Hi Friends! The holiday season is in full force and with so much to get done with little time left, I put together a few simple tablescapes and family craft ideas to make your family gathering jolly for grown-ups and children alike. Make your Christmas entertaining easy!

If you are unable to have everyone around the table this year, reach out to all that are special, hold them tight in your hearts and let them know how much you care!!

AROUND THE TABLE!

Just like with recipes, I tend to scour the internet for ideas on setting the table for inspiration, then pull everything out, and experiment with options. If you like getting ideas in person, Bering’s  with their beautifully displayed dishware will inspire your imagination and solidify your holiday table!

Last year I pulled out our Madam Alexander Christmas Angels and used them around a festive decorated mini tree I found at Trader Joe’s. Although the dishware was the same, girls had snowflake mats and napkins while the boys had beaded mats with red napkins. Using the angels dress as inspiration I created a dress look with the napkins, creating an empire waist with pine cone garland napkin rings!

Each person had an ornament which served as a place card. From my world travelers, to my tennis pro, to my coffee drinker, they had fun guessing their seats and everyone left with a trinket to remember our special day.

Grouping things is such a beautiful way to decorate. Inspired by my friends collection of Santa’s I decided on a more rustic country themed table this year.

I love to mix and match and always pull out all sorts of dishware and play with combinations to see which one speaks to me. Any color can be holiday friendly from pink to lime green to this blue and red combo!

I spied cute Santa’s at Renovate a favorite store of mine in Houston, but decided not to splurge on me. Low and behold I received them for gifts from two of my friends! I was so excited to use them with my hand-painted Russian Santa’s as the centerpiece of the table!

The workmanship on these are so beautiful and my new ones looked perfect with them!

Most places with Christmas trees have broken branches they will give or sell you. Placing them around the Santa’s, I mixed in some ornaments. pine cones and my Lalique birds, for a simple festive centerpiece.

Under the Tree!

If you are a family that wraps together, make it a very special craft activity and wrap Segreto style! There are so many premade stencils to choose from. Small versions can be found at Michael’s but searching all-over stencils will give you large scale ones which will create your masterpieces quickly. To see step by step how to make your own paper click here!

Sweets & Treats Activities!

I have so many fun clients who have interesting hobbies!! Monica, whom I have done various projects for throughout the years, has always impressed me with her crafty ideas!

An accomplished graphic designer and cook, each holiday season she spends weeks baking magical gingerbread houses. Even in person it was hard to believe this was made from a cookie! Having entered and won many contests, Monica enlightened me that the art of gingerbread making is actually pretty competitive. To see more about how to make a Gingerbread Mansion click here!

These are absolute showstoppers! The cups are filled with a chocolate orange mousse and topped with trees created from ice cream cones dipped in dark chocolate and rolled in crushed chocolate candies. Delish!! Grab the full tutorial and the recipe here. Although we didn’t make these they inspired me to have a desert craft for our family activity!

Cupcake Christmas Trees!!

This was an easy activity to pull together. I poured chocolate cake batter into these sugar ice-cream cones using a Bundt cake pan with foil so the cones would remain upright for the trees and made vanilla cupcakes for their bases.

The table was filled with all sorts of cake decorating goodies to inspire our desert decorating craft.

From making paper and wrapping gifts to baking and eating our treats, everyone had so much fun being together!

The Holiday Cocktail

Holiday cocktails are always a fun way to get things going at your get together. Kirby, our family mixologist made these delicious espresso martinis. In a cocktail shaker, mix two parts vodka, one part kahlua and one part espresso with ice, shake then pour into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a pinch of cinnamon and enjoy!

THE PERFECT GIFT!

The Segreto Book Series will make you design lovers wishes come true! I am happy to personalize and there is still time to ship! Order on line here ,email laurena@segretofinishes.com or call the office at 713-461-5210.

My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that? – Bob Hope

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season! Till next time. XO Leslie