Round 2, better known as the entertainment round, of Dare to DIY is upon us. The challenge was to DIY something for your table. This was a bit of an undertaking since we’ve never actually set a formal table before, gasp. It’s true y’all. If we are entertaining a lot of people, we go big time and pull out the paper plates. Classy. (Actually it’s more like I’m too lazy to clean that many dishes.)
What exactly did we DIY on this table despite the fact that putting a table together was a challenge in itself? The pink polka dot napkins, the decoupage ornaments, and the book page Christmas trees.
For the rest of the centerpiece, we moved our gold deer from the living room but set them towards the end, so you can still have a conversation with the people across the table. You already know we love to put domes on things. We found the wood charger and dome at World Market. We didn’t go too untraditional by putting our Schoolhouse Electric house under it.
We cleaned out the hutch with grandma’s milk glass bowl and our cracked cake stand. (If you clicked on that link just know those elf guys were originally going to be under our dome. Sadly they didn’t want to sit up right. Nothing says Merry Christmas like creepy vintage elves staring at you while you eat dinner.)
We have 3 runners made from IKEA wrapping paper. We are no strangers to using wrapping paper unconventionally (see the background of our Christmas cards last year…wrapping paper). I guess the part of me that loves paper plates also loves disposable tablecloths. Seriously think about all the awesome wrapping paper out there that you can put to good use to set a table. Possibilities are endless.
*Excuse the sideways forks. Ramona desperately wanted to get at this table, and I thought I had it all straightened out after she rearranged it. Never underestimate a toddler’s sneaky ability to touch things just 1 more time.
Here’s the run down on the place settings:
Gold charger – Walmart (98¢ a piece)
Gold Rimmed Dinner Plate – West Elm
Green Salad Plate – Crate & Barrel Outlet
Pink Polka Dot Napkins – World Market meets Amber’s DIY skills (inspired by these…tutorial here and here)
Gold Flatware – One Kings Lane from our anniversary (similar here)
It just so happens that our give THANKS project works together nicely with the newly set Christmas table. I know a lot of you told me to leave it up anyway, but it’s great that it actually works with the space.
There you have it friends our first attempt to set a table like grownups. Weird for a couple that insists on having a formal dining room. (Just to clarify, I will still be using paper plates when we have our Christmas party. I don’t know why I bother buying place settings for 12. Someone explain.)
Make sure to check out all the Dare to DIY projects up on our hosts’ blogs: Decor and the Dog, Newly Woodwards, Maybe Matlida, and Two Twenty One.
it looks AWESOME! i am so glad i found your blog through the last dare to diy…. LOVE your style and ideas!
Aww, how sweet Cassie! Thanks for the kind words!
LOVE the napkins!! Very Kate Spade-esque. I had pondered doing something like that and then realized I would make a giant mess. Yours are beautiful though. Thanks for joining the Dare to DIY again!
That’s exactly how Nick described them! It was way more of an undertaking that I originally thought, but I’m still glad that I did it. Obviously I would not have if someone hadn’t dared me, so thank you again for hosting!
Great job, it is absolutely beautiful, as always!
Thanks Laurie! You probably couldn’t see, but we have 2 ornaments that say Eric and Laurie on the table. Surprise you’re invited to our make believe Christmas dinner. Seriously though we will have a paper plate for you at the 2nd Annual Wills Sing-a-long. 😉
WOW this looks so awesome!! Holy moly. Love everything. The deers, the polka dots, the pink, the green rimmed plates. YUM!
Thanks! I think it’s the first time a room in our house has looked finished! Maybe someone needs to dare me more often.
Ummm, wow! Your table is so beautiful! I want your flatware and I LOVE those napkins you DIY’d! Oh and wrapping paper as a table runner? Genius!
Thanks Caitlin! I’ve been wanting to bust out that flatware since May, so I’m glad I had an excuse! The napkins were quite the undertaking, but they are worth it.
I love pink and gold together! Great job!
Thanks! I wasn’t sure how it would all come together since you usually see a softer pink with gold, but it worked!
