Last Year's Christmas Dinner in Black White and Red

It seems that I'm either late to share our Christmas tablescapes or never get around to it at all. Some bloggers seem to be able to go all out with their designs in advance of Christmas eve or day. I just can't manage that with the need for us to bring in an extra table an borrow extra chairs to accomodate16 people. 

So, here I am sharing last year's tablescapes that we enjoyed on Christmas day 2016.

Black and white gingham and pops of red was the theme of the day.

 An extra table and our kitchen peninsula allowed us to have enough seating for all.

 Layered plates in red, white and black looked simple, yet festive.

 A sprig of berries and a strand of red, satin cord made simple ties for the napkins at each setting.

 I added festive words to each glass with white marker...a last minute touch that I realized would smudge. I didn't have time to do a more permanent job with paint.

 The round table sat six and was positioned right next to the 6 ft. folding table that sat another 6. That way everyone faced eachother and no one had to look at someones back.

I remember being so frustrated with taking last minute pics before everyone arrived and having such trouble with my camera's settings and the bright lights and shadows of the day. I never did get a good pic of the lantern centerpieces that co-ordianted with the window theme!

A few different angles of all of the seatings.

This was the view entering from the front hall. 

 I did manage to get one good pic of one of the lantern centerpieces.

 It was surrounded on both sides by this votive vignette.

  

 Thankfully, our kitchen and dining area is nice and large.

 Each seat had a chalkboard tag with a berry sprig and ribbons. The chair covers are one of my most "pinned" posts of really easy 50 cent covers.

DIY chair covers 

 The chandy's got greens that I cut from the yard...

 and berries, silver bells and a big gingham bow.

  

A Holiday punch on a made up stand to catch any drips and make it easy to pour!

The mirror that I added was nice and flat making the jug nice and stable for serving.

A little hack that I like to do to add more serving or prep space in the kitchen is to add a cutting board to a pulled out drawer!

 This was last year's bay window theme in the kitchen that never made the rounds in sharing...you might like to see it here

I loved the theme of all the lanterns, especially lit at night!

The best part of our feast was the, good old southern, oyster roast that we enjoyed, beforehand, outside in the 70+ degree weather with drinks and the family.

Love, Hugs and Kisses,

JP

and Gucci, too!

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A Very Romantic Gathering for 30 Lover's on Valentine's Day

Warning: this is going to be a really long and picture heavy.....so, grab a cup of your, favorite, hot beverage, sit back and enjoy this post. It's a post of our 2014 Valentine's Day dinner, for thirty lover's, in our communities clubhouse!

The invitation for the community looked like this.

It was designed to give a hint at what was in store.

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  Our social committee got together to help make some of the decor for the night. The budget for the decor was $150 and I wanted the room to make a huge impression. That meant making  a lot of the decor to save money. So, we hot glued hundreds of red, rose petals to filament string to hang from the windows and doors and a few of the chairs. I made and loaned the votives, rose centerpieces, blingy napkin rings, the large heart ornament wreath and over sized card decoration that you will see in this post....all to add a bit more "specialness" for the night.

Red, black and white was the color scheme with 2,000, red silk, rose petals on the tables and around the room.

A whole lot of time and planning goes into pulling together a theme in a room this size with a lot of little details to work out. I can see why the pro's get paid so much!

The room's support column was wrapped with white tulle from my stash and adorned with romantic poems from a few dollar store books.

The feathers and clips were left over from my daughter's wedding and attached to the tulle with more petals tucked inside. Each guest then had a poem to chose as a little memento.

This was the heart wreath that I made. 55, shiny, red ornaments got hot glued to a  foam board form that I made for it's base.  

I covered the form with red, burlap ribbon that I had on hand.

  Silver glitter combined with a mix of "diamond dust" added the perfect "rhinestone" glam to the heart accent on the top.

This was my inspiration...

It's a part of a vignette on a dresser in our upstairs hallway.

 It's my favorite heart pin that's also been in a few older posts.

  Pictures were covered with black tissue and lace paper hearts. The heart wreath was strung from a white tulle, ribbon bow it created just the impact that I hoped it would!

The room by day looked really, really pretty.

We disguised the bookcases with black, plastic table covers, to look like this.

I found an over sized card at Walmart for just $3!
It became a background photo spot as I took pictures of all the couples that attended the affair.

I covered another piece of foam board with white damask wallpaper and used two rhinestone pins that covered the holes to suspend the pretty ribbon from.

Paper lace hearts and large paper flowers were strung from the lights all the way around the circumference of the room. It was a bit of a task, but worth the efforts with the help of a kind man and a tall ladder.

 This was the dance floor and it also served as another place for photo ops.....

I made easy little banners with my stencils and plain white paper that hung on six black fabric frames that hang around the room.

New Year's Eve and any grand room needs an elegant clock.  This one was on sale at just the right time!

It's such a lovely room to hold events!

Scripted, black tissue paper was layered under each paper heart place mat.

Silver flatware was placed on red napkins that were held in place at each setting with faux rhinestone, napkin rings and tiny, red tissue roses that I made for each guest.

 I added "diamond dust" to all of the glass votives. Some "little helpers" added the black ribbon and red rhinestone centers to finish them off.

It all made quite an impression impacting the room.

Fancy, but inexpensive, chair covers were made from plastic table covers, that were cut in half, for just 50 cents each. I made the small crepe paper flowers that were added to the backs of the chairs.

 Vignettes were created all around the room.

Some on the counters....

some on the tables....

and in the entrance, too.

 A beautiful amaryllis was brought in to be enjoyed for the night.

Even a gift of candy kisses in my candy store jar for sweet, little treats ...making yet another Valentine's vignette.

And just look at this magnificent cake! 
Our talented neighbor, Sandy Wolfe, created it for our dinner finale. She did  such a fine job of matching it to all of the decor, right down to the rhinestone bling!

We gave it a center stage surrounding it with lace hearts, white lights, candle votives and a scattering of a few more petals.

I made a paper heart chain for the table and even the restroom.... that got a touch of romance, too!

The simplest touches just added romance everywhere.

 A few pics of the cooks in the kitchen, couples posing, couples kissing  and even dancing around the room.

And pics of some after their fabulous meal...

and even pics of me and my honey.

(my "honey" fell on ice, just two days prior, hence his lovely pre-surgical cast)
He was such a trooper to manage to be by my side despite his horrible ordeal!

We had a really receptive turnout...it was said to have been the largest one, in River Run, yet!
and then came our Fabulous Spring Dinner...if you missed it you can find it here!

All in all it was a very romantic gathering for all thirty lover's for Valentine's Day 2014, do you agree?

   Love, Hugs and Kisses,
JP

and Gucci, too!

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