A Woodland Christmas Tablescape

Hi folks!  I'm so excited to join Kathleen, who blogs at Cuisine Kathleen for her Copycat Christmas Challenge.

The tablescape that I'm copying was posted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch last December, and you can find a picture of her table on Pinterest Here.  Susan called her post "Dashing Through the Snow," which is very appropriate for her tablescape.  Susan introduced us to these Better Homes and Gardens Christmas dishes, which she found at Walmart, last year for a steal really good price.  She was kind enough to let us know this fall that Walmart would carry the dishes again this year, so I got four place settings.  At that time, I couldn't find them in our local Walmart store, so I ordered them online.

Susan used just the salad plates with the sleigh picture on them, but I only had one of those, so my four salad plates each have a different pattern.  Here is Susan's table --

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...and here is my table.

This is the salad plate Susan used in her tablescape.  These are such pretty dishes (especially when they came out to around $3.50 each for eight plates, after tax and shipping).  Eight plates for less than $30 -- a veritable bargain.  :-D

I love this picture of the tree with snow on its branches and the sweet little rabbit.

I think these snowy owls are new since last year.

Love this deer and cardinal, too.

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 Instead of using the Better Homes and Gardens dinner plate that came with this set, Susan used a beautiful tartan plaid dinner plate.  I don't have any of those, so I used the dinner plates that came with the set.  I think they're really pretty and blend beautifully with the salad plates.  Susan also used chargers, and I used placemats.  I like the quilted placemats, and I thought this shade of green worked well with the dishes.  Isn't Susan's tablescape gorgeous?!

I did manage to get some of the napkin rings (which are actually Christmas ornaments) like Susan's at Walmart this year, but when I went back, all the sleigh ornaments that Susan used for place card holders were gone.  I didn't realize I'd be doing a table like hers, or I would have bought the sleigh ornaments the first time around. Susan and I both used the Hampton Forge "Sophia" flatware; hers have red handles and mine have ivory.  I also used plaid napkins and a beige cotton napkin similar to what Susan used.  I did sort of play up the tartan plaids in this post because I just love them, and I think they look so pretty at Christmas time.

Susan had two of these deer (or reindeer if you prefer), but I just have the one.  I couldn't resist giving him a spiffy tartan plaid bow.  ;)   I bought my deer a few years ago at a favorite local gift shop.  I went back after Christmas to get another one, but they didn't have a single one left in the store.  I also purchased these cardinals at the same gift shop, and I thought they tied in with the cardinal on the salad plate.

I saw these cute ornaments at Michael's last week and thought they would add a nice touch to the table and would also look good on our Christmas tree.  There were two styles of ornaments in this package; here's a look at the other one --

The day I got these at Michael's, all the ornaments and most of the Christmas merchandise was fifty percent off.  Works for me!

The red goblets are called "tartan etched stemware" and they came from Pier One this year.

Susan used a beautiful red sleigh to hold a live Norfolk Pine for her centerpiece.  I chose to use the small Christmas tree that normally goes in our kitchen.  For this centerpiece, I added real Nandina berries from our yard, and I used ornaments that reflect things found in nature for an outdoors look.  All the ornaments I already had from previous Christmases.  You can see our Christmas tree lights reflected in the glass of the china cabinet.  :)

I used several of these wheat ornaments, purchased many years ago on a trip to Seagrove potteries in North Carolina.

A tiny sweetgrass basket that we purchased on our trip to Charleston back in the spring, and a shiny mouse with a bunch of cherries.  :)

The burlap cone with the cardinal came from our local Wild Birds Unlimited store.

You can also see a little red bird feeder with real seed inside, a bird with French script, and a sparkly, glittery blue jay clipped onto one of the branches.  I have lots of bird ornaments for our big Christmas tree, because we love to feed and watch the birds at our house.

Susan used some beautiful greenery around her tree and deer, but I couldn't get that to work for me.  My table is not really symmetrical because I only have the one deer.  Instead of greenery, I used some pine cones and small gold balls instead of gold stars.

I also used some small woodland animals on my table to continue the outdoor, woodland theme found on the dishes.

There are no foxes on these dishes, but I found this little guy at Southport in October at the Christmas House.  You're actually getting kind of a sneak peek at my mantel, because I'll be doing a woodland theme for that again this year.

A little snowy owl that I used on the mantel last Christmas,

and a female cardinal, as well.

I wanted my table to have some sparkle to contrast with the rustic elements, so I chose a few sparkly ornaments for the tree, the shiny, gold ball ornaments to mix with the pine cones, and these tea light holders that I also found at Michael's last week.  I love the pattern on the outside and the way they reflect the light.

So that's my table folks.  I think it was a lot like Susan's in some ways, but different in others.  I know Mary at Home Is Where the Boat Is did a table last Christmas using these same dishes.  I wonder how many people Susan has inspired with these dishes and her tablescape?  :)

A few pictures of the rest of the room...

Even more tartan plaid -- this might be an obsession.  ;)  I posted about this Nativity set back in 2011.  My mom made it in her ceramics class years ago, and she gave it to me when we lived in Greensboro.  Our house there had a white mantel, and this showed up beautifully there.  I normally display this Nativity here at Christmas, but I also thought the Terra cotta finish went well with the outdoor feel of the table.

Many thanks to Susan for sharing your tablescape with all of us and for allowing me to use your pictures in my blog.  Special thanks go to my husband for patiently taking all these evening pics after a long, tiring day at work -- you're the best.

Thank you all for visiting me and please check out Kathleen's "Let's Dish" party tonight for lots more pretty Christmas tables.  I hope you have a great week!

Denise

I'm also linking to:
Tablescape Thursday, hosted by Susan at BNOTP
Home Sweet Home Party, hosted by Sherry

On The Table:
Dishes -- Better Homes and Gardens from Walmart
Flatware -- Hampton Forge "Sophia" from Target
Wine Goblets -- Pier One
Placemats -- HomeGoods or Bed, Bath & Beyond
Plaid Napkins -- Expressions, online
Plain Napkins -- Bed, Bath & Beyond
Napkin Rings -- Walmart
Green Ornaments -- Michael's
Table Top Christmas Tree -- HomeGoods
Tea Light Holders -- Michael's
Lantern -- HomeGoods
Woodland Animals -- Various Gift Shops