Following hot on the heels of our Christmas Living Room decorating challenge, Tesco had a second idea; how about we Dress the Christmas Table too?
This is a paid collaboration with Tesco, who have compensated me for sharing with you the new season’s range. All product choices, opinions, reviews and photography are my own. Also contains affiliate links.
Same rules as before – we had to use Tesco Christmas decorations only, and make a room that was simply magical.
Only this time, we weren’t feeling so hesitant about how magical we could make a room look with just a tiny budget and some supermarket accessories.
We knew we could make it look magical.
So we did…
I think we did okay, right?
*smug face*
It looks so damned Christmassy, doesn’t it? I LOVE it!
I know we’re lucky to have a separate dining room – but no matter where you eat your Christmas dinner, unless it’s on your laps (hey, no judging, you do you…) then you’ll be thinking about how to Dress The Christmas Table.
And I think we can all agree that just a few items from Tesco have made it absolutely gorgeous – all it needed was some Carols playing quietly, and a sifting of snow starting outside!
The candlesticks, cutlery and napkin rings are our own (they’re actually some of those we scooped up on eBay for our silver wedding anniversary party a couple of years ago). But that’s the point – you don’t need to spend a fortune on loads of new things; what you do buy, choose carefully, and re-use what you have. If you don’t have candlesticks you probably have some votives for tealights, or just keep a couple of your used jam/marmalade jars over the next couple of weeks.
The Tree
This is the same tree we used in the Christmas Living Room – the 6ft Luxury Cone & Berry Tree; it was £50, but is now on offer at just £35.
It has a decent stand, and the tree branches are bracketed to make putting it up super-easy. It fluffs out perfectly, and the branches are stong enough for the ornaments, too. The cones and berries add a really nice depth of colour – totally recommend, not sure you can beat it for that price.
Only this time, we didn’t spend ages choosing individual ornaments. Oh no.
That gorgeous tree has simply been hung with the one single pack of 50 baubles for £5.
One bag of cheap baubles! And it looks ace! The pack even includes a star topper.
You just cannot go wrong when you keep it simple – white lights and silver baubles are always elegant, and it doesn’t matter that they’re plastic and cheap; they shine and sparkle, and look beautiful.
The lights are also half price – the box of 200 warm white LEDs are just £12. So that’s the entire tree, fully dressed, for just £52. And once you’ve bought it once it’ll last years.
The Table
The table was so simple to put together – and yet looks so beautiful.
Base layer, believe it or not, is a disposable tablecloth. Yep – that gold damask edged cloth is just paper. Doesn’t it look great?
On top of that is the scarlet table runner. Which is not paper – it’s a heavy cotton fabric, and the decoration is actually embroidered, believe it or not. It looks so luxurious (there are fir trees at each end, and in the middle is a seasonal message), it totally lifts the table into something properly swish.
The placemats are Tesco’s new Cotswold range – and they’re super-lovely. A gentle snowy English scene, with rabbits admiring the Christmas Tree in the Village Square. They’re just £5 for a pack of four, and I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if someone told me they were £20.
Napkins are also from the disposable tableware range in the same gold damask range as the tablecloth (napkin rings our own) – Tesco has a huge range of Christmas napkins from cute childish animals and Father Christmas with Snowmen to these stylish quieter designs. All are just £1.50.
For the kids these Christmassy Initial tumblers are gorgeous – perfect for avoiding the risk of a stemmed glass, but still special enough to not spoil the looks of your gorgeous table. And they’re just £3.50, with almost every letter of the alphabet available (no X or Q, I believe)
We used the fabulous Fox & Ivy Jardin wineglasses we had for our Dinner Party a few weeks ago – £15 for four. I still love them. They’re still so pret-tt-yyy.
Dressing the Dining Room
Once again, it’s always in the smaller details that you can lift something ordinary into something really special. You can’t tell, but this is a rather ugly little mantelpiece. We used the wooden Noel sign (£6), and strung the battery-powered set of warm white fair lights messily along – and it’s so effective.
You could add in some ivy foraged from the local wood, or some small silver tree ornaments or baubles. Or maybe you have nativity characters or small ornaments – scatter them through the lights, they’ll look adorable.
And finally we plopped Mr Magnificent the Stag onto the table to preside proudly over the proceedings. He’s just plastic. He’s just £5. But he’s taller than a wine glass, and has won all of our hearts (you can see the emboidery of the end fir trees of the table runner under his feet).
Crackers
Okay, I’ll admit we splashed out on the crackers here, basically because I couldn’t resist the look of these luxury ones, and knew that they’d look amazing on the table. These were £10 for six – but you can get a box of 12 for £4, and they’ll still look lovely when they’re laid out.
But really, any crackers look good – they’re all a little sparkly, just pick the colours that best match your setting (and your budget). Everyone expects the cracker hats to be made of rubbish coloured tissue paper, the ‘gifts’ to be terrible, and the jokes to be groan-worthy. That’s pretty much the point, right?
And there you have it. So – go you; Dress The Christmas Table into something amazing this year.
And the point is not for you to run out and buy ALL the things. Just take a look at what youj normally do, and see if there’s some small way you can add a little extra detail to make it really sparkle with magic this year.
(top tip – lay the table the night before, when you have time and are feeling relaxed. It doesn’t have to be another thing to do on Christmas Day.)
Tesco items featured:
- 6ft Luxury Cone & Berry Tree: It’s sturdy, dense and looks fabulous with just a few baubles and lights. Reduced from £50 to £35; Available in store.
- 200 multifunction warm white lights: Buy them online or in store, reduced from £24 to £12 (the 100 Warm White Battery Lights – £5 – are also on that page, and they come with batteries).
- 50 pack decorations – reduced to £5. We used silver, but there’s red and gold options too. Available in store, or Buy them online here.
- Merry Little Christmas table runner – in store only.
- Jardin Wine Glasses: so elegant, crystal glass with big wide bowls and slender stems. Look spectacular with wine in! There’s also a smoked ‘lustre’ version which I am lusting over. Buy them online or in store, £15 for 4!
- Initial Glass Tumblers: These look far more special in real life – the gold shines, and the scarlet of the santa hat really glows. They’re £3.50 each, and we love them a LOT (and we have bought them for our teens – they often prefer juice to wine, and these are just so lovely)
- Cotswold Place mats: Just rather special. And at £5 for a pack of four, just buy them (instore only). Matching Coasters £2.
- Christmas Gold Damask Disposable Tableware: All available instore and online, along with a gazillion other designs. Available in store, or Buy online here.
- ‘Mr Magnificent’ the Gold Stag: No, he’s not really called that, don’t go searching on `tesco for Mr magnificent he won’t come up! But you can buy your own version – £5 – online with some of Tescos decorations. In store or Buy it here – every kitchen needs one.
- Luxury Red Glitter Christmas Crackers – £10 for 6. There are plenty of others available right now, including the £4 for 12 designs. Try and get a contrasting colour to your general scheme, they’ll really pop. Buy online here.
FIND IT AT TESCO…
To find out where you can purchase any of the Christmas decoration products featured, check Tesco here
Some of the smaller products are available online with your grocery shopping (links above), and the rest can be found in selected Superstores and Extras, subject to availability.
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