haviland 12 days of Christmas plates

by | Dec 6, 2019 | All Things Home, Antiques, Decorating, Favorite Finds, Holiday, Winter | 55 comments

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First of all, I loved reading through all of the comments on Wednesday’s post!  I didn’t intend for it to happen, but everyone gave me great ideas for blog posts next year.  It sounds like many of you need simple decorating ideas, inspiration, and some solutions to dilemmas you’re facing.  I think I’m going to have to bring my Decorating Dilemmas post series back!

You have also taught me that not everyone follows me on all of the platforms where I post and, even if you do, you still miss a lot!  And all of my readers haven’t read all of my posts!  So, I’m going to make sure I’m spreading my content out more evenly and I’m going to dust off some of my old tricks for new posts and tutorials.  I’m really excited about it.

But today, I’m going to share a bit more about the vintage Christmas dishes I purchased this year.

I have been hunting for Christmas dishes that fit my color palette for years and I never found something that was just right.  I didn’t feel like I needed a full set with bowls and mugs, but just some plates that I could mix with our everyday dishes.

Everything I found was either too cartoony, too kitschy, too expensive, too red & green…just not right.  In my most recent Google search for blue Christmas dishes, I tripped across a 12-days-of-Christmas set made by Haviland through the 1970s and early ’80s.  The colors were perfect and I loved that they were whimsical, but not too kiddish.

I found a complete set on eBay in like-new condition for $100 and bought it!  There are oodles of complete sets, lots, and individual plates listed on eBay, starting as low as $3.99/plate.

I’m guessing the plates are intended to be displayed on the wall or in a cabinet, but they do not have a hanger or hole on the back, so they can be used as regular plates.  They are the size of a salad plate, so they are perfect to pair with other dishes.

And since these were made in the 70s, my birth year was included!

I paired my dishes with white, green, and blue since that’s what I use in my home, but there are lots of accent colors in the plates that could be mixed and matched with a variety of patterns and colors.

So you can see them all, here’s is a GIF of the complete set…

Aren’t they so pretty?

Do you use Christmas dishes?

 

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    55 Comments

    1. Ruby Sugar

      I love them! Blue (with touches of Aqua) are my colors and these dishes would be perfect! I stopped using my Christmas dishes years ago because of my change in color scheme (they are all still packed away in quilted dish storage containers). I have followed your blog for years and love everything you do!

    2. April

      These plates are the cutest! I thrift a lot and have never seen them before.

    3. Karen

      Thanks, Marian!
      I thought these looked French when I first saw your post. Love the colors! My Husband’s Grandmother gave us 10 Spode Christmas Tree Dinner Plates as a Bridal Shower gift. I never added more pieces to the collection – they always seem to be sold out anyway. I think they are so charming. I enjoy pulling them out each year so we can use them through the end of December.

    4. Betsy

      Your table setting is lovely! Johnson Brother’s had a set made in England, 12 days Of Christmas. It had some red and green but blue also. I have lots of blue in my house so I was thrilled to find Christmas plates that weren’t just red or green. They have a white background so it works with other patterns too.

      • MiMi Cooper

        I have that set also Betsy. I think I got it in the 80’s sometime and I still love it.

    5. Sarah Clark

      I recently found 6 dinner plates at the Habitat ReStore. They are Johnson Brothers “Frozen Up” pattern. They are good for holidays but due to the dominant color blue and snow scene, I’m planning to use them all winter! They were a delightful find.

    6. Sharon Rexroad

      These are so delightful! And yes, I collect dishes for Christmas – Johnson Brothers Old Britain Castles Pink Christmas with Green Tree. I mix and match them with my overall collection of Red/Pink transferware.

    7. Deanna Rabe

      Those are perfect for your home and style! What a great find!

    8. Lolly

      Wow, they are soooo pretty! I love them! And I love the color scheme in them!

      Soooo, we lived in Germany when newly married, and the military wives traveled across the border into Boleslawiec Poland, to buy Polish Pottery. I’ve been collecting pieces here and there since 1997….back when I could buy a dinner plate @ $1-2!!! So I have some plates, salad plates, mugs, and bowls in a few Christmas/Winter patterns, and then I have several bowls and platters in different winter patterns. (Polish Pottery is made to mix and match….which is 100% me, anyways, lol.) I add some here and there….I just love the pottery so much!

      I also have 12+ plates of the green transferware Burgenland, by Villeroy and Boch….they are German plates….and don’t match up with the patterns usually on google for that pattern. I love the green, and we do use them yr round, but with some red and/or green napkins, they look extra festive for Christmas.

    9. owen wood

      i love the dress you are wearing in your updated pic…it is beautiful….can you tell us about it ?

      • Karen

        I love your new picture holding your kitten, so pretty with your big smile and pretty dress !

    10. Debra J. Butland

      Marian,I also love your blouse/dress! Can you tell us about it? Thanks !

    11. Myra

      Love the dishes. They are beautiful. I do have Christmas dishes but they are red, green and white. I like them as well but we’re moving into a new house next year and I might have to switch colors.

    12. Rebecca

      I agree with Owen – love the updated profile pic! So approachable especially with the new kitten.

      Love the dishes also, but am so far past collecting stuff anymore, that I just like to watch other people’s collecting. The fact that they aren’t traditional red & green make them so much better.

