Create a warm and inviting home by adding a few entertaining touches for the holidays. This collection includes a variety of looks perfect for Christmas season.
By Candlelight
Channel chic Christmas cheer with an understated display. To create this easy centerpiece, start with three cream taper candles, and secure them in small candleholders. Set each one in its own glass pedestal bowl, then fill the dishes with fresh greenery. Add cool, frosty tones by scattering silver and blue ornaments in and around the bowls. Use various finishes to bring depth to the display, yet keep it sophisticated and simple.
Winter Wishes
For many of us dreaming of a white Christmas year after year, the shake of a snow globe brings a touch of frost-kissed magic. Craft this place-setting topper to echo that spirit of a classic Noel on your holiday table. The enchanting scene starts with a cloche-covered figurine that captures the beauty of wintry pines at Christmastime. Slip in a stack of shimmering gold-tinged plates and a wisp of tinseled garland to complete the merry moment.
Way to Glow
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and for Southern ladies that means it’s time to bring holiday cheer to every nook and cranny in the house. Simple accents can provide the perfect pretty centerpiece. Using a decorative tray as the base, create a Yuletide vignette with a pair of silver antler candlesticks, along with a few polished pieces of the real thing. To that, add a shiny red candleholder with a white pillar candle and a tiny faux tree tucked into a small bowl. Fill in with a scattering of pinecones and some sprigs of fragrant greenery, and you’re ready to welcome in the season in a most fa-la-la-la-lovely way.
The Light Fantastic
“Frosted windowpanes, candles gleaming inside . . .” Frank Sinatra’s version of the carol “The Christmas Waltz” paints a heartwarming picture of this special season. We look for ways to spread the spirit throughout our homes, and sometimes the simplest things, like this arrangement, catch the most attention. Start with a medley of glasses, and build “nests” of greenery inside. Add candles, and surround them with fresh cranberries. Arrange the glasses on a tray, carefully fill them with water, then let this display light the way to Christmas day.
Seasonal Adornments
Perhaps even more than the wreath on the door or a tree twinkling from tip-top to trunk, the hearth is the heart of seasonal adornment. Because everyone gathers around the fireplace for holiday activities, the mantel is the ideal place to showcase a Christmas collection, such as beautiful mercury glass tree toppers. Create this sparkling focal point by lining the shelf with greenery and magnolia leaves looped with garlands of silver beads. Simply tuck in toppers—we used glue dots to help eliminate wobbles—then sit back and enjoy the reflection of the flames dancing off these shiny baubles.
Snow Glow
The shimmering gleam of a burning candle brings warm, serene images to mind. At Christmastime, the flickering flame seems to become even more comforting and almost magical when paired with holiday décor. Add a festive, wintery touch to your home by placing a white candle in a decorative glass container or an outdoor lantern. Surround the candle halfway with artificial snow. Then scatter colorful ornaments and pinecones around the candleholder to add to the merriment. It’s a lovely scene of winter captured indoors.
Yuletide Charm
Candles bring instant ambiance to a holiday home. To further the brilliance of that idea, consider the container. Put a pillar candle inside a crystal bowl, and then fill it with a variety of ornamental metallic nuts along with cinnamon sticks and greenery. Place the bowl on a crystal tray, add more nuts and greenery, and the result is not only subtle lighting but an eye-catching conversation piece as well.
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