Christmas in the Dining Room

 I am so happy with how I managed to decorate a little differently this year without breaking the bank, and best of all using what I have.

I am trying to be not so streamlined or minimalist with how I normally put together a vignette, and working hard not to make it look cluttered.  I hope I achieved it.  Actually Hubby was pleased with it...he's a minimalist!

Here's our sideboard all decked for Christmas.  My idea was to set it up as a dessert/candy station for when family, kiddies and friends stop by.  I will place the candy, cakes, cookies, … until we actually have company on Christmas Day.

 Here is a picture when I first set up the tablescape on the sideboard; but I can never leave anything alone for long...I just make changes as I see fit...add, edit, move...

 In our small dining room I simply gave the china hutch a good cleaning and polished it as best as I could.  My hutch has no inside lighting; I eventually plan on adding some fairy lights on each shelf to light it up and really showcase my favorite pretties.

On the top of the hutch I left the same white decorations I've had for most of the year.  The only thing I added was an extra light and my newly snowflake rag garland.  

One more thing undone, was making another floral arrangement (next to hutch), but time simply flies by so quickly.

For the dining table centerpiece, I placed my newly acquired super heavy round silver tray.  In the center I placed a hand blown glass hurricane (another thrifty find) and filled it with glittery ornaments.

The crochet table runner is a gift from Mom that she made about two years ago for me.

I had whitish chargers, but Hubby asked if I could change them.  I guess he got tired of the same look.

 On the left side of the hutch I placed some of our Christmas dinner dishes on the dish rack, and placed a collectible dish in front of each.  Each dish represents the year my two brothers and sister were born: 1967, 1971 and 1983...yes my baby brother was a very loved and welcomed oops baby!  He gets lots of teasing.

I am still searching to find my very own plate: 1962...yikes!  Years ago I found one, but I thought it wasn't too pretty; but now I want it...pretty or not. 

Here is a closer look at my hutch pretties.  The tatted doilies were a gift from my sister.  The blue dish (lower right shelf) represents the year Hubby and I got married - 1988.  The two covered dishes are a recent acquisition, which I simply love and the price was in my budget.

The sad thing is that our home was burglarized while we were in MN for the summer, and these ugly heartless people stole some of our vintage family heirlooms: a silver coffee, tea, sugar and creamer set.  Also the most heart breaking was Hubby's mother's silver napkin ring with her name and date of birth she received when she was born; plus a very pretty silver oval covered dish that belong to her family.

Well that's it, and I am so happy how it all looks.