Placesettings: the first day of Christmas

Yes, the First Day of Christmas was yesterday. But let’s not get picky.

Christmas dinner was a smallish affair with only seven of us sitting down together. That’s okay. The big family hoopla will happen on Sunday when more of us are in town.

Here’s what the dining table looked like before everyone showed up.

I’ve gone way beyond matchy-matchy here and crossed over into a place where I only have to like it to put it together.  The Harmony House Snowflake china is a bit too formal for the other pieces. So what? It’s inches bigger than a typical Fire-King or Hazel Atlas glass plate. Size trumped pattern and color.

The wild poinsettias and flaming candles tablecloth is a California Hand Print in what seems to be a rayon blend. It’s a fairly common (inexpensive) pattern if you go looking on eBay or Etsy. The tumblers are a festive Hazelware pattern of Christmas trees, wreaths and bells. Over the years I’ve thrifted more than a dozen of them–great for a holiday crowd.

I really like the googly eye Santa napkin rings. There’s something about vintage felt and sequins that gets me every time. The incongruity of sparkle on a cheap fabric with a rough texture? Do-it-yourself dime store glamour? The massive amount of work to make something now considered worthless? I got an entire set of eight for fifty cents from a flea market dealer who was visibly relieved to be rid of them. Imagine that!

And since I’m on the topic of felt with sequins, I might as well show you the HUGE banner I found this year. I hung it over the dining room mirror with some old red garland and glass ornaments. Despite the incredible amount of sequins on the lettering it still seems a bit tame. I’m planning to bling it up with lots more sequins and beads on the off-white background. A project for next year.

And to finish it all off, a Fire-King eggnog set sprinkled with red snowflakes. ManRay loves eggnog with a dash of fresh nutmeg on top. We had it for dessert with cookies and Flaming Ice Cream Snowballs which sadly turned out to be over-the-top sweet. Next time I’ll use fresh coconut instead of the packaged sugary stuff.

Now off to empty the dishwasher and get ready for the next round!