It's Christmastime in our Dining Room

It finally happened - I found a free afternoon to get my decorating mojo on and put a little Christmas in the dining room. 

We usually have a series of vintage floral plates on the wall over the sideboard and a floral batik that my Grandmother made in the frame in the centre (you can see how it looked last winter here).  I wanted to use red and white in the dining room this year so the florals had to go.   I decided to cover up the batik by taping a piece of linen-like cloth on the glass and exchange the floral plates for something more festive.  It was a simple solution that gave a clean, natural backdrop to the red Christmas decorations.  

I bought six cream coloured plates at the Dollar Store and discovered that a red Sharpie would not only write on them, but could be washed off with hot water, soap, and a brush.  You better believe me when I tell you that this was key to the success of the festive plate project.  It meant I could make as many boo-boos and hideous designs as I wanted to, without our six plates ending up costing $600.  

I Googled "Christmas doodles" and selected images that I could draw.  Given that I can't really draw, this meant a lot of searching for things that were easy for me to replicate.  The centre two plates are covered with writing - one sacred and one Santa-related - or more specifically one is the Nativity story and one is from The Night Before Christmas.  I have messy handwriting and it came in handy for the first time in my life, as the text kind of just blurred and made an all over pattern.  

My friend gave me a box of vintage mason jars a month ago as an early Christmas present and I wanted to incorporate them into the sideboard arrangement.  Pretty much anything that was red, white, or red and white got put in a mason jar.  I had some red and white candy leftover from a Valentine's Day sale (for shame ...).  Now that it had turned rock hard the candy was ready to be put on display.    I added red tea lights and a few Christmas decorations for a bit of sparkle.  

I bought a couple of metres of cream tea towel fabric with red stripes down the sides to use as a runner on the sideboard.  The sides are already hemmed when you buy it which is a serious bonus.  It meant I didn't have to do anything to it (given that I didn't hem the ends).  

We hung our new red berry wreath centred on the picture frame and added the twine letters that I made last year to the top of the frame (you can read about how I made them here).  

I kept the table simple with a red runner and a cluster of white candles (thank you IKEA).  

I also got the mantel decorated in the adjoining family room, but I didn't change things around much from last year.  I kept it simple so our collection of Spindle Santas would be the main feature (you can read their story here).

The most exciting new addition was the twisted gold ribbon and white pompom snowballs that I added to the underside of the mantel.  I linked the snowball pompoms together to make a chain and hung them from some hooks.  Ingenious, I know ...

There you have it.  We still have to decorate the living room and put up the tree, but we are going to wait until Kate comes home on the 15th to do them.  


How's everyone else doing?  Is the tree up?  Have you decorated the rest of the house yet?


Linked to Tablescapes for Christmas at The Lettered Cottage,
Weekend Warrior at Ask Anna,
First Annual Holiday Mantel Party at From My Front Porch to Yours,
Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming,
Mantel Link Party at My Uncommon Slice of Surburbia,
Wow us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style,
Holiday Dining Block Party at No Minimalist Here,
Christmas Mantel Link Party at Home Stories A to Z,
Holiday Vignettes at French Country Cottage,
Dare to DIY at NewlyWoodwards