Holiday Tablescape
Can we be honest for a minute? This year when Jen Woodhouse from The House of Wood asked me if I wanted to participate in a holiday tablescape blog tour I nearly replied, “No way!”
Not because I was too busy…
… and not because I didn’t want to.
The truth is, I’ve never created a tablescape before. Yup, it’s true. Go ahead and google “Pretty Handy Girl tablescape,” I’ll wait.
Did you see my Pinterest board filled with tablescapes pop up in the search results? Yup, I had to create one for inspiration.
The other reason I was cringing at the idea of a tablescape is because I don’t own chargers. Well, I own lots of chargers for my battery powered cordless tools. (Bah da dun. Sorry bad joke.) How can you create a tablescape without chargers?!
And yet another reason was that we still had some side tables stacked up in the dining room filled with miscellaneous kitchen items from that time almost 2 years ago when we had to turn our dining room into a kitchen. Â Oh yes, that stacked mess that held the pots and pans was still there.
Finally, I have a dining room that is a hodge podge of styles. The table and chairs were hand me down mid-century modern from my Godfather’s dead parents. (Sounds creepier than it is. LOL.) It’s just not my style, but I haven’t had time to build a new table (yes, the plans are filed away in my brain for a later date.)
Back to Jen’s question. My initial thought was, “No way! Who in their right mind would want to see a DIY blogger with no chargers and mis-matched furniture create a tablescape?”
And then I realized:
1. I can do anything I put my mind to. Have you read my mantra? “If a human being can do it then there is a 95% chance I can do it too!” Since when have I ever shied away from something new just because I haven’t done it before! Ummm, never.
2. All I had to do was research tablescapes. It’s just like any other DIY job I tackle. First I do my research. Pinterest had a bunch of resources for me.
3. Lots of people have mismatched furniture, why not work with it and show how to achieve a cohesive look using what you’ve got? Hand me downs, thrifted candlesticks and my existing plates and placemats would have to do.
4. I could use this assignment as an excuse to buy a few things to create my tablescape (as if I really needed to justify buying cute things.)
Why am I telling you all this? Because I want you to stop telling yourself you can’t do something just because you’ve never tried it before. Believe in yourself, research how to do it, and work with what you have!
So, here it is, my newbie attempt at a tablescape using mis-matched furniture and no chargers!
Sources:
- Red chair covers: IKEAÂ pillow covers
- White tablecloth: IKEA Sheer window curtain
- Branches in chandelier: IKEA
- Fur on the head table chairs: more IKEA pillow covers
- Birch reindeer: Lowe’s Home Improvement
- Pinecone and Embroidered ornaments on the chandelier: Lowe’s Home Improvement
- Napkins: Steinmart
- Napkin rings: Cut up sheet music folded and taped
- Brass candlesticks: Goodwill
- Polkadot Glasses: Steinmart
- Plates: Old purchase from Kroger
- Holly: My yard
- Everything else is pulled from my home: aka the attic of despair where things go and are forgotten unless I venture up there to hunt for decor.)
In addition to dressing up the table, I created a hot cocoa bar for good measure.
Because who doesn’t love a little hot chocolate on a cold day in December? And…
…maybe I can distract you from critiquing my dining room of mis-matched furniture, with no chargers and a kid decorated stuffed animal tree in the corner.
Which I do think is pretty cute. I might need to hire them to help me decorate next year. They even make and wrap their own presents for their stuffed animals.
Be sure to see what my power tool toting friends whipped up for their tablescapes.
Here’s the full schedule:
Mon, 12/8 Rogue Engineer
Tue, 12/9 Her Toolbelt
Wed, 12/10 So Much Better With Age
Thu, 12/11 Pneumatic Addict
Fri, 12/12 Pretty Handy Girl
Mon, 12/15 All Things G&D
Tue, 12/16 brittanyMakes
Wed, 12/17 House of Wood
Thu, 12/18 Sawdust Girl
Fri, 12/19 My Altered State
Mon, 12/22 That’s My Letter
Tue, 12/23 Ana-White.com
 
P.s. During my bout of insecurity, I had the best compliment after I finished decorating. My son’s 8 year old friend, who was over for a playdate, was running circles around the house with my son. When he entered the dining room, he came to an abrupt halt near the table. He slowly reached out a finger to touch the fake snow under the deer, but at the last minute snapped out of it and withdrew his finger. He said in a very slow and quiet voice, “Cooooooool!” LOL. God bless 8 year olds for making you feel like a tablescape champion.
