Strangely, I don’t remember a whole lot about my childhood, but there are some memories that ring clear.

One of them is my Mom setting the dining room table for Christmas – and I loved to help.

 

It was exciting –we took out the good plates, and the silverware came out of a special box instead of just the drawer.

There was always a freshly pressed tablecloth.

A few days before Christmas, the doorbell would ring and it would be a flower centerpiece being delivered by my Grandmother for the table.

 

But I also remember that cleaning all that up was a lot of work for my Mom.

So, I decided to simplify our table a little bit, while still trying to keep it special and pretty. Simple and inexpensive silver chargers with dishwasher safe white plates.

 

White plates that can go right in the dishwasher.

White napkins that can go right in the washing machine.

Tied with a black and white plaid ribbon and a galvanized tag.

All tucked together with a pretty candy cane and a piece of greenery swiped off the back of the tree.

The “Noel” was cut from green scrapbooking paper with my Silhouette. It was a pre-made design, I just removed the flourishes that went around it for this project.

 

I went in the front yard and “trimmed” some of the boxwoods.

 

I gathered up galvanized and ironstone containers and filled mason jars with Epsom salts.

I added lots of candles and placed them all along a simple piece of houndstooth suiting fabric.

The white lace containers are from Ikea.

I added more boxwood clippings to the hutch to keep it simple but pretty.

I hung a preserved boxwood wreath from the top of the hutch with ribbon.

On the corner table I added a small artificial tree filled in with boxwood cuttings to "fluff" it out a bit.

The ornaments are actually chalkboard place cards. I gathered the centers of white crocheted doilies to make “flower” ornaments and added some galvanized bird ornaments I already had.

I wrapped the same black and white plaid ribbon around the tree as a garland and top it with a store bought star.

 

I am loving the simple mix of black and white with galvanized metals all mixed with the greens of the boxwood.

Depending on our final head count, I may need to add a few plates, but I am so glad to have this part of Christmas planning checked off my list!

These photos were all taken by the lovely Erin Witkowski of Eve's Wish Photography.

If you would like to see our full holiday home tour, please visit here.

I am sharing here:

Inspired by Charm

christmas tree party

Thanks so much for reading!

December 08, 2012 — Laura Putnam