Tablescape Tuesday: A Christmas Eve Dinner for Six

Setting the table for a Christmas Eve dinner is a chance to be a child again.

A blank canvas is an opportunity for you to play, and to build little worlds at each placesetting. As your imagination takes off, joy will infuse everything you touch.

This bit of magic will be passed along to your family and guests--the gift of experiencing childlike happiness as they sit down to the table that you have lovingly prepared.

I started to hum as I set out the "Christmas Crackers." These favors (Amazon.com) are traditional in England--for a small package, they pack a huge punch: inside are joyful items, like paper crowns, word puzzles, plastic rings. Since choco-holics will be coming to dinner, I added candy Santas, too (Publix). This is my way of saying, "Oh, go ahead--eat dessert first!" And sometimes we do.


Many years ago, my mother gave me the Christmas dishes ("Festive Season" by Mikasa).


The swirled red goblets were wedding gifts, mixed in with red wine glasses.


The placemats are from K-Mart; the napkins are made by Lenox. And, as always, my Mimi's flatware (Rue, the pattern is Wild Rose).


For the centerpiece, I placed a punchbowl on top of an ornate resin mirror.

After I filled the bowl with cranberries, I added roses and greenery (Publix).

Here, you can see the mirror's frame peeking out from the centerpiece.


The joy of puttering is often contagious, and Young Gollum helped me light the mercury glass votives (Ballards Designs).

Note to self: dripless candles, Gollum. Dripless candles that Bunny Williams loves, Colonial Candles.


Dessert, coffee, and tea awaits on the sideboard...

...with a holly cake (what would I do without Publix?).
Hello, Dr. Gollum's mice.




I love mixing pottery. The Ironstone sugar bowl and creamer fit perfectly in this faux-Majolica serving dish.


Let's take a closer look at Santa (Publix) and the napkin rings ("20th Century Baroque" by Godinger)

Here's a peek at an unusual Santa--a "coral" Santa. I saw him two years ago in the Horchow catalog and waited for the after Christmas sale.


Now I'm off to check out the wonderful tablescapes at Between Naps on the Porch. See you there!