Welcome to my Dining Room Tour all decorated for the Christmas and Winter Holidays. I love decorating my dining room for the different holidays & seasons and look forward to every change (ie: opportunity to do something different with the room.... 😉)
Decorating the Chandelier Adds Interest & Dimension
I am particularly proud of how my chandelier turned out this season. It is just as I imagined, or rather, envisioned. This is just a simple, contractor grade 8 arm brass chandelier that was installed when the house was built. I have never liked it as it has no memorable details, and probably not anything I would have picked. However, I can decorate it and just fall in love, never wanting to change it out. 😊 After the Day of Epiphany I will pull out the poinsettias and replace them with roses. Everything else will remain the same until after Valentines. Then I will decorate for the spring season & holidays. I will be sure to make a full video of the process.
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| Adding a garland, silk flowers, sprigs and ribbons are one way to add interest and dimension to an otherwise plain chandelier. |
The Table Setting & Dishes
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| Dishes are Victorian Holiday by Baum Brothers |
I chose white battenberg placemats and napkins. They really make everything stand out and look so elegant. I have had them for 23-25 years and they are beginning to show a lot of use, I still enjoy using them & so much easier to iron than a tablecloth. The chargers I purchased from Old Time Pottery Barn in Pelham. (No affiliation, but it is a great place to purchase large or small quantities of home decor/party items. They have less than a dozen locations in the US. I am fortunate to have one nearby.) The china we purchased right after we got married. I have had to replace a couple of pieces. Replacements.com always seems to have pieces in stock. I keep my Christmas dishes out until after Valentines and will often use them for our Valentine's Day dinner.
I have been told that the scalloped edged bowls with electroplated gold edging belonged to one of my great grandmothers, though I do not know of any history behind them. The set includes a serving bowl and 6 fruit/salad bowls. The edging has a little wear, but it doesn't matter. I still love them and use them. The ornament place card holder I have had for a very long time. I even have the original boxes that they came in. (Kept them for storage of course.) The price tag is still on them. $2.99 for four! I am sure I got them at a post season sale. 
The napkin rings are lovely poinsettias & leaves. They are a gift from my mother-in-law and I honestly do not remember if she gave them to my husband before we married or if she gave them to me the first Christmas after we married. Either way, she had wonderful taste and I have always loved these napkin rings using them every Christmas.
Beverage & Wine Glasses
The wine and beverage glasses have interesting stories. I bought the wine glasses (a set of 6) and matching after dinner cordial glasses (also a set of 6) when I first started working and out on my own. (Notice that they are a proper sized wine glasses..... We use them for our sparkling Welch's Grape Juice.) When I was young, I loved going into antique and old furniture shops. I saw these and loved them. Always wanted them. Years later, they were still in the shop and I bought them.
The beverage glass is an Arby's glass. The year we married Arby's was selling them for .99 with purchase. They matched my new Christmas China perfectly! After going through the drive thru every morning on my way to work, the lady at the window asked me if I was collecting them. Of course I replied "Yes!" with a big smile. She asked me how many did I need and sold them to me, completing a set of 8.
The Placecards
An elegant table setting is not complete without a placecard. These only took a few minutes to make. I cut up cardstock into 2x4 inch rectangles and using a 3mm calligraphy pen wrote the names and did a tad bit of Christmas doodle with fine tip marker pins.
The Tablescape
The tablescape has various elements, textures and heights all the while, not blocking sight lines across the table so that there will be ease in conversations. Using old, new, nature and a bit of sparkle, the tablescape is stacked with layers of the different elements used to decorate the table.
I started out with a white hemstitched runner. Actually, you can use anything. I have even see people use a full length mirror that they picked up at the $$ Tree. The idea is to start with your base layer and build from there. It also helps to protect the finish of the table from anything that might scratch or mark it up in any way.
See the little red sprigs of berries in the above photos? They are from an inexpensive garland that I purchased from Michael's Craft store. I did not think to take a photo as I was placing it (sorry!). It is in an "S" curve (I love my "S" curves) going from one end of the runner to the other end. It doesn't look like much, but adds a lot to the overall scape.
Next I added the vertical pieces such as the mercury glass candle holders, votives, silver pitchers, 3 tiered display bowl, and my salt & pepper shakers. 😊
The Mercury Glass lamps came from Ross. They were $7.99 each! Originally planned to use them as Dirty Santa gifts, but they ended up on my table instead. 😉
The gold trimmed votives have been around for a long time and look great with any decor.
The 2 silver pitchers belonged to my husband's aunt. Her daughter gave them to me after her mother passed.
I do want to give a shout out to Denise with www.bemyguestwithdenise.com She uses a lot of silver & silver plate in her decor and it looks so pretty! Shamed me and inspired me to get busy with the polish and elbow grease. 😊 I am so glad that I did. All of the "bling" reflected the candlelight nicely.
You may remember this 3 tier display bowl from my fall video & post. This piece is so versatile! Red is one of my favorite colors. The red ornaments look so good displayed in this piece. I use red ornaments in empty vases, bowls, compotes, anything that is empty, I will fill with red ornaments. Post season is the best time to purchase them. You might prefer silver or gold, maybe another color altogether. A very nice and inexpensive way to add another element to your decor.
I think I am going to have fun with this 3 tiered (I also have a 2 tiered) for as long as those shark teeth (they tend to chip) on the edging last. I think that we will have eggs displayed in the bowls come this Easter.
And of course, I have salt and pepper shakers. A few more out of my collection. And this season, I did not purchase any additional sets! Yay me! Good impulse control.
I love collecting and using salt & pepper shakers in my decor. The swans in the above photo are actually salt & pepper cellars! They belonged to my Mother-in-Law who used them regularly on her dining table for holidays and feasts. They each have tiny spoons that you can use to sprinkle salt or pepper onto your food.
All that is left for the tablescape are greenery, sprigs, ornaments & silk flowers. All of the greenery I pruned from the evergreen shrubs in my yard. We also had a large branch from a pine tree to fall down from the weight of the snow we had a few weeks ago. (That was very handy and perfect timing!) The greenery lasted weeks except for the variegated ivy. It did dry out and had to be replaced. All you have to do is place the greenery and plug in silk (or real if you have them) flowers and ornaments. 
Sideboard
My sideboard is set up for dessert & coffee. I also have a small collection of nutcrackers. A nutcracker runner, the Victorian Holiday china.
The carafe over to the far right will have warm cider or hot chocolate for guest to enjoy with the nutcrackers standing guard over it all.
Corner Cabinet Cubbies
My dining room decor would not be complete without my cabinet cubbies being decorated.
I did say that I like to use red ornaments as fillers. They really do add a "pop" of color to the vinyette.
That concludes the "photo" tour of my dining room decorated for the Christmas & Winter Holidays. I will post some more photos when it is decorated for Valentine's. I hope that you enjoyed "seeing" & reading about it as much as I enjoyed sharing.
You can see more in the video on my YouTube channel. Just click on the link below.
As this season comes to a close, I love to reflect upon the blessings that God has so graciously bestowed upon my family and me. And yes, we do celebrate the birth of Christ, but we also remember Christ's divinity and sacrifice so that we may have eternal life. It is my hope and prayer that you and yours will enjoy a blessed season that last throughout the new year.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from Missy's Little Things in Life!
Hugs,
Missy
Missy
