3 easy ways to decorate a holiday table

For me, Christmas usually begins in July. At least, that’s when I start to daydream about it. I start randomly proclaiming, “It’s almost Christmas!” To which my husband dryly replies, “No it’s not.”

The lights! The decorations! The cookies, the presents, the food. I’ve just never met a Christmas I didn’t like.

For many families one of the holiday highlights is the Christmas meal. Honestly, I’m not terribly impressive in the kitchen, but hand me a glue gun and some ribbon and I’ll go to town. So in preparation for this year’s holiday (It’s almost Christmas!), I’ve come up my own contribution to the Christmas meal: Tablescapes.

“Table-whats?” you ask.

Tablescapes. Ideas for how to decorate your table. Mind you, I’ve never made a tablescape in my life. But it’s pretty easy if you follow these tips:

Now for some proof that these tips work, here are three tablescapes I created for your inspiration.

I love this table because the bold black and white add a touch of high class to traditional Christmas red and green.

Two bands of striped paper with a narrower strip of black and white patterned paper are an easy, affordable start to this table. 

Red napkins and cranberries on the plates, a length of evergreen and ribbon down the table, a cluster of candles, and Santa’s ready for dinner. If you put some cookies out, he might even come early.

I started with alliteration… where all brilliant things begin. Pears and Pinecones just sound like they go together. Though pears aren’t traditionally a Christmas fruit, they just seem like a fruit that’s ready to party.

I stood the pears and pinecones on terra cotta pots and plastic shot glasses, and dressed both up with a strip of ribbon. 

I added glitter to some basic tea lights, then finished off the plates with bold green napkins wrapped in jute, topped with a pinecone.

Voila! A simple, modern look.

Ages ago I bought some beautiful paper at the Cubist Museum shop in the House of the Black Madonna. And now… it’s a Christmas tree! I cut cardboard into two big triangles, covered those with my Cubist paper, cut slits, and slid them together.

Another treasure I had laying around was a branch I’d lugged home on a run knowing it would someday be useful, despite the evident gnaw marks from a dog who’d loved it before me. I sawed it in half and set glittered tea-lights along each branch. Important safety note: glue the lights to the branch so they don’t tumble onto the crepe paper at the slightest bump of the table. Now that would be a Christmas to remember.

Speaking of crepe paper, once again I started the table with two coordinating papers – a gold wrapping paper, and a copper crepe paper. I clearly wasn’t done layering, so added a band of green striped crepe paper to the dinner plate, and jute to the salad plate.

Who knew a woodsy Cubist theme could look so … right?

Now that the table is so beautifully scaped, you might be wondering where you put the turkey or the carp in all this holiday merriment? The truth is, I have no idea. Nor do I know what you’re supposed to do with a pinecone on your plate when you sit down at a tablescaped table. I figure it looks so pretty, though, it’s worth giving it a try and just see what happens! Happy tablescaping.