Easy New Year's Table-Hello Winter!

     I have been busy taking down my Christmas decorations--
I'll bet you've been doing the same thing.  So does your home look dull without the shine from your Christmas decor?  I have the perfect solution for you.  Go grab your Christmas tree off the curb and read on .......

 My 30-Minute Table 

Yep.  

A Pretty table in only a few minutes!

 I gathered my materials together for my quick and easy table.  

     Several years ago, my husband started using the pruners to lop off our Christmas tree's branches.  It's so much easier to take a few arm loads of branches out the door rather than an entire tree!  At that same time, I decided to clip a few branch tips to use in my New Year's/Winter table.  The thought of going to the craft store one more time--- to look for artificial greenery, had ZERO appeal for me--who wants to go look at fake battered branches and other tattered left-overs???? Well, I sure didn't.  So, I started clipping. 

A tree that has been watered during Christmas will probably still have fresh branch tips for your to use for the project.
     If your tree is already gone...or you use an artificial tree, you can use fresh greenery from your yard (or a friendly neighbor's).  Of course, artificial branches may be used if you already have some.

  Here are my materials for

 the quick and easy table:

 Mercury glass candle holders. 

 You can use crystal, silver or a mix and have a beautiful table, too.

Clear ornaments--I already had these from another project.

I put some of the artificial snow in mine which I also had on hand.

The frosty or icy sticks from the craft store. 

 They are on sale now with Christmas decor items at craft stores.

I also grabbed a few pine cones that I had in the garage.

Mercury glass trees.

You don't have to have them, but if you have them, you can put them to good use now.  I don't use them at Christmas, but loved them when I first saw them, so I bought them to use for winter decorating.  Over the last few years, I have found a variety of these trees at great prices!

Space out the trees.

If you aren't using trees, just randomly add the

 candlesticks down the center of your table.

Add the candlesticks.

Add greenery. 

Add the icy sticks.

Add the pine cones.  These are fairly large, so I added only a few.

Add the "snowballs."  

Dust the pine cones and branches with a little extra

 "snow" if desired.

Add candles.

I love my winter table.  

I live in the south and we don't get snow down here very often, so we have to get creative when it comes to winter decorating.

I hope you'll give this tablescape a try. It took me longer to write this post than it did to decorate the table.  

These same idea would look lovely on a mantel

 or on a buffet or sideboard.  

Joining the Party at:

Between Naps on the Porch MET Monday

Savvy Southern Style's Wow Us Wednesday

Nutcracker Dining Table

I love to decorate for the holidays.  I know many of you do, too! I'm sharing my formal dining room table today.  My mom, sister-in-law and I host a Christmas Coffee for friends each year during the holidays.  I'm showing you the table--minus all the yummy treats we will make and share with our friends. 

Years ago, when we built our home, we moved in the week before Thanksgiving.  I knew I would need something that I could use to decorate my formal dining room and foyer with each year.  I love fresh flowers, but they aren't always practical.  I was delighted when one of our local stores ran specials 

on these large nutcrackers.

I place three poinsettias down the center of the table.  Our local church has a poinsettia fund-raiser for our youth's mission trips. My purchases look lovely on our table each year.   It's a predictable tablescape, and I must admit, I am ready for a new look.  I thought about doing something else this year, but decided to wait until next year.  

I decided to add some fresh greenery this years, 

so I do feel like the table has a different look this year.

 Later, I will set the table with our Christmas

    wedding china for our Christmas Eve dinner.  

Merry Christmas!

Joining the Party:

House on the Way's Twirl and Take a Bow Party

Coastal Charm's Show and Share

Flower Patch Farm Girl's All Things Christmas

Mod Vintage Life

Between Naps on the Porch

Savvy Southern Style's Wow Us Wednesdays

Christmas Angels

I thought I would share some of my Christmas decorations with you today.      I have been working to get our home ready for the holidays--I'll bet you've been busy, too! My mantel in our family room is one of the first areas I decorate each year.

My sister-in-law started painting several 

years ago and she now paints these beautiful angels.  

As soon as I saw her angels, I knew I would 

want to design my mantel 

decorations around her beautiful art.

I tucked the angels in among the pieces of 

greenery that I had arranged on the mantel. 

I used this carpenter's ruler to make a star.

 I added a string of white lights to the greenery.

I use a few of the red and green ornaments

 that go on our tree to complete the look.

I hope you've enjoyed my decorations!

Joining the Party:

House on the Way's Twirl and Take a Bow



Coastal Charm's Show and Share


Flower Patch Farm Girl's All Things Christmas 

Mod Vintage Life

Between Naps on the Porch"s Metamorphis Monday

The Scoop at Confessions of a Plate Addict

Savvy Southern Style Wow Wednesdays

French Country Cottage's Feathered Nest Friday

Photo Display From a Book

    Hello!  I hope you are enjoying the last days of summer.  

If you're enjoying cooler temps and taking pictures of the pretty leaves or if you're escaping the hot and sticky days for air conditioning, I have a fun project for you. YOU only NEED an OLD book to complete the project.

I selected a few books the other day from my sweet SIL.

She was down-sizing her collection, so I selected

 a few to take home for possible future projects.

How easy is this project?  Find the middle of the book and fold the pages down.  I folded pages down to the left on the left side of the book. Then I folded down the pages to the right on the right side of the book.  It was a project that was easy to pick up or put down as I completed other duties in the home.

I decided to cut a sheet of scrapbook paper to

 go on the inside cover pages.  You don't have to do this,

 but I wanted to see how it would look.  I like it this way.

I used a tape runner to apply tape to the back of

 the paper and pressed the paper over the cover.

My daughter plays the mellophone in her college marching

 band.  I thought the book was a fun way to display some

 of the pictures that I recently made at a practice.

I selected a book with a red cover because I thought it

 would go well with the vintage Maine souvenir tray as 

well as our red rug. I think the red book will also look 

nice with Christmas photos or Christmas cards.

I hope you'll give this quick project a try.

I'm Joining the Party at:

                              Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style 

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