Nothing says Merry Christmas like driftwood

You had to know these were coming...  Thanks to my friend Carrie Parente for the inspiration! 

Project completed, finally.

Here are the before and after shots of the sad little table I fell in love with at an estate sale in the fall. It was in a dark corner of a dirty garage and it was in need of a make over. The original paint was a light yellow and the beveled glass top was clouded with years of grime, but otherwise in very good shape.

I think every room can use a touch of black, and I love the hint of Asian flair this brings to a traditional space. I purchased the table for $15 and used three cans of spray paint to bring it up to speed. Building on the original yellow base color, I sprayed a reddish coat lightly over it. Then, a coat of black spray paint. I rubbed, and sanded and buffed to expose all three colors and when I was satisfied with the look, I sprayed a clear coat for a little shine.

Setting a holiday table, on a budget

It's time to get festive. I'm having some friends for a holiday dinner party and wanted to set a beautiful table, but wanted to spend money on filet mignon and good wine and not on decorations! I started looking around my house, thru my craft bins, and extra holiday decorations to pull together a nice table scape. I only spent a few bucks, and made things work on a budget. Dollar store, thrift shop, craft store, and TJ Maxx came thru for some glitz and my 16 year old china from my wedding registry is making an appearance from the dark storage closet just in time to celebrate old friends this Christmas.

Here is how I layered the parts to make a whole.  Here is my glass dining room table.  I don't love it, never really have loved it, , but I will hide it and dress it up to look lovely for a dinner party.

 First, I layered a plastic table cloth - picnic style - to cushion the hard, unforgiving glass. 

 Next, a large, round, plain white table cloth.  Basic cotton restaurant style.

 Okay, the table cloth was wrinkled.  Here is my cheat - I love this stuff.  The cloth had been cleaned and folded last time I used it, but I obviously didn't fold it very carefully.  I use Downy wrinkle releaser to freshen the fabric and it magically removes the wrinkles!  No iron needed!

 The next layer is a roll of wide metallic mesh I picked up on clearance from Hobby Lobby a few years back and never had the occasion to use it. 

 I'm only serving six adults at this dinner party.  For each place setting, I started with a plastic, metallic place mat I purchased at Target years ago for just a few bucks for the whole lot of them.  They have the look of a charger, but are super cheap and super easy to clean up after spills and drips of a yummy dinner and store in your drawer. 

 I'm mixing silver and gold, white and cream on this table.  On top of the gold place mat, I stacked a silver charger.  These were dollar store finds. Dollar Tree, baby!

 These beautiful bowls were my inspiration for this table setting.  They are a pair of metallic sculptural bowls from TJ Maxx.  The smaller one was $15 and the larger one was $17.  I think they are amazing.  At a round table, I like a relatively low center piece.  This way, my guests can see each other and converse without the obstruction of a huge floral display.

 Here is my old wedding china - Lenox - which I use almost never.  Also, I folded the napkin old school - just so I didn't have to iron it!  The silver is repeated in the charger, flatware and napkin ring.  The gold is repeated in the rim of my china, the place mat, and the gold mesh.  It all mixes and matches and looks cohesive.

 No cash for fresh flowers at this time of year - I'd rather upgrade the menu.  Instead I used lots of fun things to make a cheap and interesting center piece.  A disco ball, gold lame poinsettias, gold glitter balls, and some glittery twigs.  The candle sticks are from Dollar Tree.  I decided to use low water glasses - no stems, and my guests will bring their wine glasses to the table from the kitchen where we will have had appetizers.  I can't wait.

This is a shout out to my friend, Christine Morse, who is battling breast cancer.  I am excited to entertain her and her husband to celebrate her completion of a difficult 6 months of chemotherapy and to gather for the holiday season!  I can't wait!