style Sisters’ place for Centerpiece Wednesday. There are a lot of bloggers out there with terrific ideas for the holidays!