Petitpas, table for 4!

For many of us – well, hopefully ALL of us – Christmas is looking a little different this year when it comes to entertaining and seeing family. This will be the first year in my 38 years on earth that I don’t see my family for Christmas, and while my husband’s family was always far away, my family is close and therefore we always celebrate Christmas together! In any case, we are doing what’s right this year and I am trying to stay positive that it’s only one year, and that by next Christmas, hopefully life will be back to normal! Pretend you’re working abroad in a far away land, or that you went away somewhere on an amazing vacation – that will get you through! I’m also seeing a lot of people bend the guidelines around what is recommended right now, and with Covid numbers are record highs, and now having people I actually know become infected with this virus, I would really caution that now is not the time to bend the rules. It’s one year guys – we can do this!

Ok, moving on to what this post is really about! Do you still set a festive table for your family? We have a dining room and I like to set it nicely on a usual year, so decided to still do it up for us at home. It makes it special for the kids – they’re excited to drink kids champagne (aka ginger ale) and they know it’s a special occasion when we eat in the dining room. But, it’s a bit weird setting this table for the 4 of us so I kept it super easy and thought I’d share with you!

The key to an impressive place setting is in the chargers, I think! I have two layered here, with a salad plate on top. I’ve put the napkin underneath the salad plate and added a sprig of cedar to make it festive! These salad plates are from Kitchen Stuff Plus a few years ago (remember that store?!) but they all have a different saying on them and I like the black to go with my buffalo plaid! The napkins are from Homesense – $12.99 for a 6 pack so they’re super affordable. I like having cloth napkins for special occasions! I’d been wanting some gold silverware (does that make sense?) for a while and found this set at Homesense too – $39.99 for 4 settings. Eventually I will add another 4, as I usually set this table for 8! What do you think? Would you want to eat here? hehe

As I shared in the fall, I have a big lantern that sits on my dining table that I usually fill with different decor themes depending on the season. It’s tall though and I always have to take it off the table for us to eat so I decided to try a tablescape instead and I’m happy with the results! Sometimes you can make up a plan in your mind and then when you actually put it together it’s not what you envisioned – ha! But this is what I was going for – Cozy Cabin Christmas. I mixed together cedar, neutral ornament balls and these little wood pieces for a rustic but still elegant look and I’ll break it down for you here if you want to try something similar!

Step 1 – lay a runner the length of your table. This one is from Amazon and you all know I’m a big buffalo plaid fan. I try to do the white and black inside the house, and red and black on the porch! This runner is $15 and arrives before Christmas – make sure you measure the length of your table. To look elegant, the runner should roll over the ends a bit.

Step 2 – use some real greenery to layer underneath. I had cedar left from my front planters so thats what I used but you could easily use pine boughs too. I had this gold lantern anyway so decided to use it in the middle. I filled the empty space around the candle with the little wood pieces. I got these at Lens Mills which is sort of random but I think you could find them at a dollar store or a craft store.

Even out the greenery on both sides of your middle object. You could use a big jar with a candle in it or a little wooden tray too.

Step 3 – Then I added some votives I had staggered on both sides. Once those were placed I added the ornaments. These ones are gold, white and a champagne metallic but you could use whatever you have. Adding red would totally make it more festive!

Step 4 – Then I used the wood pieces to fill in the gaps. I piled them up interspersed between the ornaments in no uniform way. And ta-da! It all came together! Once the candles were lit it was really pretty but you could also add a string of those little fairy lights along as well. Here’s the finished product!

The kids were so excited about having candles on the table, that we ate here last night! It’s the little things these days, and if making a fancy table gets your family excited then I’m all 4 it! Hope this inspires you to give it a go! Thanks for following along friends – I SO appreciate it!

Jodi xo