Home for The Holidays
Just like many of you, we will be spending our Christmas at home, enjoying the company of a few friends and family. We will fire in the fireplace, play Christmas songs, enjoy a cocktail, and eat a delicious meal.
I often spend some time before the holidays thinking about how I could make this year a memorable Christmas celebration. I decided this year to decorate using traditional Christmas colors of reds, greens, blues, and lots of velvet bows.
I always set a formal dinner table using my family’s china and this year I will use the gold flatware handed down from my mother. Using heirlooms, I bring family traditions to my design, bringing warm feelings of memories gone past. Heirlooms always add warmth to a table that you often can’t substitute using modern decor.
Because my dining room is painted blue, I decided to decorate with blue and gold as my primary colors, along with contrasting vibrant red jewel tones using a lovely centerpiece of red roses and other festive blooms and berries.
My menu is generally straightforward for Christmas.
Beef tenderloin with a bordelaise sauce
Yorkshire pudding
Twice-baked potatoes
Vegetables - several types
All the traditional food items that remind you of the holidays.
For me, a FORMALLY decorated table creates a warm and inviting ENVIRONMENT for a festive holiday. I want it to be filled with sentiments of joy and celebration, perfect for the occasion.
Christmas is a feeling that runs deep within the very soul of a home. It is a reminder of what family is.
‘
“Christmas is not an external event at all, but a piece of one’s home that one carries in one’s heart.”
Floral Arrangement from Stems Floral Design.
I love a beautiful white linen tablecloth when dining. The elegance of the fresh linen, along with the contrasting colors of Christmas, really feels so sophisticated and elegant. I always want my family and friends to feel special when coming to my dinner table.
Here is my table design in progress. I start by deciding which china I will use, design a centerpiece using some of the colors from the plates and then move on to the rest of the table. I love experimenting with napkins and often leave them for last. I look for ways to incorporate colors from the other parts of my table into my place settings.
This centerpiece is from Stems Floral Design here in Connecticut. This bouquet has a vast array of different flowers, including peonies, proteas, heart roses, ranunculus, mokara orchids, lisianthus, and tulips. It truly was beautiful with all the different hues of colors and textures. It is perfect for the holiday, and the colors of these flowers are magnificent! It’s all about the flowers for me.
I absolutely adore using deep jewel tones when decorating a table. I experimented with the royal blue and deep red velvet ribbons to decorate each of my place settings.
Is there one that you like the best?
These monogrammed linen napkins are my favorite, and I decided not to use any ribbon. Since they are elegant enough to stand on their own, adding a ribbon would take away from the overall beauty and elegance of each place setting.
I will serve Kir Royale cocktails that are seriously delicious. Traditionally, this cocktail is a sparkling wine with a blackcurrant liqueur, but I jazzed them up for the holidays.
The recipe is given below.
““Champagne is one of the elegant extras in life.””
Here is the Kir Royale that I made for my Christmas dinner.
RECIPE
Items you need
(This is per glass)
2-3 tsp of Cream de Cassis Liqueur or Creme de Framboise
Prosecco or Champagne
Blackberries or Raspberries
Sprig of Rosemary
How to assemble your drink
Place 2-3 blackberries, raspberries, or blueberries in the empty glass
Add your 2-3 tsps. of Liqueur…
Next, carefully add your Prosecco or Champagne to the glass. If you do this, your drink will have a small separation between the liqueur and the sparkling wine. It’s a very pretty presentation.
Next, add the rosemary sprig to the glass.
Enjoy!
HINT: I use a spoon bent 90 DEGREES and place it down to the bottom of the glass just above the fruit and liqueur. Pour the Prosecco right onto the spoon so that the spoon catches the sparkling wine…pour very slowly until the glass is almost full.
“Christmas is the day that holds all time together”
Ambiance is essential during the holidays, especially AT the dinner table. On this table, I added several different types of votives and scattered them here and there to add mood lighting.
I just love this sweet laced piece I picked up at a fabric center. I made it into a delicate runner for the center of my table. It created an elegant layer that I absolutely adore! I placed the gold and crystal ornaments on it to further embellish the sparkle.
A complete design is all about the individual details. I’ve added a few items that would allow for my tablescape to flow throughout, giving it a cohesive look and feel. I added different hues of blue along with red using berries to coordinate with the plates and the centerpiece. The beautiful lace and pearl runner added another layer of texture and color along with elegance, perfect to celebrate the holiday.
““May peace, love and prosperity follow you always.” ”
The thing is…spending a little time creating a festive tablescape with dishes and other decorative items will go a long way in celebrating with friends and family. Using jeweled tones adds a traditional look and brings warm holiday feelings to your dinner table.
For my family this year, it was all about being thankful for each other and our well-being. We also celebrated our heritage and reminded ourselves how lucky we are for the little things that bring us joy.
Relax and enjoy the video
This centerpiece was a bit large for the center on the table, but I still loved it. When we were ready to eat, I simply moved the centerpiece to the other end of the table and placed other food items in the center for us to easily access while we ate.
As with everything I post on my blogs, if you have any comments or questions, please leave them here or email me through my contact page. I would love to hear from you and welcome you anytime!
Design with your heart™️
Happy entertaining and season’s greetings my friends!
Mary
“may your home be a place where friends meet, family gathers, and love grows.”
Happy Holidays!
Beautiful view from my dining room during the holiday months here in New England.
