Holiday Decorations - My Ideas

Preparing for our Gathering on a Bright Sunny Day

I belong to the Neely Farm Garden Club which includes some of my best neighborhood friends.  The group does include some great gardeners (including one "master") but its real goals are to maintain friendships and have fun together.  This year, I had offered to host the annual holiday party at our home.  Hosting such a gathering (25) does force you to critically review your home and its decorations.  We always have a big tree in our "sunroom" which takes advantage of its height but this year we put up a second tree in the dining room.  We also added additional outside lighting to brighten up the setting.   If I do say so myself, the place looked magical as the guests arrived.

Here are some of the ideas I used for decorating and hosting this gathering - some old and some new:

• A tablescape that included multiple smaller candles that are low and somewhat scattered in the center to maximize the amount of space available for diners and provide a low profile for conversation across and around the table
• Two beverage stations - both as far away from the kitchen as possible to encourage more movement and decrease congestion in the kitchen (it worked pretty well) - one was outside on the deck which certainly helped keep beverages cold
• Stuffed animals as decorations on the stairwell and throughout the house including a group of greeters in the entrance foyer
• Oversized ornaments on the big tree with an emphasis on those that best reflect the lights
• Smaller, more intimate family ornaments on the second tree in the dining room 
• An original oil painting (from South America) of the Madonna and Child that is part of my dining room buffet grouping
• Lots of shiny surfaces that reflect all available light including bowls of different sized glittering ornaments 
• Candles in "fire-proof" settings such as enclosed glassware or broad glass plates (I've actually caused some minor damage in past with less well-designed candle decorations - never again)
• Christmas themed cookie jars as primary decorations in the kitchen including jars on top of the kitchen cabinets enhanced with greenery - I have at least 30 jars collected over the years 
• LOTS of reds all over - it helps that my living and dining rooms are predominantly red to start with!

Here are some more photos to demonstrate the impact.  

Some Examples of Decorations

Ready to Go!