How to Set a Simply Elegant Christmas Table

I am glad to be back to my Monday posts!  Life finally seems to have returned to a more balanced paced or at least a pace I can manage.  Today I wanted to share how I decorated my holiday table for dinner last year.  I LOVE to host and I actually get lots of opportunities to host around the holidays as we celebrate Anya's birthday on Dec. 21st and then either Christmas and New Years is at my house.  Sometimes I go all in and other times I keep it simple.  There is room for all of it and over the years I've learned that no matter how fancy or simple it is, the only thing that truly matters is coming together with the people you love.  Last year just before Christmas, we had a complete shut down due to COVID and we weren't allowed to see anyone outside of our family.  It was devastating and I really wanted to make our home feel special and beautiful as our plans to come together with family changed once again.  This year thanks to science, we are all fully vaccinated and looking forward to celebrating together.  That feels good.  

Check out the post I wrote a few years ago about Tips and Tricks for hosting a holiday dinners here.  These tips and tricks are coming to you from a full-time working mom of two, a women who hosts on a moderate budget, and doesn't have infinite time to shop and decorate (but maybe one day).  LOL.

Now let's take a peak at how I spruced up my everyday dining table without breaking the bank.  What you need:

• garland
• candles of various sizes (tea lights, tall candle sticks and battery operated festive candles)
• candle holders (
• your best dishes (because what are you saving them for)
• pine needles or rosemary, cloth napkin and twine
• special cocktail and a good bottle of wine

The garland can be pricey but if you wait until the week before Christmas most places will already have it marked down and you can save some money.  Choose to go either with gold or silver as your color, which will make everything else come together easier.  I took a trip to Dollarama and bought all the candles and candle holders there.  I also just took a pair of scissors to our pine tree for the napkin settings.  The items I did splurge on were the drinks and obviously the food it self.  Our specialty drink was Reindeer Mule that I got from my sweet blogger friend Andrea from Living on Cloud Nine. I also splurged on a more expensive bottle of wine than I usually drink.  I love Quails Gate Merlot wine and it always reminds me of our wonderful trip to their winery a few years back, read all about it here.

Since I have all the items now, I plan to recreate this beautiful table setting again this year when I host Christmas Eve, although I haven't decided if I am going to be more casual and make appetizers  or a spiral ham dinner.  

My parents and us for Christmas 2020.  We snuck them in for a little visit.  

May you find light and joy in the small moments of life.

What are your plans?  

What kind of host are you, simple or fancy?  

What is the best and hardest thing about hosting for you?

Tips and Tricks for Hosting a Successful Holiday Dinner & Continental Drift Link-Up

Hosting during the holidays can be very stressful but there are certain things that I've learned to do to elevate the stress.  My youngest daughter was born on Dec. 21st  and I hosted Christmas brunch on Dec. 25th.  Sounds crazy but really it felt easier to do that than to have to bundle up a new baby and a toddler, to venture outside in -40C.   Since then, we have hosted a family birthday celebration, a kids birthday party and a friends holiday party over the holiday season (end of November- prior to Christmas).   I will say that I generally just enjoy hosting and planning to have people over, but that doesn't mean I don't feel overwhelmed.    Here are a few tips and tricks that I follow for our large family dinners.  

1.  Save the date.  Because everyone is super busy in December with their own stuff, I usually set the date in late October.  I text everyone, find out their availability and try my best to accommodate.  I always aim to have big family/friend events on Saturdays because I work full-time outside of our home and  this gives me Friday evening and Sunday as buffer days.

2.  Keep the menu simple and shop on-line!  I've done order-in pizza and paper plates in the past, especially when the kids were little.  More often then not,  I do a full dinner, or sometimes brunch depending on everyone's schedule.  Some simple dinners are:

• Turkey
• Ham (Costco spiral ham is my favorite)
• Pulled Pork (Slow Cooker)

I try to think as simply as I can and prep as many salads or side dishes ahead of time.  At a minimum I have the menu set the weekend before, if not a couple of weeks ahead.  I write it ALL down and shop online a few days before.  I love Click & Collect and if anything isn't available, I still have a few days to stop by to pick up in time for the weekend.    

