Step By Step for Decorating a Christmas Tablescape

You can find the video tutorial footage in my Highlights on my Instagram page.

I’ve come up with easy steps to decorating a Christmas tablescape.

1. Start with table runners. I have an 84 inch long table so a lot of table runners don’t go the entire length of my table, so I use three table runners. One down the middle and two on either end of the table running horizontal.

2. Add a charger plate at every seat.

3. Add the dinner plate.

4. Add the salad plate

5. Assemble the cloth napkins. I like to use a patterned napkin paired with a solid napkin and sparkling metallic napkin ring holder. The solid napkins I have here are from Target.

This gorgeous Boucle rug from Orian Rugs is the perfect rug for my riding room.

6. Place napkins in center on place setting.

7. Add silverware. Remember to ask yourself: Do you need a dessert or a soup spoon? Add all the silverware you need and place them in the proper places. (Salad and dinner forks on left, knife and spoon on right.)

8. Add glasses to the right side. Ask yourself what drinks you are having: Do you need wine glasses and water goblets?

9. Start adding the centerpiece. Place largest pieces first. I place chunky candles and accessories then fill the middle space with large pieces of greenery.

10. Keep building with smaller greenery stems to fill in the holes, then add taper candles. A trick my mom taught me was to put tin foil in the candlesticks to keep the taper candle from falling over.

Sharing my dining room Christmas tree. The heart ornament in the middle has special meaning. I gave it to my grandmother last Christmas. She passed away last February. I went back to home this past July and brought it back with me to always have.

The decorative white and black, and gold gift boxes are from Target.

My Fall Tablescape

Fall is my favorite! I love walking past my dining room and seeing it all decorated for fall! 🍂I enjoyed using neutral colors, like sage, creams and whites this year because it blends well with my everyday home colors.

Spring Fun with Mackenzie-Childs

 I’m thrilled to be teasing up with this darling company called MacKenzie-Childs! Their products are so whimsical, creative, and fun! They sent me a few pieces that I will cherish for years to come! 

The Morning Glory Pitcher is my favorite! The colors are so bright and cheerful! It’s a fun contrast next to the black and white egg plate, which has the signature MacKenzie-Child's Courtly Check design.  To carry on the black and white look, I added  a black and white dot ribbon to my cake stands. (And the cake plate stands are at Home Goods right now - I just saw them in their stores!) Going back to the ribbon, it also goes great with the adorable Easter Chicks!! They too have have the Courtly Check design and are too cute for words! (I'm constantly taking them out of the hands of my two year old because she wants to play with them!) I love the love the turquoise color the bottom half of the chicks so I added the turquoise napkins to match their chevron pattern, and add a pop of color. The white bunnies and gold colored eggs are from Target. The carrots are from Hobby Lobby, but I got them forever ago.

And being a gardening lover, I was very grateful to receive this darling gardening tool set from MacKezie-Childs. The tools are sturdy and comfortable to use. Plus, they're pink and black - my favorite colors! Thank you!

Hope you have a wonderful time decorating for Spring like I did! And have an enjoyable 

Easter with family and friends. 

Woodland Elegance

I am so honored and excited to be on the 2017 Treetopia Design Council! 

I was given the wonderful opportunity to select several products of my choice from Treetopia.com. The products I chose were perfect for the "Woodland Elegance" theme I had in mind for my dining room. I wanted the room to be elegant, cozy, traditional, and stylish - as my dining room takes center stage on Christmas Eve.  My family's greatest Christmas Eve tradition is dressing in our Sunday best, having a delicious formal dinner, followed by attending a candlelight church service. It's a tradition my grandparents started long ago when my mother was young - and now has been passed down to my children. 

For starters, I wanted a traditional Christmas tree to be the focal point of the room and that would capture the woodland theme. The 7.5 Noble Fir Tree  did just that with its perfect color, texture, size and shape! 

This tree represents the magic of Christmas to me with its sparkling glitter, gold ornaments, and whimsical reindeer, coupled with natural pinecones. It is reminiscent of my childhood when we as a family would cut down our tree in the snowy Minnesota forest. We would bring it home and decorate to resemble a tree like in a department store window. I wanted to recreate that feeling for my own children so that they too can have the wonder and awe that accompanies the majesty of the holiday season.

