Holiday Entertaining

Embracing the Magic of the Holiday Season on your Table

Christmas is so magical and I have brought that magic to my table this holiday season to share with you all. I am super excited about this post. It was so fun to put together and I really enjoyed myself. Also, our family Christmas dishes have been passed down to me this year and I feel so blessed. It was a pretty big surprise from my parents and it inspired me to create some beautiful table settings for this post.

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*You Can Shop for the Same or Similar items in this Post at the End of Each Table Setting*

Nostalgic Christmas Table

An early Christmas surprise for me. These are vintage Waechtersbach Christmas dishes! My grandmother started this collection and used them for every Christmas Eve dinner. She eventually gave them to my mother, who used, with the plan for me to someday use them for my Christmas Eve dinner too. The wonderful childhood memories that flooded in when I started opening the boxes, were so nostalgic and sweet.

My grandmother, who is currently in a nursing home with slight dementia, would be so thrilled to know I am using them this Christmas. And my grandfather who has already passed, would be so overjoyed and proud. I am excited for the magic to continue on and to bring just as much joy as it has in the past.

Without further ado, enjoy my nostalgic Christmas table.

I wanted my nostalgic table to be cheerful and in its own way say Merry Christmas to all my guests. It turned out to be even a bit playful and I can not wait to enjoy sitting there on Christmas Eve night.

I came across this great table runner and napkin set, with simple green pine trees. It works so well with the dishes. I did not want to take away from the dishes and I also did not want an over red saturated table either. This turned out to be the perfect contrast and balance.

Pearl Necklaces?

When I set tables, anything goes. I try to think outside of the box and not stay so tunnel visioned. I love the white garland on the Christmas trees and how it pops against the red. It has always reminded me of pearls, so I thought to myself, let’s decorate the table with pearl necklaces. So I placed some on the tray with the pitcher and even dressed the tree with one too.

The first times I had ever set tables for entertaining, I did not have much and my tables were simple and often sparse. But jewelry was something I had a lot of, so I would use it to dress up my tables. Still do today!

A Little Candle Trick

Here is another old little trick, when it comes to tapered candles. If the base of your candle holder is a little wider, but you really want to use them, do not worry! You can simply drip a little extra wax into the bottom and then place your candle in the wax. Give it a few minutes and voila! You can also use a little bit of playdough near the bottom of the base too. Works like a charm.

To fill in my table, I used a mixture of red and silver ornaments throughout. I love using ornaments on table settings. Its is an inexpensive way to not only fill in your table, but bring some sparkle and texture too. If you do not own a lot of ornaments, Amazon, Walmart and the Dollar Tree have some great sets that are affordable.

I usually can take one box or assorted ornaments and spread it out throughout my house. For example the ornaments on this table, like the presents and small red and silver balls, are also being used in my Christmas bedroom. See for yourself, at my post on Design Ideas for a Special Christmas Bedroom.

I love the look of all the table top trees on my table. My daughter said it feels like your looking straight into a winter wonderland at the North Pole. She is only 5, so when I got down low to her level, I saw it too and took this picture. I used 6 of them, not counting the one in the center. I get a lot of use out of my mini trees every year. They are easy to move around and are perfect for shelf decorating too.

Don’t Forget to Pin Your Favorite Pictures For Later!

It feels so wonderful to share my nostalgic Christmas table with everyone.

Love this table setting and want to create one?

Please enjoy the same or similar items from my table. Just click on the image for more details or to shop.

Vintage Paisley Christmas Table

This is the table setting, I planned on using for Christmas Eve, way before I was aware of inheriting my grandmother’s dishes. I loved it so much, that I had to share it with you too. I am calling it my vintage paisley Christmas table. Although the dishes are not vintage on this table, the water glasses and napkin holders are. The inspiration for this table came from watching my mother as a child embellish her Christmas tables for dinner. So I channeled her style for vintage flair and love of a good paisley pattern.

When she came to pick up her grandchildren, I had to begun to pull together elements for this table setting. She saw what I had gathered and was immediately drawn to it and loved the table cloth. I too, must admit it is one of my favorite tablecloths I own.

Enjoy a vintage paisley Christmas Table.

Two years ago is when I came across the set of 8 ceramic vintage napkin holders while out thrift shopping. It was the middle of summer and I was not thinking about Christmas at all. Of course I bought them and then they went straight to storage. For whatever reason, I did not come across them last year. So it was a nice little surprise I had forgotten about when I found them safely wrapped at the bottom of a tote. I love how they stand up on the plate!

The centerpiece of my table setting was a little wooden and metal sleigh I picked up at a yard sale at some point. I placed a candle holder in the center of the sleigh, and then added in a bit greenery and red berries. It was a great way to pick up the colors from my table cloth and have everything coincide so nicely.

I placed the mini table top trees in urns on either side of the sleigh. These trees were one of the first Christmas decoration I had ever bought. The urns have a few little chips now, but I kind of like the character it gives them even more.

I always like to find a way to add in a light up feature on my table settings such as; candles, lamps or even fairy lights. I had a set of these cute red and green mercury glass votive candle holders that I thought worked perfectly.