This looks so pretty. I love the kraft paper with the pink and gold. Just lovely. And I’m also really digging the book page tree. So cute! Also, such a clever idea to add the deer at the ends of the table.
Thanks so much for linking up to Dare to DIY! It looks amazing.
Thanks! The book trees were Nick’s contribution. I was polka dotting napkins while he put those together. Ramona was getting playdoh everywhere, so we decided maybe we should stop crafting and parent our child before she destroyed the rest of the house. 😉
Can I just say that, aside from loving your tablescape, I am totally and completely mesmerized by your first picture and fancy pants graphics! Can’t take my eyes away …
Linda
Haha Linda. That would be my husband’s doing. It was pretty funny to set the table piece by piece while he stood above me on a ladder. Be warned we are typically not this fancy…in our graphics or our tablescapes. 😉
You’re awesome. I LOVE the table! The book page trees are way cool (I’ve been wanting to make some, too!), I love the little scattering of pinecones, and especially the unconventional color choices. You did a fantastic job . . . I really really love it!
Thanks Rachel! You are so sweet. We were both tearing some books up this weekend. I guess we need to go make a donation to our local library to offset our book murder…I mean crafting.
it looks great! I have determined from looking at blogs about christmas decorating today that everyone has gold reindeer except me, and I am so jealous ;). But, yeah, love it! love the gold flatware!
The gold reindeer are epic enough to stay out all year long. We found them at an antique store for super cheap, so here’s to hoping some fall into your lap as well!
I love your tablescape! I especially love that rather than being match-y match-y, it’s creative and unique. I love the use of the wrapping paper as runners – and that the runners run across the table rather than down it. Excellent job!
It’s easy to break the rules when you have no clue what you are doing! 😉 We had to pull from all over the house so that helped keep it from being match-y match-y. We hoped we could mix the high (west elm plates) with the low (Walmart chargers) and pull it off. Thanks for making them think I actually did!
Love the pink and gold color combination…wouldn’t have thought of that! Just beautiful.
Thanks! We figured we would do pink since the chairs are pink. Then we just have a ton of gold accessories hanging around.
It all looks so pretty! I would never have guessed that you’ve never set a proper table before–you fooled me! And so smart on the wrapping paper…hmmmm…
Awesome! All my tablescape recon didn’t go to waste then!
Stopping by via the Dare to DIY challenge – I LOVE your table! Especially the way you used wrapping paper for the three runners! So cool!
Thanks so much Emily! It was thought up mainly out of desperation since I couldn’t find a decent runner solution, but it made sense. So we ran with it! Thanks for stopping by.
such an amazing look! i want to come to your house for dinner!
(also – the animation at the beginning is fantastic!)
You’re officially invited for dinner! …… But only because you called my animated gif fantastic
I love the pink and green for Christmas – so fun. Everything is just so tasteful and gorgeous. Please don’t let your beautiful brass deer jump off the edge of the table though. He has so much to live for!
P.S.: The gif before-and-after image is brilliant! I’m totally copying that. I hope you’re okay with that.
The deer has been going to counseling, and we really think he’s making good progress…
I don’t know about the gif being brilliant…. Ok you can call it briliant… Thanks for stopping by!
Gorgeous! Those napkins are amazing!!!
Thanks Ashley! Amber really killed it with those bad boys!
Love your table…it all came together perfectly. I may be borrowing your idea of using wrapping paper on the table. Genius!
That one was all Amber. I thought it was genius too when she told me her idea. Thanks for popping in!
I love your table setting! It’s so fun! Thanks so much for popping by my site the other day!
Thank you! A pink Christmas is certainly fun. It’s also completely different from all our past (very traditional) Christmases, so we are finding ourselves in the midst of a Christmas overhaul. It’s been fun though! Thanks for stopping by!
Your post was spotlighted today at NewlyWoodwards.
Awesome Kim! It’s almost 10:30, and I haven’t made it to my reader yet! Thanks for the heads up and more importantly thanks for the spotlight! I shall enjoy my 5 minutes. 😉
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