holiday table decor

Start with a beautiful glass footed dish, possibly one that has been handed down through the generations. Use something special that has meaning to those gathered around the table. Perhaps use a wedding anniversary gift that has been wrapped up for special occasions. Everything that you set on the table adds personality and charm to the scene you are setting. Here, you are creating an edible centerpiece. So you are not only making a visual statement, but you are inviting your guests to taste! This centerpiece takes about a half hour to complete, so you can begin shortly before guests arrive, after your food is cooking and your tablecloth is in place.



You will need:

1 egg

3 bunches of grapes

a large bowl and a baking sheet

silk grape leaves

a sponge or brush

granulated sugar
(tha't it!~no special shopping to do!)

First thing you want to do is to separate your egg whites and add them to your bowl. Discard the yolks or use otherwise.
Spread out your nicely-shaped grape clusters onto a baking sheet. Use your clean sponge or brush to cover the grapes with egg whites.
Hold up a bunch of grapes with one hand and pour granulated sugar over the grapes, turning to get good coverage. Do this for each bunch
of grapes to make them look frosted. Next brush the silk grape leaves with egg white as well. Dip leaves into sugar. Arrange all on your fancy plate and refrigerate for a half hour. If you have time the night before, you can do all this and refrigerate overnight. The frosty effect seems to be even more so if left refrigerated overnight. Voile' ! You have created a masterpiece that will add a festive touch to your table!

Wasn't that easy?!

A very inexpensive touch is to spread holiday confetti around the center of your table to reflect light and to add sparkle, without cost, as a 4 oz pack of star confetti is only $4 and it can be used for almost any occasion. Find this jewel at Oriental Trading (Search confetti)

What's more important to an artist than his paints and brushes? Well, his canvas, of course! Because you can't paint a beautiful picture without a quality background media. For your tablecloth, choose fabrics that are durable, colorful and easy to clean. There is such a wide variety in stores, but for the Holidays, it's nice to splurge a little. Or if you are a DIY-er, start with a basic cloth and do your own embellishments. In many cases, you don't even need a sewing machine. You can use a hem tape for the edges and for any appliques you wish to add. Also, fabric paint, stencils and embosser can turn your backdrop into a unique and stunning piece. In the photo, we used 2 yards of red rayon velvet. Kind of plushy, but has such a rich feel! For this, we could make a 16 X 54" table runner and 4 napkin pockets.
You will also need:

scissors, ruler, pencil

4X4 inch decorative trivet (used for the embossing pattern seen on napkin pocket)

iron and ironing board

spray starch

straight pins

needle, thread, sewing machine
Cut 2 17 X55" rectangles, set 1 aside. Lay your piece of velvet wrong side up on a flat surface.
Place the trivet on a corner, with 1-inch border. Draw an outline of the border around the trivet.
Leave 4 " of space between trivet markings. Move down the length of the fabric and repeat on opposite long edge of fabric.
To emboss velvet pattern, place velvet of the ironing board, wrong side up. Slide trivet under marked square. Spray marked square with starch.
Place hot iron over marked area and press firmly for 10 seconds.Continue til pattern is embossed on each marked square. Pin gold tassels on each corner. Place 2nd piece of velvet rectangle over the first, right sides together. Then stitch 1/2 " with sewing machine around outside edges. Leave opening to turn right side out. and hand sew closed. You can probably complete this in about 1 hour. But it is one of a kind, hand made table runner that will create a great design statement.

To make 4 darling napkin pouches:
Cut a 12X5" rectangle and emboss as done for table runner. Fold the rectangle in half, right sides together, with the fold at the bottom.
At the top edge, make a machine-stitch hem. Stitch 1/2 inch seams all around raw edges. Clip corners and turn to right side.
You can put any napkin in these pouches and they add a neatly-tucked little touch to your table.

Candles should adorn every Holiday table! Whether you choose a taper with elegant candle holder, a votive, jar candle, pillar or tealight-light it, watch it and enjoy it!

Candles add warmth and festive glow. We use candles at Holidays, birthdays, weddings, religious events-they symbolize the fire within us.

This idea is so inexpensive, practical and fun! Stock up on votive holders and stencils from the dollar store, then letter as desired. You can spell out your message, or give each guest their initial to take home. Place the sticky-back stencil on the glass and lightly spray with spray paint or spray snow. Then peel off stencil and use a votive or tea cup inside at the table. Simple, personal, clever and pretty!




I like to shop on-line and I recommend this site for candles of all kinds: Votives, pillars, jar candles, floating, tapers, flameless, smokeless, candle holders
Candles For Less

Wine bottles~~a simple and clever table decoration. These bottles are so chic in all sorts of shapes and sizes. I would suggest wrapping in rice paper-it is most pliable and easy to work with, but you can do it with tissue paper. These papers come in beautiful colors and patterns and textures.


Place your bottle in the center of the paper. Pull paper up and around the entire bottle. Take the winged edges of the paper and pull toward the back of the bottle. Crease the excess paper into 1/2 inch folds to create a finished seam. Use hot glue to seal the seam. Twist the paper at the neck of the bottle and bend the paper over the top and down the back of the bottle. Wrap trim around the bottom edge and the neck as shown. Secure with hot glue gun. These serve as a table decoration and can be given as gifts as well! Beautiful!

It doesn't always have to be a big affair to set a nice table! Even intimate dinners with just the 2 of you can become something special with a little ingenuity. All of the above settings are set up in very little time with stuff that you already have around the house. Use a small cookie jar that you no longer used, some greenery that was left over from the mantle. Candles that were scattered throughout the home have a dramatic effect when all bunched together in a display at the table. Use ornaments, ribbon, sparkled fruit,wreaths, in different ways than you may have thought before-be creative! Here I placed wrapped silver dollars as a confetti spread! And used sprinkled snow as an added effect against an heirloom tablecloth. Whatever things you like most, include little touches at the table for an inviting, homey feel. Decorating a table is fun and you can do it! Just take your time and think of ways to make the entire presentation unique and pretty! My husband's comment was something like. "WOW, gee, you might not be able to cook a fabulous gourmet meal, but you sure can set a table! Looks like you know what you are doing here!"