The Gemmed Up Pearl Ornaments I picked out are a dream! They add such sparkle and elegance, and remind me of the vintage handmade ornaments my grandmother used to make by hand for us years ago. In fact, I can still visualize her pushing straight pins delicately as to place each piece of sequence and pearl by hand. 

Keeping with the neutral color scheme, I also added different gold textured balls, because a variety of textures helps create visual interest as well as a customized look. 

I also chose the Harvest Pine 10' Garland and Harvest Pine 24" Wreath to compliment my buffet table. The intricate details of the pine and fur foliage mixed with the green and white berries, make this wreath and garland truly magical! I love how there are lights on both the garland and wreath - adding more magic! I did add a few layers of ribbon and placed a few gold ball ornaments around, but I didn't want to take away from the wreath and garland's natural beauty and unique texture! 

This room, now dressed in the Woodland Elegance theme, is ready to usher in a magical Christmas Eve to be enjoyed by friends and family! 

Make sure to stop by the Treetopia Blog and see all the amazing trees from the rest of the 
2017 Treetopia Design Council!

Design Tips for an Easy Thanksgiving Tablescape

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, lots of folks are already thinking about decorating their Thanksgiving table. Putting together a tablescape is one of my favorite things! But first, what is a "tablescape" and how is it different than just setting the table? The term tablescaping has developed in recent years with people decorating their tables, particularly for holidays, more and more elaborately to create an experience for their guests. 

"Tablescaping is the act of creatively arranging a tabletop so that it conveys a specific theme, mood, or experience. It's a thought process of being creative and planning to design a table top with a specific theme or mood." 

So it's different than just setting the table with forks, knives, plates etc. Most tablscapes have been methodically thought out and planned, shopped for and set to be perfect for one's guests. One drawback is the clean-up afterwards, especially with all the extra dishes!  

But If you don't have time to do all that - here's some quick tips for your Thanksgiving dinner;

1. First place a simple, neutral table runner down the middle of your table. You can also opt for buying placemats if you want. They don't have to match the table runner. These can be found at your Home Goods or Target stores. 

2. Add pillar candles  at several different height for your centerpieces. You don't have to use candle holders - but it would look great to add height to your centerpiece. You can also place a few vases of fresh flowers as well. 

3. Adding chargers can also be a nice touch. A charger is a large plate that sit under the dinner plate. If you want to skip that charger, go ahead! Also, If you want the look of formal china without the cleanup - buy these amazing plates at you local grocery store. They're plastic, sturdier than paper, and  have a silver accent to look like china.

4. Sprinkle real or artificial leaves or foliage down the center of the table runner.

5. Add your silverware and glassware and if you have cloth or paper napkins place them in the glasses for a fun festive look. And that's it!

Happy Valentine’s Day Entertaining!

Happy Valentine's Day friends! It's one of my favorite holidays to decorate for-
I just love the bright, happy colors!

Here are some photos of my Valentine's Day decor! I love decorating for my kitchen table for Valentine's and putting special surprises at each place setting for the people I love. For breakfast we have pink pancakes and berry smoothies, and for dinner it's heart shaped pizza!💕💕 

 I also love displaying multiple banners on my fireplace. I
 sewed the fabric one and my husband made me the paper one with words.   

Hope y'all have a fabulous day!

A Simple Dessert Table

Last weekend we blessed my daughter at our church. After the blessing, we had family over for a special luncheon. Due to time and budget constraints, I needed an elegant, but simple display table. 

This is what I came up with:

I used a lamp (I already had), to add a soft light, and put roses in my grandmothers's tea set. I had little take home party favor boxes, which I found at the dollar store, and filled with them Hershey Kisses. My husband designed the signs on the table and tags. And I bought the frames from TJ Maxx and Hobby Lobby-which will now be decor in her nursery. The glass apothecary jars I already had, I just tied tulle on the tops for a touch of color. The rose cake I actually bought at Costco! I loved how the shape went along with the roses in the tea set. 

(Plus, the inside was white chocolate raspberry-delicious!) The beautiful table helped make for a wonderful family day!