For the rest of my table setting, I filled in with mini birch stumps and small red and gold styrofoam balls. The red and gold styrofoam balls were left over from when I made my Vintage Bottle Christmas Ornaments.

Interested in creating this table? Let me help you get started.

*click on image for more info and to start shopping*

Heartfelt Snowman Table

This is an adorable and playful table setting. Works great for Christmas time or even a winter day. I usually use my snowman plates for Christmas breakfast. It has become one of our new traditions over the last couple years and it makes our Christmas breakfast so special. I definitely channeled my inner kid when creating this one. Plus I had little helpers (my son and daughter) who were so excited to watch this table from start to finish. They even gave me some decorating advice from their own point of view.

I give to you, my Heartfelt Snowman table.

I wanted a tree for the white bowl I chose as a centerpiece. It had to be flocked, since the whole theme was all about snow. I took this tree from my Simple Winter Wonderland Tray, I had created. It worked out so very well and really gives you the impression of a fresh snowfall.

The other two trees I added onto my table, were two white brush bottle trees with fairy lights. I placed them at the ends of either side of the table.

A Roll of Ribbon

An inexpensive way to create napkin holders, is to take some wired ribbon and tie it around a rolled up napkin. You can then bend and fluff, to make it look like bows. After that you can use the rest of the ribbon to tie on chair bows to match your table or use when gift wrapping. Imagine, all that with one roll of ribbon!

It is crazy how Christmas decor can flood your mind with so many memories and take you back in time to that very moment. My best friend and I, years ago, bought a set of these metal snowman while out shopping together. And to this day we still decorate with them every year and call each other when we first put them out. They were originally brown, but this year, I gave them a mini makeover and spray painted them white.

The tall skinny blue vases, are something I have actually never used in winter before. I always break them out around summer time. But while I was shopping around my house for something to balance out the height, my daughter pointed them out in our closet. She said they look like pieces of ice and that I have to use them. I really liked her vision. Home decorator in training!

Snowballs

Let it snow! These cotton snow balls were so much fun to use on my table. I bought a large bag of them for my daughter’s Elsa birthday party in October. We had filled up a small kitty pool and let the kids have a snowball fight and jump in them. Now they are the perfect filler for my snowman table!

The other fillers I used for my table, was a handful of blue sparkly Christmas balls for the center bowl and some light blue and clear glass beads for and extra icy look.

I did however forget to add my drinking glasses to my snowman table before taking pictures. Oops! Never even noticed till I began writing this post. So imagine dark blue water glasses and clear wine glasses.

Did this Snowman Table melt your heart? Let me give you a hand building your own.

*Just click on the images for more details and to begin making your snowman table.*

Let Me Keep On Inspiring You

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my blog today. I hope the magic of my holiday tables has given you some great ideas and inspiration for your own table this year. I would love the chance to inspire you weekly with DIY decor, decorating ideas and tips, vintage finds, furniture painting and more. Its easy! Just sign up for my weekly email list and I will be sure to take care of the rest.

Love The Space That Surrounds You Everyday!

-Meagan-

Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Decorating!

Where You Can Find This Post:

Featured!! Life as a LEO wife, Happiness is Homemade #456

12 Comments

  • Rachel

    All of your tables are styled so beautifully!!
    I too have a collection of the Waechtersbach dishes…how funny!! I ADORE them and just LOVE to pull them out each year to use for the Christmas season. The deep red and green of the dishes are just amazing…there’s nothing like them!!!

    • mtrento

      Thank you so much. I enjoyed putting this post together so much. You have them too? How funny. They are the best! I am so excited to be able to use them every year!

  • Marsha Banks

    Wow!!! I can’t pick a favorite…all of these are fabulous! In our last house, we had two eating areas…the formal dining room where the hutch and a smaller table lived and the morning room where the buffet and my big harvest table lived. I decorated both for Christmas. This year, I’ve had to downsize quite a bit. My youngest son inherited the smaller table, and the harvest table reigns supreme as the only Christmas table! Years ago, I bought these sponged looking Christmas plates at Target. A few years after that, they did a completely different set in ironstone. I nabbed those…all different kinds of Santas. Another year, after Christmas, they had sets on clearance for $5! I bought four sets…two for my daughter and two for my daughter-in-law. I gave the sponge looking ones to my youngest son. So, now all of us have Christmas plates! Everyone, but my youngest, puts them out! I need to do a Christmas house tour, I think!

    You have to be the most creative person I know, Meagan! You see the possibilities in everything! That’s an amazing gift, my friend!

    Come by Thursday for a link party!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

    • mtrento

      Marsha, thank you so much for all your sweet compliments. I can not pick a favorite either. I love all the table settings in there on special way. I wish I had a formal dining room. I dream about having one. Maybe someday. For now, I just have the open floor concept and my dining table is also where we eat all are meals too. So when I worked on this post, I had to do one after another table setting because I knew we were going to be needing the table. It is so hard to take apart after working so hard on them. But it is okay, I will rebuild on christmas Eve and Christmas Day again.
      Thank you so much for visiting and I will be sure to drop by to your party my friend! You should do a christmas home tour!

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