christmas

Simple Christmas Eve Table

If you're still working out what to do for your holiday table, I have a simple and affordable option for you that even has a built-in gift!


Life has been kind of hectic lately, which has me craving simple things at home- especially when it comes to decor. The simplicity of both the aesthetics and the effort involved made this the easiest table. Plus, when your meal is over, you can send each guest home with a plant that will last beyond the holiday season!


To create a similar table for yourself you'll need:

  • Loose pine branches (if you don't already have some, you can find branches for sale at home & garden stores, or even the grocery store)
  • Small plants
  • Assortment of old bottles (or any bottles you happen to have at home)
  • Skinny candles (available at most craft stores)

Start by transferring your plants from their plastic pot to a small jar. I used small mason jars which you can find in the canning section, if you don't already have some.

Next, create a base layer of pine branches, arranging them so they fan out on both ends of your table.

Now add the plants, placing them on top of the branches (or making room for them between the branches). Place the plants close enough together to create the runner effect.

Place the candles in the small bottles, and layer them in, varying the height of the bottles.

Clip a sprig of pine for each place setting and place on top of the the napkin.

Done!


Our Christmas Eve tradition is a simple pot of soup and some good bread- an easy meal that can be made ahead of time and enjoyed after the Christmas Eve service. Just set the table ahead of time, then dish out bowls of soup, pass around the bread and pour a festive drink.




Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you have a wonderful week!

a horstlee holiday

a few years ago my mister and i, my bestie (and former business partner at dear darling) melissa and her husby aaron, and their kids (well this is the first year with multiple kids) began a tradition of celebrating holidays together. though not usually on the actual holiday, we dubbed our celebrations 'horstlee holidays', and each time we gather we put our own unique stamp on holiday celebrations.

this year our christmas celebration ended up happening in mid january (darn those busy holiday schedules!) and we had a wonderful time together in the lee's home town of yakima.

usually, i'm so distracted by all the fun i forget about pictures, but i made a goal to take lots of them this year, so here's our day in photos...

we kicked things off with some delicious tacos and horchata from a local taco stand.

yum!

the mister, aka bill, enjoying tasty horchata

snuggles with one of favorite girls!

after lunch we got started on presents.

zula had lots of fun opening things this year!

what's inside?

helping daddy open his present...

and bill...

and mommy too! what a good helper!

this had to be staged since i had the camera when i opened it for real! 

cool

cuddles with mommy


reading her new book 

effi- what a darling

best pic ever! (taken by the mister, on accident)!
cute vintage card from the lee's to us

the inside- how awesome is that? 

vintage napkins that match my brushe dishes perfectly! melissa made them from a table cloth- she's so talented. 

biggest vintage lightbulb i've ever seen! (shown near a normal sized bulb so you can see just how big)!

zula made us a card this year- she's getting so big

of course, i couldn't resist taking some shots of the lee's always amazing home. they have such fun things and melissa changes things up frequently so it always looks fresh! you can follow all the happenings around the lee house on melissa's blog- re stock.


i realized after the fact that the ball jar was probably a water glass- not part of the decor!



melissa and i even had a chance to do a little vintage hunting together! thanks fellas for hanging out with the little ones!


melissa's finds

some of my goodies

and a few more (some of this will be in the shop soon)

after a few hours on the hunt, we returned home and made fancy drinks and a traditional horstlee dish- nachos! (our favorite).

fun drink supplies

nachos are an artform with us! so good!

the table was loaded with lots of vintage dishes, of course

zula even got her own fancy drink (sans the hard stuff)

before bill and i headed home, for the first time ever, we managed to take a group photo with everyone in it!! we had a little trouble with the timer, and i forgot a tripod, but we did it! i love these photos- so classically horstlee!








can't hardly wait for our next horstlee holiday!