blogarama.com Blog-Watch Blog Listings Blog Directory Blogging Fusion Blog Directory Lessons From The Linen Closet: November 2010

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

A Sparkling Children's Holiday Table

Tis' the season for glitter! Recently I was asked to do a children's holiday table for the local newspaper. I have always loved dressing up a table but this one in particular brought me back to my elementary school days of glitter, glue and everything jolly!

When I get assigned a project like this for children (or pretty much all projects), there is usually a period where I have to realize that my initial vision of fantasy land and over the top are usually impractical and unnecessary. So on this project, when I dreamed up super giant candy canes as the center pieces and learned they did not exist, instead of giving up, I tried to make my own. It was not only disastrous, but my apartment (and building...) now have a permanent smell of burnt peppermint.

When my initial vision came to pause, I realized I needed to be a bit more practical and put something together that kids and parents could put together, so I took what was left of my vision and headed to nearest craft store. There is nothing like a craft store to bring an idea to life or at least a practical idea! and I must say, whoever came up with the tagline "where creativity happens" for Michael's really nailed what a craft store brings to the table (no pun intended). I started with centerpieces...

I found styrofoam circles and thin wooden sticks to make the lollipops. Then I used foam brushes and the best crafting glue of all, Mod Podge, to apply the glitter. I started from the outer boarder of the circle and painted one line of the glue in a spiral inward. Then I poured the red glitter on top of the first glue spiral and poured it off onto a newspaper. Then I continued with the glue on the unglittered part spiral, opposite the red, and poured silver glitter on top and emptied it onto a separate newspaper. I then continued on with one side of all six and then turned them over repeated on the other side and then I completed the lollipop by pushing the stick into the side of circle. Now that I had made the lollipops, I needed something to hold them in the vase. For a little shimmer I chose Hershey's Kisses

The great thing about Hershey's kisses are that they come in multiple designs and colors which work for all types of table centerpieces for many different celebrations and holidays. To complete the vase I added the red grosgrain ribbon from Michael's and made a big bow to pull it together with the place setting.

I'm in love with these Holiday Red Placemats they really made the place setting pop and were a perfect match of red. The glamorous Gum Drop Napkin Rings were a great addition to the more casual placemat and napkin. They gave the table a perfect bit of sparkle to compliment the centerpiece. For holidays and entertaining I like to layer my napkins to make the plate look a little fuller before the food comes out. I felt the Triple Hemstitch Napkins were a simple and sophisticated touch, because we all know we are not going to put the heirloom linens on the kids table! The entire setting is from Pioneer Linens For a little bit of fun to complete the table, I draped the leftover grosgrain ribbon across the table underneath the settings like a table runner.

And for all the candy canes, lollipops and cut out snowflakes visit The Oriental Trading Company they are the best for things like this. They pretty much have everything you can dream of and more when it comes to added decorations and for great prices!

Always remember decorating and design is always about having fun. So have fun and be creative!