Haul Out The Holly Tablescape

It is no secret that we are in the depths of my favorite time of year. Christmas always seems so far away, a distant thought as we are greeting trick or treaters at the door, a remote thought that is there in the back of my mind, yet sneaks up on me like no body's business! I've turned around and BAM, it's 10 days away! So that only gives me one maybe two more chances to inspire you for your holiday tables and parties! Yikes! So if you were with me yesterday, traditional reds and greens have appeared throughout the kitchen and eating area, so I followed suit with a traditional tablescape. Let's start with the centerpiece, for those are my favorite things to do, cylinder vase (used as a candle holder) and the Pottery Barn bowl that you might remember that I found at the Goodwill {score!} take a look at how I used it before: here. A cedar candle ring, that I souped up with holly and berries. I am not usually a candle ring kinda gal, but the cedar was good looking and had just a little dusting of frost, I couldn't resist. Combined together, it can hold it's own in the center of the table.

Vintage stocking hanging on the back of the chairs, with a little cedar and a handmade felt poinsettia. I've gotten a few emails about these so I hope to throw together a tute for this weekend.

Red placemats and napkins with a chevron detail that I've used from The 4th of July to Christmas, they are a great red.

I picked up a new Martha Stewart Christmas dinnerware set (Macy's) for a steal last year after Christmas ($13.00). I decked out the China Hutch but the dinner plates are all I used for this tablescape.

They napkin rings are something else I made, using plastic rings and ribbon, you can't go wrong with plaid! :) I used everyday glassware and flatware.

Little milkglass compotes with shiny beaded ornaments, it would fun to put Christmas cookies or a Christmas cupcake instead! Sadly, those things don't stay around long enough to actually photograph! :)

Here is another centerpiece idea, The Mother Huddle did a similar version with a taper candle, hot glue gun and real candy canes, here I used a 3x9 candle and plastic candy canes, but I really love both versions! This candle had grooves in it already, so putting the canes around was easy. I used a rubber band (I didn't want it permanent) to hold them in place and used ribbon to hide it. I have collected candy canes for years and you can find them anywhere from the Dollar Tree to Target, just about everywhere has an inexpensive version. This is so easy to do and great impact.