The Christmas season has come and gone, and we can hardly believe it! Like Thanksgiving this holiday season seemed to creep up on us quickly. We got the baking done with plenty of time to spare but the tree came up a little late. Last year I told you about how my parents bought a gold Christmas tree and that over the years Mom has created three different themes. We have our “traditional” tree, our “bronze” tree and this year we put up our “peacock” themed Christmas tree.
You might be asking what peacocks have to do with Christmas, and Mom and I don’t really know. What we do know is that the decorations make for a very bold and striking tree. A few years ago now Mom came across some pretty peacock Christmas ornaments, they were a little pricey so she decided to wait to see if they would go on sale after Christmas. They did go on sale, so Mom purchased them along with some others and now we have a unique Christmas tree we put up every three years. When we set out to do our table setting for Christmas, we knew we wanted to mimic the Christmas tree theme like we did last year.
Many of our table settings have been designed around a tablecloth as our starting point but this time it started with these bright, silky, teal napkins in a colour found in our peacock ornaments. Next, we decided to look for a tablecloth that would compliment but not fight with the table napkins. We decided upon a luxurious emerald one mom had found knowing it would be perfect for this theme.
With those decisions made we needed to decide upon which plates we wanted to use. The set we chose may look familiar as we have used it before. In fact we used it in last years Christmas setting which is why we love chargers. They are a great way of switching up a table setting using the China you already own. For this setting Mom had found some glass bronze chargers in a colour that is found in the centre of a peacock feather. They not only went with our theme but grounded the setting. We placed the table napkins between the charger and the plate to leave room for the peacock Christmas ornaments we wanted to incorporate in our design.
The cutlery took us a few tries to get it right, but we finally decided upon a set that has a gold panel down the centre. We felt this set would compliment the metal accents found throughout the setting. Then there was the stemware which was one of the easiest decisions to make. Mom pulled them out, we both liked their shape and the black stem, a little unconventional for Christmas but then the whole setting is unconventional. We tried them out and knew that they were a winner, they stand out but do not detract from the centre piece.
For our centrepiece we once more took our inspiration from our Christmas Tree, literally. We not only plucked ornaments off the tree but took down the peacock we use as our tree topper. If we had planned to have company over Mom and I would’ve been scrambling to find a substitute tree topper but as it was just the four of us again this year, we left it as is for the day.
We placed our peacock tree topper on a brass tray which we also used to help keep Christmas ornaments contained. Together mom and I played around with the ornaments until we were pleased with their placement. The ornaments are so beautiful and although they look great on our Christmas tree it was nice using them in a way where we could easily observe all the sparkle and colours on them. We were pleased with the results but really wanted to bring out the purple found in some of the ornaments so we thought we could use purple candle sticks in our cobalt blue candle holders. Alas it was not to be because I dropped and broke one of the purple candles, so we had to pivot. Luckily our candle holders come in two pieces, there is the holder for candle sticks but there are also cups you can place on the holder that was perfect for tealights. So we used that instead and I think that it all worked out for the best!
After taking the pictures of our table setting would you believe that inspiration struck again! I had noticed some fairy lights that would have looked fantastic strung throughout the ornaments. But the pictures had been taken, and we didn’t want to have to rearrange the ornaments, so we thought we would do it another time. Then mom had a brilliant idea, on Boxing day we put the peacock Christmas tree topper back on the tree, but she wanted to keep the fun going. So we did a second table setting that was paired down and a little more casual for Boxing Day. This meant we got to use my idea sooner than I thought and you get not one but two table settings in this post.
The tablecloth stayed but everything else got switched out. We finally got some purple on the table with our chargers. The china got put away and out came the dishwasher safe Corelle plates. The Christmas crackers we had thought to use on Christmas day but hadn’t worked with that setting were placed on the plates. Next, we used some vintage Ikea napkins that brought in some more green with its lone stripe. The stemware was replaced with blue water glasses, but we tied in the black again with our cutlery and salt and pepper shakers. For the centerpiece we kept one blue candlestick, the tray and a handful of ornaments. Once again mom and I arranged the ornaments, but we got to add those fairy lights and it turned into a pretty but casual table setting perfect to enjoy leftovers on.
We ended up loving the paired down Boxing day table setting almost as much as our Christmas table setting. Just goes to show that the options are endless with a good table setting. I think this may become something we do more often so keep an eye out next year for a bonus table setting or two.
Mom and I both hope that you were able to enjoy the holiday season and that it was filled with friends, family, good food, pretty trees, perhaps a festive table setting and laughter. This is our last post for 2022, we can’t wait to post more recipes and table settings in 2023. Stay safe, have a great night and we will see you all in 2023!
