About a week ago we had our annual Christmas social for the women at church. Christmas BEFORE Thanksgiving?! Yes!! We are all moms and/or grandmas and many of us have full-time jobs, so we wanted to enjoy our Christmas social together before we all get so busy putting on Christmas for our families. It was really a lot of fun. Ten women got to "host" tables for the evening, decorating them in their own style. I wish I had taken pictures of all the tables -- they were each so beautiful in their own way. I especially loved my friend Tammy's table decorated with all the ornaments and goodies they have picked up in their family's world travels. So awesome!
This was the table that I created for the evening. By thinking outside of the box, there are a few really easy, inexpensive things you can do to spice up your holiday home decor!
It's hard to see in the photos, but my white plates have an embossed snowflake design around the edges. I love them because they can be used in so many different ways. Usually I use them with red dinner plates underneath since my Christmas decor is mostly red and white with a little black thrown in. Since this was a women's event, I decided to switch it up and do something really pretty and less traditional by pairing the snowflake plates with my everyday turquoise dinner plates and light green cloth napkins. I also added a square of gold polka dotted burlap as a table topper to add a little glitz.
For the centerpiece, I did a grouping of glass jars and pretty presents. A couple more of the ice cream cone trees ended up in jars with the extra sugar crystals and sprinkles in the bottom to make "snow".
My favorite thing on the table were these little Christmas house winter scenes in jars. I bought the houses at the dollar store {love that!}, but they were pretty ugly to begin with. I sprayed each house a solid color with spray paint from my stash, then used a small brush and craft paint to add some detail. I painted the roof and all the trim white really quickly -- it's not perfect and it doesn't really need to be -- and painted the front door pink for an accent. Once all the paint was dry, I sprayed it with a pearlescent top coat to give it the look of a vintage glass ornament. To top it all off, I painted a layer of Mod Podge onto the spots where I wanted it to be snowy and sprinkled Epsom salt on top. They turned out sparkly and pretty and way more expensive looking than they really are. I placed each house in a jar filled with Epsom salt and stuck some tinsel trees down in there, too.
I also picked up some styrofoam balls at the dollar store, painted them with a layer of Mod Podge, and rolled them in Epsom salt to create snowballs which I stacked up in a white ceramic bowl. That sparkly gift box in the background is from several years ago when I wrapped all my presents like that. {I know, I am a lunatic. I wrapped ALL of my gifts in white paper that year then sprayed them with adhesive and rolled them in clear glitter. It was awesome, but I'll NEVER do it again. Just sayin'.}
My table stuck out like a sore thumb in the sea of red and green tables, but I loved how pretty and feminine it was. For less than $20 I was able to repurpose a bunch of items around my house and create a completely new holiday look! Do you use the same decor every year or do you like to switch things up?
My mom loved your table! She was telling me about it on the phone the other day! I'm so glad you posted picture! It really is just perfect! :]
ReplyDeleteThanks Emma! It was really fun to put together something girly. My boys at home would not have appreciated it the way the ladies did!
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