The holiday season is all about spending time with friends, family and loved ones – and food. Many foods made around the holidays are often special because they are only enjoyed once a year when Christmas rolls around. Whether you’re a sweet tooth or a savoury connoisseur, there are plenty of treats to go around during those chilly days curled up at home. Fruitcakes, tarts, turkey and mashed potatoes, the list of holiday foods go on, and on, and on.
The Christmas Day meal is often one of the main events that every family celebrates on the big day. Therefore, it’s important to decorate your dinner table so that the festive spirit to carried into the dining room. Here are a few ways to class up your holiday dinner table this holiday season:
Setting the Table
Start off by putting down the pieces that need to go first: your placemats and table runner. Placemats used sporadically can add that little bit of seasonal colour or trendy texture that you’re looking for around the holidays, like warm wood or deep red colour. Adding a table runner can also help a theme pop while protecting your table from hot dishes and spilt items. Dressing up your table this way will help give your dining room that festive feel without you having to invest too much time or money.
Dishes
When it comes to setting the table, choose your dishes wisely. Perhaps you break out fancy China to set the mood, or maybe you invest in white dishes that can be dressed up for any occasion. Set the table with wine glasses at each seat that can be used for any liquid, but adding a secondary glass will allow for your guests to have both wine and water at the same time and avoid them or you have to get up mid-meal. Finish off the placemat with a cloth napkin to add a touch of elegance while also reducing your waste from a paper napkin.
Centrepiece
For this year’s centrepiece, we challenge you to use items that you already have in your home. Find pitchers, bowls, vases and platters that you already have and jazz them up with something Christmas-themed. Perhaps you light candles that are usually in your bathroom or move a vase from your front room to the table. If you’re looking to make it more festive, perhaps you go searching for some pinecones in your backyard or cut sprigs off your trees for that fresh pine scent. A centrepiece is all about setting the tone for the holiday, so why not use things that you already use to represent yourself in your home?
Using these small touches will help give your dining room that Christmas makeover it needs this season. Reusing items in your home and adding festive touches to them allows you to reduce your holiday costs this year without having to sacrifice a beautiful dining table and decorated home.
Happy holidays, Calgary!
