dinner in december

I thought i would share a few pictures from a recent dinner party at our home...

mimi's glass

the idea of wilted garland above our often used fireplace closer to Christmas Day made me sad, so i decided to use my grandmother's old fashion glasses and fill them with tea lights.
Plus, i am trying to simplify clutter in my life recently (thank you, garage sale) and this did the trick.

Using clear floral tape, i attached tiny bud vases to the legs of our chandelier. then, i used a syringe to fill them with water and each a small white rose. that idea just popped in my head and decided to try it. i did get a few compliments, so i suggest you try it. ahhhem, i also was complimented on my beautiful gold leaf chargers....$5 at Target...

i broke out our china (no, not "broke" which did happen once when our electrician knocked over the whole china cabinet), bernardaud elysee pattern, and after 3 years i still adore it! this is a photo of the breakfast room table needed for guest overflow from our dining room table.

(Below) my sweet mama found these elk figures and i thought they would look more unique than just using the typical flower arrangement as the centerpiece (they would also be perfect later as bookends). the place cards, if you can see them, were made with card stock, folded, then each person's first initial was added with a sticky gold letter peel off. then a fake sheer leaf hot glued in the corner (all from a local scrapbook store i had stored away-the store has since closed).

here's the real story....

So, I decided to host a holiday dinner party at our home last week. i sent out invitations to a few couples that we have been meaning to have to our home for some time. i would do the decorating and he would cook. THEN, i informed my husband. why i do these things i know not. he is an excellent cook, so i assumed he would be more than happy to cook for a group of 12. well, that wasn't exactly the case. so, we decided to go the sandra lee route. picked up the meat from kuby's, stole the potato casserole secret from the cooks at my parent's farm in MS, ripped the green bean recipe from a magazine, and shopped at festive kitchen for the chocolate chip pecan frozen cookie dough to bake for dessert. whew!

All of the food was prepared ahead of time (since it was the first week in Dec I didn't feel obligated to have everything decorated for Christmas quite yet)so that Tommy and I would have a chance to mingle with our guests. the group didn't exactly know one another ahead of time, per say, but it ended up being a blast thanks to semi-homemade cooking and the simple decor. oh, and it ended up being 30 degrees, so a warm pinon wood fire added a beautiful touch!


The moral of the dinner party story is preparation in advance makes for happy hosts and a more entertaining party all together. I am all about budgeting my dinner parties as well--we used a bouquet of flowers and broke it up into a few smaller arrangements, using garland and greenery from the yard. I also used my crafting materials from other leftover craft projects. i have a few boxes full of supplies(or junk)--i will save my organization tips for that another day!

PS-a new camera is in the works for Christmas, so stay tuned for crisp pictures....