Holiday Entertaining
Alex and I enjoy having our friends over year-round. During the warm months, we spend most evenings on our screened-in porch or in the backyard under our string lights. Entertaining is much easier in the summer months: barbecue, cold beers and paper plates.
Once the weather gets chilly, the party is forced to move indoors. Although there are inevitably a few more dishes to manage, with the right setting, an evening with guests inside can feel cozy and intimate…perfect for a holiday celebration!
This year, I dressed our kitchen table for two separate occasions; a small dinner party for six people, and a larger gathering with twenty of our friends. You can see both in the images below.
The Lenox Christmas china and poinsettia napkin rings both belonged to my Grandmother. It is a great conversation starter to have many handed-down pieces in your collection. I recently purchased the navy napkins from Crate & Barrel. They will work year-round with my blue and white candle sticks.
Meanwhile in the kitchen, I added just a touch of Christmas. Because the space is so small, I decided it was better to keep the decor simple. We added some left-over white pine roping on the window shelf and on the upper cabinet. Our Christmas dish towels, paper white bulbs and a cozy log cabin ornament (next to the Sonos) add the perfect festive touches while not overwhelming the space.
Here are a few more miscellaneous pictures from our house during the holidays. I did a full post dedicated to the living room, but I couldn’t resist one more snap in the gallery below. Outside, you will see our Christmas wreath, which I decorated with holly berries and arborvitae springs, leaves from our skip laurels and pine cones. I added a bow at the top with ribbon from Michael’s craft store. I love the process of making my own wreath and attaching everything with a hot glue gun and garden wire. The two snow people on either side of our backdoor were also from my grandmother.
This year, we wrapped our River Birch with lights for the first time. It looks so inviting, especially when I took a photo during a light snow we had last week!