P.p.s. What? You’re still here? Well, if you like what you saw, you can see the rest of my Holiday Home Tour 2014 here:
Pin for later!
Beautifully done. You know you’ve got something going on when you stop an eight year old boy in his tracks!
Monique, LOL, true. Stopping an 8 yr. old boy from anything is tough.
OMG gorgeous. Pillow covers over the back of the chairs? Wow. That cabinet is gorgeous. Right up my alley, might need to come and grab it. Also love your centrepiece. Everything I love actually.
Hugs, Jamie
Thanks Jamie. The cabinet was a Craig’s List score pre-blogging. I added scrap wood floor pieces to the top. I wish I was blogging back then and had created a tutorial. The old top was ugly laminate.
This turned out beautifully, Brittany! I would’ve never noticed your mismatched furniture. Adding IKEA pillow covers to the backs of your chairs is GENIUS! (So genius that I literally walked away from my computer immediately after reading that line, ripped the pillow off my couch and tried to see if the cover fit over my kitchen chairs. It didn’t. I’m pissed.) Clearly you should be doing tablescapes more often! My favorite is all of the fun things hanging from your chandelier. Beautiful job! So happy to be a part of this series with you!
Dusty, it was a tight fit, and these chairs are small and narrow. In full disclosure, I had to rip the opening about an inch more to get it to fit. But, I can stitch it up later if I need to.
Absolutely blowing me away Brittany! I don’t own any chargers either except the same kind you do, you know those battery powered cordless chargers. I love those little deer & I was just at Lowe’s today but didn’t look for that kind of thing. I love that black buffet you have & the hot cocoa bar is just well, perfect!
Thank you Colleen!
I’ll bet there are a LOT of bloggers who don’t own chargers, including me! I’ve had the same placemats for at least 20 years and they are still as good as new, because I don’t entertain too often and when I do, it’s usually pretty informal, not placemat type meals. Last Christmas I finally bought 4 placements on sale from World Market that remind me of “angry birds”, but they are cute and Christmas-y. The deer on snow are beautiful but – be warned – I used some snow as decoration on a platter on a coffee table last Christmas and every time someone walked by some of it blew off the platter. BTW, LOVE those deer and the decked out chandy! And the clever use of Ikea products. Job well done and very inspiring.
Jan, oh no on the snow. Well, I guess I’ve embraced it already because my kids keep pinching little bits of it and sprinkling it on their advent calendars. LOL.
(Standing up and slow clapping right now…) You are amazing. And, you’re real like the rest of us (who might not own chargers of the plate kind.) I love everything in this room! And those deer… can we talk about those deer?! I love it all.
Pauline, LOL, “slow clapping”. Thanks for the comment and yes, love those deer!
What’s the story behind those lovely wooden boards (shutters maybe?) on the table? Those are such a nice touch!
Lauren, I bought them at the flea market several years ago and have slowly used them in a project or two. The vendor said they were from an old pipe organ. They are cool. Here are the wall hooks I made with them: http://tidymom.net/2013/reclaimed-wood-sconce-hook/
Brittany you are too funny! Your tablescape is so cooool. I love all of the details, chair covers, snow, bells, holly…and who needs chargers anyway. Your hot chocolate bar looks super awesome too.
Thanks Amy. Well, I guess I shall remain chargerless another year 😉
WOW! Look at you, you overachiever, you! If this is your newbie attempt, I’m done. I quit. Brittany, you sure knocked it out of the park! THANK YOU for joining me on this lil tour! You’re a rockstar.
Thanks Jen. You are too funny, I have other design skills, but honestly a tablescape had always eluded me. Thanks for the push!