The Table is Set...

I decided to set the Christmas Table today ready for lunch tomorrow...after all, it is the best part, right!!! Yesterday afternoon I made some paper ornaments to hang from the candelabra...I found the tutorial on How About Orange...they're so quick and easy and very effective. Who knew how handy that candelabra was going to be!!!

I bought some beautiful fabric from Ikea a couple of months ago to make a table cloth for Christmas Day. I love the subtle yet distinct design on it.

At each place setting I've put little boxes with an individual chocolate inside. These are just match boxes covered with pretty paper and tied up with a ribbon. Next year I'd like to make an Advent Calendar using the bigger style match boxes. They're a fun, cheap way of dressing up the table.

And a closer pic of the paper ornaments. I also had some strands of red ribbon laying around in my sewing room so I've draped those over the middle of the candelabra (how many times can one use the word 'candelabra' in a single blog post???).

Now I really do think this will be my last post before Christmas, so enjoy your day, embrace your loved ones at this special time and celebrate with family and friends!!!

Special Treasures...

I know I wasn't going to post again but I forgot to show you a few special things. I picked these ornaments up on sale last year for less than $1 each and found them hiding in the back of the linen cupboard last night. I now have them sitting on the dining table in this beautiful bowl that used to belong to my great aunty.

Glenn and I planted a couple of hydrangeas on the weekend and this morning I discovered that our lovely little pup, Lola had obviously jumped up onto the plant and broken this little beauty off...so it now lives in a glass on the dining table too!!!

I've been wanting some sort of chandelier/candelabra to go above our dining table for a while now and found this one about a month ago at our local Bed, Bath and Table store. The price was heavily reduced...so much so that I had to ask if it was broken!!! Lucky for me, it wasn't so I bought it and Glenn hung it on the weekend. Now I just need some candles for it and it will be all ready for Christmas Lunch!!!

Oh Christmas Tree...

Our Christmas tree has been up since the 1st of December so I thought some photos were in order.

I was at Ikea last month and they had some beautiful Christmas wrapping and decorations. I decided to go with a red, blue and white colour scheme for wrapping this year. And the Christmas table will be decorated in red and white.

Our poor old Christmas tree is looking rather wonky. I would have loved a real tree but Glenn isn't too keen on the idea. I'm thinking next year I'll pot some sort of conifer and bring that inside.

Since this will probably be my last post before Christmas, enjoy your Christmas Day and have a safe and Happy New Year !!!

Dough Ornaments...

I was inspired when blog surfing the other day to make some dough ornaments with the kids. We painted them yesterday after school and the kids have given some to their school friends for Christmas. We're also going to put one at each place setting on Christmas day for our guests to take home and hang on their tree. Simple and sweet!!!

Dinner Party...

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted. I've had an afternoon of baking/cooking today...some banana muffins for the freezer using my favourite recipe.



A delicious Creamy Caramel Fudge that is still setting at the moment. Can't wait to chop into it and try some...the mixture was delicious!!!!! It's actually a microwave recipe that a friend gave me and it's so easy. And because it's very sweet and rich, I'll chop it into small cubes so should get quite a bit out of this tray.

And lastly, some minature chocolate meringues. We're having a few friends over for dinner tonight so for dessert I'm making a warm chocolate sauce to dip these little meringues into, as well as some strawberries and marshmallows (for the kids)!!!

We're bbq'ing a butterflied lamb leg and some veal and chicken sausages. And I'm making a warm potato salad with mustard dressing and a rocket, pear and goats cheese salad. Will try to remember to take some photos of the salads.