Christmas Dinner Table

Before I share some photos from our most recent adventure, I want to take you back to Christmas and share some photos from the table we set for Christmas dinner. We were blessed to share Christmas with ten friends, and I made the most of the opportunity to play Martha Stewart.

I am quite pleased with how the centerpieces turned out. The candlesticks were wedding gifts perfectly suited for a Christmas celebration. For the larger pieces, I simply filled hurricane glasses with a little sand, a pillar candle, and either jinglebells or wine corks. Now, even though the holidays have passed, I'm finding it difficult to put away these centerpieces.

These Fostoria dishes have been in my family since the early 1900s, both loved and hated by many. It only takes a moment to look at the dishes sparkling in the sun to know why my grandmother cherishes these dishes. And, after spending several hours washing all of these by hand, I have a pretty good idea why other members of my family hate them.

I think George did an excellent job folding the napkins in such a fancy pattern. Expecting a rectangle fold, I'd asked him to iron and fold the napkins, never dreaming that he was so talented with a square of cotton and a hot iron.

The new table, sideboard, and chairs are wedding gifts that have made big impacts in our kitchen. It's so nice to be able to host larger groups and to be able to store the kitchen items that do not fit in our other cupboards.

Sadly, I was so busy pulling food out of the oven and enjoying our friends on Christmas Day that I managed to completely fail to take a single picture of the festivities. Ugh.