Christmas Breakfast Tablescape

I wasn’t planning on this post, so it’s a mini, bonus-post if you will.  Those of you who follow me on Instagram saw a sneak peak of today’s post last week.  I was playing around, experimenting thinking about how I wanted the table to look Christmas morning.  So then I thought, while I’m at it, I’ll snap a few photos.  They aren’t amazing, because my baby was fussy and wanted to eat so I had her in one arm and the camera in the other and literally just snapped some quick photos, no tripod or fancy settings.

I think a large part of the joys of Christmas is traditions we hold dear.  Next to Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas breakfast was a favorite in our family.  My mom would cook up the most divine breads, eggs and fruit dishes and we would sit there with our goblets of sparkling cider on a table set for royalty, savoring the moment and each other.  We would often linger and just enjoy each other.  Breakfast came in between opening up our stockings and then the great exchange of gifts.  And we always loved the pause, the thankfulness, and the anticipation of how the morning would follow.  And strangely, we came to love the sick feeling the sparkling apple cider and sweet breads made us feel, because, after all, it became synonymous with Christmas.

So, I could do nothing less than bring those sweet moments of Christmas morning into our home.  I always get out my beloved blue and white Spode, the kids eyes sparkle in the candlelight, and tummies flip flop in anticipation with less  eaten that morning than any morning of the year.  But it’s a moment that I wish could be frozen a little longer year after year.

Because Christmas Eve is a flurry of activity and Christmas morning holds the delight of listening to squeals of joy, I like to have the table set the night before Christmas.  My preference is as little work as possible to be done Christmas day.  But, sometimes making a pretty table can take awhile to play with and get just right.  So I thought I’d play a little last week and practice so that I could quickly set it the night before Christmas.

I found these grain sack look, red stripe table runners at Target for $3 a piece.  I got three of them, hoping I could implement them with my Spode for Christmas morning without making anyone think Fourth of July.  So I kept the red to a minimum, and the key was fresh holly I found at the store (hopefully there will still be some fresh holly available this week).  The napkin rings were red grosgrain ribbon hot glued with Anthropologie ribbon from their bags hot glued on top.

I think it’s perfect, and it’s different than any tablescape I’ve done before, so I’m excited.

What traditions are you most looking forward to?

Merry Christmas!  Still more to come before Christmas…

Cheryl