Christmas Tablescape Trial Run

Hello sweet friends!!  I hope your week is off to a great start!!  If you're like us, then your December is just getting busier and busier....but in a wonderful way!!  And as a double bonus we've gotten a slug of cold air come through...so at least for a couple of days....it actually feels like Christmas!!  It's awesome!!

I've got most of my Christmas decorations up now....but just can't seem to leave it alone....and find myself adding a little something here or there almost everyday.....I guess that's not a bad thing, but I know I'll be kicking myself when it comes time to take it all down......BUT.....I am LOVING it while it's up!!!  I'll have to give you guys the grand tour sometime soon.....

BUT.....today we are focusing on the tablescape......they are doing a link up party over at The Lettered Cottage.....so you can go there to check out everyone else's gorgeous tables......by clicking HERE......

AND I didn't want to miss out on the fun.....so I decided to go ahead and make a trial run with my Christmas table decorations.....

AND....what fun would it be if I didn't share it with you guys too?  SO....here you go.....

Of course you guys have already seen my centerpiece and how I made it.....but if you want to look again....then you can find it HERE......

SO.....with the centerpiece already done.....it wasn't too hard to add the rest.....

SO.....I'll share a few more pics and then an couple cheats secrets tips ....

Here's a look at the whole table.....

And one more of the whole table.....

And a few up close looks.....

Ok.....so I promised a couple of tricks.....well....when I started putting this together I already had the centerpiece that I made.....and I used my China and crystal (that we got for our wedding)....and I used the silver charger plates that I've had for years....AND.....I was determined not to buy anything to finish out the table.....SO.....I had to improvise.....

Hmmmmm....what to do.....and then the ideas started flowing.....and I ended up using scrap book paper for the placemats....and I actually really like it......the paper is the perfect color and so blingy with all it's glittery goodness :)  And....seriously....with the charger plate, the real plates, the glasses, etc, etc....do you really need much more?? 

Oh yeah....then I hit another problem....no napkins.....ugh!  Well....that one was a bit harder....and I thought about going to buy some.....but I'm proud to say that I didn't.....I ended up using some more of that Deco Mesh stuff that I talked about HERE to stand in for napkins and also look pretty.....and then I topped the mesh with some cheapo Wal-Mart ornaments....and I think those little Reindeer are so pretty :)

And the last thing that I did was to put a large ornament in each glass.....and that was it.....

As usual....we've got to keep things easy around here.....it took me about an hour to dream it up and put it all together.....seriously.....

AND....just to keep it real.....I took a pic of this room before I started my little transformation.....I can't believe I'm showing you this.....but here it is......

You know.....ya gotta live.....so things get messy sometimes.... ;)

Ok....so now forget all about that awful picture....and focus instead on some more table beautifulness (yeah....I know it's not a real word)......

So....what do you guys think?  I think it turned out really nice.....

Are any of you working on some new decor for your table this year?  Do you have any unique tricks or tips that you use?  As usual....I'd love to hear.....I'm all about copying sharing ideas :)

I need to show you how the rest of this room turned out, but we'll save that for another day.....

Until next time.....

XOXO-
Kristal