One Tablescape For Two Holidays: The REVEAL

 

Hello everyone.

Before I begin this week’s post I want to send my sincerest condolences to those suffering from the horrific fires in California. The amount of devastation is mind blowing and I can’t imagine how tragic it would be to lose your home and everything in it; or worse, lose a pet or loved one. My prayers go out to those hurting. I know, each night as I slip into my clean comfortable bed, safe and sound, I feel extreme gratitude for the ‘normalness’ of my life. It’s difficult to talk about the fluffy things like holiday décor when there is so much tragedy. Nevertheless, when bad things happen in the world I feel there are two important things I can do to the best of my ability. First, keep working, loving and contributing in a positive way to my community, family and friends. Secondly, contribute time or money to the organizations best equipped to help those in need. Here are a few links to organizations actively helping victims of the California Wildfires. If it is in your ability to do so, please consider donating. Also, for those who shop on Amazon, you can participate in the Amazon Smiles program which gives a percentage of your purchases to approved charities of your choice.  There are MANY organizations out there doing good, I have chosen a few that I know to be reputable and hard working.

 

The Red Cross (give in general or specifically to the California Wildfires Fund) at Redcross.org

California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Relief Fund at calfund.org

The Salvation Army feeds and gives out gift cards to those displaced by the fires. To donate to the Northern California (Butte County) go HERE and for Southern California (Ventura County) go HERE

The Humane Society of Ventura California is taking domestic animals and livestock affected by the wildfires. You can donate at hsvc.org

Go Fund Me has several funds for the victims of Northern and Southern California wildfires (separately), as well as funds for animals, first responders, and schools affected by the fire. You can read about these funds and donate at gofundme.com/cause/californiafires

 

You can research an organization’s legitimacy and effective utilization of donations before you give at www.charitynavigator.org. 

 

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OKAY – now back to the subject at hand.

 

As many of you know, this 2 for 1 Holiday Tablescape has been a BIG work in progress. First I gathered ideas for the style of my tablescape; you can revisit that post HERE.

 

Next, I worked on the smaller details like linen napkins and name card holders. You can head back to that post HERE or the YouTube video HERE. Don’t Forget! If you are A Crafty Composition subscriber, you can download the cool mushroom botanical name card template.

 

 

The DIY Tablescape box wasn’t part of my original plan but I’m so glad I did it. I absolutely love it. I can easily move my entire table décor to dust and then put it back just as it was. There’s also an unexpected benefit of the tablescape box – it’s much easier to light the candles when I can slide them to the edge of the table. This project went together in a few hours and was ridiculously affordable to make (except for the new table saw my hubby purchased :-0). I put together a quick printable instruction sheet for that project should you want to make one for yourself.

 

CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE DIY TABLESCAPE BOX INSTRUCTIONS

 

Also, if you haven’t already checked it out, here’s my YouTube video explaining the tablescape box (spoiler alert – it shows the finished product)

 

CLICK HERE FOR TABLESCAPE BOX YOUTUBE VIDEO

 

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This week I finished my last two small projects; napkin rings and two candle holders. After that, it was finally time to put the whole thing together.

The napkin rings . . .

are super simple. Just braid three 10″ long strands of cord and slide on some beads . . . you can pretty much follow the pictures. The only additional supplies needed are a bit of E6000 glue to hold your knots and some patience. I did color my larger wood bead with a marker to get the blue color – pretty much any type of marker will do as the wood just absorbs the color.

The candle holders . . .

are also a quick project. I used simple votive glass candle holders – about 6″ tall. I cut botanical patterns out on vinyl with my Silhouette Cameo machine. If you don’t have a Silhouette or Cricut, just trace a non-intricate pattern (from a book or the internet) onto the back of a roll of vinyl and cut them out with scissors or an craft knife. Peel back the vinyl backing and stick the shapes onto the outside of your glass vase. Give them a good rub to make sure the shape is completely stuck down. Turn the vase upside down in a cardboard box and spray with metallic spray paint. Use a sweeping motion; starting at the bottom of the vase, move towards the rim, getting lighter with your spray as you get closer to the top of the vase. Allow to dry and then peel off the vinyl shapes.

 

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And finally, without further ado, here is THE ONE Tablescape for both Thanksgiving AND Christmas (and New Years too – why not?!)

 

 

I love the woodland theme and the splashes of color; mostly oranges, purples and whites along with lots of faux ferns and succulents.

 

I spray painted some little woodland creatures purchased in the toy section of Michaels.

 

 

Can you see the little bunny peeking out?

 

 

I LOVED working with the tablescape box. And an unplanned bonus – I can pull the arrangement to the edge of the table to light the candles. So much easier!!

 

 

One of the great things about this type of arrangement is you can use small bits left over from other floral arrangements. I only purchased my main pieces of foliage and then filled in with leftovers.

 

 

And here’s the whole shebang. Looking back, I think the only thing I would do differently are the napkins. Embroidering them was time consuming and in the end I liked them better plain. Lesson learned.

 

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Well thanks so much for indulging me through this rather large project. I do believe I’ve gotten it out of my system. From now through the end of holidays I’m going to be working on small, simple crafts for gifts and stocking stuffers. You know, every once in a while I take something big like this tablescape project on. Although I’m glad I did it and I’m thrilled with the results, I forget that the most enjoyable crafts are the simple ones. I’ll be heading back in that direction next week.

I wish you all a fantastic week full of Fall splendor. Don’t forget to take a moment to appreciate the sweet still moments in your life and as always,

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