Christmas Table

Last year was my first Christmas in my new house and I was super excited to host Christmas lunch for my family!

My overall Christmas theme was black and white and stars - so I carried that into the table setting.  I made my own place mats with black and white card stock and gold metallic paper stars and put each person's name on the place mat.  I kept the centerpiece simple - greenery, pine cones and a mason jar with a white candle.  I found star napkins at Target and I bought black disposable salad plates.

 When I'm hosting - I like to think about all the senses.  I wanted a Christmas scent, so I had these things simmering on the stove and I had Handel's Messiah playing.

To add whimsy (and because I've always thought these would be fun to try, since reading about them in the Harry Potter series) I bought some Christmas crackers at this adorable shop in town: Love of Character.  They each had a toy, a joke and a gold paper crown.

For the menu, I had salad, ham and potato casserole, rolls and my mom brought a chocolate creme pie dessert.

Christmas Cookies for Santa - Quiet Book

For this Project you'll need:

1 sheet of the following colors: dark blue, medium green, light brown, medium brown, yellow, white, red, light green

needle and thread

scissors

sewing machine

velcro

embellishments

How to Flock a Christmas Tree

Each year I've gotten in the habit of coming up with a new look and theme for my Christmas tree.  You can see last year's Farmhouse Black and White Plaid tree here and 2016's O Holy Night/Plaid theme here and if you scroll through the whole post 2015's chalkboard/red theme here.

This year my theme inspiration is snow, white, peaceful, candlelight, "All is calm, All is bright". 

So I started researching how to add snow to my tree.  I owe a debt of gratitude to bloggers I found that tried different methods and discovered if you buy a spray snow can in the store, it will end up looking like spray paint.  My research led me to SnoFlock, which I bought on Amazon - it looks like this and you can buy it here.  I bought the 2 lb. bag and that was perfect (my tree is about 5-6 feet tall and pretty full).

For this Project You'll Need:

a tree (as far as I know, it works on real or artificial)

SnoFlock

a spray bottle full of water

the instructions tell you to use a sifter, but I'll explain below that it's not necessary

a face mask

a throwaway glove (optional)

Something about it seems scary or overwhelming, but it's not - you can do it!  I started with a live tree.  Everything says to do it outside.  Luckily it was nice enough on Black Friday that I was able to do that.  I put the tree in its stand and put it on my patio.  I started with a small amount on a test branch.

 I loved how it looked but it felt like it would take forever.

I also wasn't sure how well the 2 lb bag would cover the tree, so I tried to use it conservatively at the beginning.

I was in a race with the sunset (and dinner plans) so I got braver and early on I quit using the sifter - that really would have taken forever.  I used one hand to pull a handful of snow dust out of the bag and then had the spray bottle in the other hand.  You have to spray the branches before dropping the snow on; then spray the powder as you're dropping it; then spray the top of it.  All this adheres the powder to the tree.  When I got braver, I started grabbing big handfuls out of the bag.  Using your hand really adds precision, you can add snow or build up snow exactly where you want it.

I was loving it - it was turning out exactly how I wanted.  I felt like I was in a snowy Colorado ski lodge!

I thought it was very realistic looking!

I pulled it in through the sliding glass doors and getting it settled some powder fell out but not too much.  I think from start to finish it took me about 2 hours.  

Then I added lights and candle lights and was so happy with it, I considered not even adding decorations.

But I ended up loving the decorations once they were on!  The big white puff balls you see I found in the Target Dollar Spot (for $5 per set) and they were play snowballs for kids.  I used a needle and strung them on fishing line to create a garland.

I'm very happy with it - it's snowy and magical!