3.  Drinks.  Don't forget to think about what you will be serving for drinks.  For brunch I usually keep it to juice and pre-made smoothies.  In the evening we usually have beer, red wine, white wine, and something hard like Jack Daniels.  We also have some canned pop on hand as an non-alcoholic option.  This really depends on your crowd, but make sure you plan and do inventory at least a week or two in advance so you don't have to make a trip to the liquor store the week of the event.

4.  Cleaning.  Argh.  My advice is clean minimally before hand, bathrooms, vacuum, and decorate if it's a special time of the year.  Get a cleaner to do a deep clean after the event rather than before.  Basically do as I say, not as I do. I am kind of crazy about cleaning, I start cleaning the weekend before and throughout the week and then clean afterwards too.  Don't do this!!!! It's stupid.  No one really even notices your walls, floors, baseboards, except you.

5.  Ask for help.  I don't ask for people to bring food, though I am not  opposed to potlucks, it's just not our way for birthday celebrations.  My grandma usually likes to make the birthday cake for each one of us and it's something my children have grown to love and appreciate.  It's special.  Where I do ask for help is from my husband.  He takes the kids out of the house between 1-4 p.m.!  This allows me to tidy up the house, get everything set up, cook, and get myself ready as much as possible.

6.  Dishes & Decorations.   Get all of your serving dishes, good cutlery, etc.,  all ready the night before and labeled so that you now you have everything you need and it's clean.  (Tip: If you label everything it helps people who wish to "help" in the kitchen know where you want what)  If you are going to use paper/plastic, make sure to take inventory before you order your groceries.  Also decorate ahead of time and get your table extensions, table cloths, dinner table trays, all ready to go the night before or first thing in the morning.  

7.  Hair, Make-up & Outfit.  I always know in advance, like the weekend before, what I am going to wear, what jewelry I need, and how I want to do my hair, etc.  TIP, do this for your children and husband as well.  You don't have time to do laundry the day before.
 I do my make-up and hair mid-morning or early afternoon. I always shower the night before because I don't have time to deal with blow drying or air drying my hair, etc.    My hair and make-up can usually be quickly touched up and   I can quickly just throw on my clothes before everyone arrives and use an apron to finish up in the kitchen.

8.  Husband & wife  duties for hosting.  You need to decide these ahead of time!!!!!  Seriously, you'll just end up snapping at each other or annoyed with one another if you don't.  (I've learned this obviously the hard way) I am in the kitchen.  THE ONLY PERSON IN THE KITCHEN, chatting away with guests, who for the most part stay on the other side of the island (yep, control freak).  Logan is in charge of putting away people's coats and getting them drinks.  I usually have finger snacks out on the table for people to enjoy with their drinks. 

9.  Kids and Parties.  Now that the girls are older, they mostly are asked to sit and visit with family members or entertain their younger cousins.  When they were younger, I would have a special toy (puzzle, simple coloring, small tub of legos,  playdough,etc.)  set up on the floor or little side table for them to play with on their own.   Having a special  or new activity for them to do, think independent play, is a great way to keep them entertained and out of the kitchen as you are preparing the last minute things for dinner.  I am  also pretty frank with my girls about how I want them to behave when we have company and have been since they were little.  

 10.  Dishes.  Don't do dishes while company is over, just be with them and enjoy the evening.  Choose plates that can go into the dishwasher at the end of the evening.  Leave other dishes until the next day if you don't have the energy to deal with them.  

11.  ENJOY.  Most importantly enjoy the people that are in your life and embrace the chaos.  If this means you do take-out, potluck, or coffee and cake, that's perfectly fine.  . Remember the most important thing is to be present with friends and family.  

Now please follow each of your hosts Bojana of  Bodaciousblog, Sydney Shop Girl and Mutton Style  on at least one platform (Instagram, Twitter or blog) and comment on their blogs.  It would be great if you could read and comment on the blog above yours in the link up.  You might make a new friend. Please also do add a link back to our blogs on your posts to help the linkup grow.  Thanks for stopping by, we look forward to learning more about everyone!

Join us for the Continental Drift link-up below.

An InLinkz Link-up