My Christmas Table

I'm a little late to the party, but I've finally started pulling out the Christmas boxes.  I usually use a tablecloth at Christmastime, because we're a messy family, but I just couldn't bear to cover up our gorgeous new-to-us table.  Check out the story of our new furniture here.  So this year I'm going with just placemats and no tablecloth.

I found these ivory damask placemats with wintergreens & berries at Pier 1 a few years back.

I love that the placemats don't cover up the burn on the table.

That burn makes me smile.  CG's great aunt was a woman who lived life and never compromised or made apologies for who she was.  She enjoyed a cocktail and nearly always had a cigarette in her hand.  (No cigarette lectures, please)  I see that burn and think of her.

My Christmas tables have run the gamut from playful to elegant to downright gaudy.  This year I went with silver & gold ornamental as sort of a theme.  My choice of place card holder helped me to narrow my focus.  I don't often have dinner parties, but when I do, I like to use place cards.  So I had a number of place card holders to choose from.  I love my nutcracker ones, but used them last year.

I have these silver based ones in both red & green which my MIL gifted me one year.  She knows I love to set a formal table.  So pretty.  I think I may use the green ones for my New Year's Table.

I ended up choosing these gold ornament ones.  Combined with my platinum rimmed china, I could do silver & gold ornamental as a theme.

I wanted candles as a centerpiece and filled the bowl of one candle holder with tiny glass ornaments.  I placed a tall column wrapped in gold and a small jar candle with a greenery & poinsetta collar next to it.  The candles didn't have quite the presence I was looking for so I grabbed the wall mirror hanging in my foyer and placed it underneath the candles.  I love the added height, and reflection it gives to the candles.  I'll find something else to put in the foyer.

I pulled out my ornament salt & pepper shakers

and popped my forks into some quickly folded silver & gold threaded napkins.

That's all the touches that went into my Christmas Table this year.  As a side note - How great did that table shine up?  I just love it!

Thanks for popping in and check out all of the other tablescapes at Between Naps on the Porch's Tablescape Thursday.