Christmas Tablescape

      One of my favorite aspects of the holiday frenzy of entertaining is my annual Christmas tablescape for my family's Christmas dinner.  Each year, I come up with a new "theme" and decorate the table in a new way.  I'm always looking for cost-effective ways to do this.  I mix and match my existing dishes, and often re-use decorations from past years in different ways.  This year, the theme was "woodland", and I used all natural materials (except for the red berries).  I loved it!

The snow in the hurricanes is Epsom salts! 

I loved it because not only was it inexpensive, it has a bit of sparkle of it's own. 

 Rather than using tablecloths, I found inexpensive unbleached muslin on sale, 

along with burlap that I cut into runners.  No hemming needed for any!  

My kind of fabric project!  The burlap ribbon was a last-minute find.

The cedar logs were sliced with a chain saw by a friend, and all the greenery came from his property here in my local mountains.  Aromatic cedar, bay laurel, and holly.  I added some baby's breath and voila!

The last component of my yearly theme is the table gift for each guest.  Always something small, usually some kind of ornament, I like to find simple but creative ways to make sure that the gifts are all the same, but personalized for each person.   This year, I handpainted clear glass ornaments with different simple motifs for each person.  It was easy and fun!

 Merry Christmas to All!