Christmas Table Setting

It’s official…the Christmas season is upon us.  And with the Christmas season comes one of my favorite holiday activities…decorating.  AND…one of my FAVORITE blogs, Centsational Style, is hosting a holiday table setting contest.  How perfect.  We just finished up, well almost finished up, our dining room remodel and are ready to show it off with a fancy, festive table with all the trimmings.  Now I must confess…I’m a bit of a virgin when it comes to holiday table setting.  Prior to this challenge…I mean…contest…I had never set a table before (other than the basic place mat/napkin/dinner plate combo).  So I preface the fourteen pictures (yes…my apologizes for the picture overload…I tried to limit myself to eight pictures but that was just not happening…I was a bit on the trigger happy side today) by saying I learned alot.  And by alot I mean if I could have a do-over, I would do things a little differently.  But I am happy with the end result.  I’m not gonna lie, I can’t stop stumbling into the dining room with my mouth wide open in an awkward guffaw in disbelief that this dining room belongs to my home and not to the glossy pages of Better Homes & Gardens magazine.  Now, with that introduction I bring you our decked-out dining room:

Okay…maybe that wasn’t the best picture to start with.  It doesn’t have the wow factor.  How about from another angle:

And another one for good measure:

The blob on the carpet to the right is Goose’s holiday wreath.  Christmas came early for the dog this year.  Oh…and he also snuck into a few of my pictures.  Check him out below creeping around the table…silly Goose:

Now let’s take it on in to the meat of the room, the table setting:

Remember when I told you it wasn’t perfect but I still loved it.  Check out the chair by the window and the place setting to the left.  Ooops!  I was painting the trim this weekend and put the chair back in the wrong spot.  The place setting is right though.  If I hadn’t have told you, would you have even noticed?  Hmmm…just me I suppose!  But let’s talk about what I did.  I tried to keep the table setting CHEAP since that’s how I roll when it comes to decorating.  I tried to use things I already had, could get freely, or was inexpensive.  For instance, the burlap was $9 for a roll at the hardware store and included a ton of it.  Not only am I using it on the table but it’s getting some use in a few other rustic-ie themed, holiday-ed out areas of the house (don’t worry…I’ll share with you when it’s done).  The plates, silverware, and stemware were already owned and I picked up a few bright red chargers at the craft store for less than a dollar each.

And the jingle bell “napkin rings” that aren’t really “napkin rings” were picked up at the craft store for fifty cents each.  The napkin rings are my favorite part of the setting.  They’re so fun and add a pop of color to the table.  Oh…and what REALLY are the napkin rings?  They’re children’s bracelets!  Awesome huh?!

And then there is the accessorized silverware:

I saw a picture on Pinterest (go figure) of silverware at a wedding tied together with a piece of ribbon.  I thought it was an adorably cute idea and used some of the leftover ribbon from the chandelier decorations to tie up the silverware at each setting.  And then there is the centerpiece.  I kept this really simple and used pieces I already had lying around the house: a couple of white pillar candles, basic hurricane vases, and a lantern that usually lives ont he porch:

To spice up the hurricane vases, I clipped a few sprigs off the shrubbery in the front yard and placed it between the candle in the glass to bring a little bit of the outdoors in.  This was another I wish I had a do-over moment, or maybe a “for next time” situation.  I think next time I would fill the lantern with ornaments, or put some greenery on the table under the lantern and vases, or maybe even use cut pieces from birch trees as pedestals to set them on.  Anyway….did you see the chandelier?!

And the Charlie Brown style Christmas tree in the corner?

All the evergreens came from camp.  While Colby was off to hunting camp, I asked him to be a superstar boyfriend and bring me back a Charlie Brown tree and some branches that I could use to decorate the house.  And he did!  I half expected him to forget but he came through!  Isn’t he awesome?!  Colby are you blushing yet?  And then there is the new chalkboard with a Christmas message that we blogged about yesterday back here.

Oh…and did I mention how purdy the whole room looks at night with the lights on:

And another one:

So I end this blog post pretty darn proud with my holiday-fied dining room.  Now I just need some dinner guests.  So who’s coming over for dinner?  I’ll cook something really yummy?!

Pssst…So I encourage you all to go over to Centsational Style and check out all the holiday table settings going on over there starting at 9 a.m. on Wednesday morning.