Christmas

“It Takes a Village” Christmas Table

AmandaLeave a comment

Whew, Christmas came in a whirlwind! I may have just recovered from all the activities. We had the privilege of hosting some special people for a holiday meal, and I was so excited by how the table turned out!

Last year, I painted the wooden laser cut village scenes to sit on top of our built-ins in the living room. This year actually turned out pretty sparse on the decor due to emergency surgeries and hospital stays… That’s another story-all is well and on the mend. By the time I got to the village scenes, I didn’t feel like decorating any more spaces. But, serendipitously, that freed them up to be an amazing little centerpiece for our special dinner!

I’ve loved this block printed tablecloth for a while now, and snapped it up along with the LED birch trees for added drama.

I was really eager to use the etched glass chargers I found on clearance from At Home (they were a great dupe for the Terrain mercury glass chargers). And I gasped when I saw the matching napkin rings at Home Goods (almost perfect dupe for the now sold out napkin rings from West Elm)!

Since the punch was such a hit at Thanksgiving, I wanted to make another special drink or punch for this dinner. My punch bowl came with only 8 cups and I needed 10. During my hunt for extra cups (and ones that were not actual leaded glass), I noticed that Crate and Barrel’s hatch glass collection now had teacups with saucers! No lead, dishwasher safe, say less.

I wandered the aisles of Hobby Lobby looking for snowy fabric to wrap around the trees, and stumbled across the most darling place card holders that look like little evergreen trees in galvanized pots. You know how you just know something is going to work? I could literally feel the zing of creative energy when I picked them up. And at 60% off, it would have been a crime to leave them!

A star topper place card and ribbon finished it off, and voila! I just couldn’t believe my eyes when it all came together.

It truly takes a village to love on and support the churches in our area, and my husband has been blessed with the best team for the job. They are kind, generous, hard working and creative people who love their jobs and love him. It’s such a gift to watch, and I love that we got a chance to give a little of that love back.

Did you host this year? I’d love to hear about it!

xo, Amanda

Viral Hobby Lobby Advent Calendar

Amanda3 Comments

Yes, I was influenced. But how cute are these tiny little houses?? Hurry and grab yours before they’re sold out again!

Do you celebrate Advent? We did our first advent devotional together last year and it was such a sweet time. We paired our devotion time with Fortnum & Mason’s Tea & Biscuits Sharing Advent Calendar. And while it was fun, and tasty, about halfway through we Americans were a little tired of tea… However, it left a lasting impression.

We decided to divide the 25 days between us, and plan little dates, activities or treats for each day. I’m so excited for some Christmas dates!

Naturally, this advent calendar would have to be done in blue, pink and green. Last year, I painted laser cut village scenes to put on top of the cabinets in our living room. This was a fun project!

You can kind of see them here, apparently I didn’t get any good photos of them on display!

I love a checkered moment, and these turned out a little Mackenzie Childs-esque.

I painted the base of each layer white, and added these number stickers to each house. Then I updated the roofs with glitter sheets from Hobby Lobby. They are on the aisle with felt sheets, not the paper section. They need to have more strength than the paper.

And then, because I didn’t appreciate my fingerprints enough, I decided to glue beads to the edges of the roofs. At first, I wanted them to be less uniform, but decided that lining them up like icicles looked the best.

I added a few more miniature brush trees and a little package for more festivity.

As others who have done this project have experienced, mine does not turn when the lights are turned on. I’ll be purchasing a rechargeable turntable from Amazon (when this hack (!) is over).

Have you made an advent calendar? I’d love to hear!

xo, Amanda