      • Terry

        Rebecca I’m with you. Totally in the editing has ever of my life, living vicariously through these posts. Love it.

    13. Robin

      I love the green scalloped dishes. What are they? Along with the Christmas dishes, the setting is so pretty.

    14. Linda

      I also decorate with blue and using Christmas dishes was often a struggle color speaking. I have Waechtersbach Christmas Tree dishes, a set that I started, and my Grandmother’s. I have one set of my mother’s Pfaltzgraff Christmas patterns, Williams Sonoma Tartan, and an embarrassing amount of sets of salad plates to use in and out of the rotation. Also some BHG from Walmart. Old Johnson Brothers. A few years ago my husband got me the Fiesta Snowflake set from Macy’s which I use all through January…they all are mixed and matched with ironstone, crystal and milk glass. Hubby also got me a vintage sterling flatware set that is engraved with our initial which is always used during the holidays. It’s kind of frightening to list this all out…

    15. Addie

      Marian,
      I love all of your posts! Even if it is something I am not personally going to be involved in. I like to see what you are up to….like an old friend across the miles. So, keep doing what your doing!!! It is all interesting and fun to read about.

    16. Mary

      Lovely plates and the Kirk goes well with them. Makes a nice setting. The blade on the knife needs to be turned toward the plate, however, and it is done for two reasons: 1. If one were to inadvertently run their hand up by the knife it would get cut. 2. It is an aggressive move to turn the blade out. I’m a former home economics teacher and we used to teach these things in school. With home ec not being taught in schools any longer, properly setting the table is quickly becoming a lost art. There was a recent “challenge” about this on one of the news stations and ALL of the participants got it wrong! Don’t feel badly because you’re in good company. I enjoy reading your posts and look forward to hearing about your adventures. Keep up the good work!

      • Marian Parsons

        I’ve been told that before and I always forget and mix it up when I’m setting a table!

        • Cassandra

          When I was a little girl, I was taught that the blade faces the fork to protect the spoon from the fork. Talk about aggressive! But, it is ingrained in me, knife blade in, because I had a vivid imagination as a child.
          Love the settings.

    17. Cindy

      The ‘Christmas dishes’ that bring me joy are the old square ruby red. When my grandmother passed, her children opened up her home on the afternoon of her funeral, letting her 20+ grandchildren choose something. It was a lovely experience, amazingly peaceful and joyful. After everyone had left but my mom and aunt, and me, I realized her set of red dishes had not been taken. And I got to have them!!!! They are beautiful to me, I use them lots, and never fail to think of grandma and her love of vivid color.

      • Terry

        Cindy you were meant to have them!

    18. Cherylan

      I am so pleased with your witty mix of your sets. I am dish crazed! I try to give away sets and more spring up on their places. I live in Georgia which has a warmer climate than yours in Rochester MN. Each day with temps above 65 I am in the garage trying to get my dish Ed under control by sifting out parts I don’t think I will use and repacking in labeled totes the parts I want to use. Glass also. Inspired by your novel find!

    19. Debbie Nisson

      These are magnificent! My husband says I have a dish fetish. I have two different sets of Longaberger Christmas dinner plates that work with my plain Longaberger and a mix of amber depression glass dishes.

    20. Martha Weber

      I love your blue Christmas plates! They look exactly like what I envisioned. Thank you always sharing. It helps me … merry Christmas!

    21. Martha Weber

      I love your blue Christmas plates! They look exactly like what I would have envisioned. Thank you always sharing. It helps me … merry Christmas!

    22. Sheran Steading

      They are gorgeous! I began collecting Wachtersbach Christmas tree pattern dishes when my kids were small. I began with mugs and it grew from there: plates, bowls, pitchers, serving dishes, etc. I still love the simple tree design on the red plate!

    23. Bonnie

      Love the updated picture. Your recovery and rehab has you looking so refreshed–oh maybe its the sweet kitty.

    24. Rita

      These are lovely. I’ve always used basic white dishes since they go with everything. Recently I found some white Dover ironstone by Homer Laughlin.

    25. Elena M.

      Coming from a dish collecting maniac, I LOVE your new Christmas plates!! I also decorate my home in lots of blue, and for years I tried to find a blue set, but the only ones I found were those blue Delft plates that have a different scene and year collection, but those are very expensive. Yours match so beautifully with the green milk glass Pioneer Woman dishes you bought earlier. I have Johnson Brothers Old Britain Castles with the pink Christmas tree, Spode Christmas tree, Johnson Brothers Friendly Village, Sango Noel, and for everyday during the holidays I use dinner plates from Corelle called “Christmas” and I bought the matching original milk glass material mugs to match them on Etsy. I’ve given away two sets in the past years to make room for my new purchases. Is there a dishaholics anonymous meeting somewhere? I probably wouldn’t go anyway…

    26. Cynthia Johnson

      There just might be a run on these plates!! They are beautiful and timeless.

      Thanks for the share!
      Cynthia

      • Susan B

        I have Spode Christmas Tree which I have collected for years & have tons of place setting & accessories plus serving pieces & glasses. Enough for my two girls to split in half a long time from now (I hope!). I’ve used it with all kinds of colors & it just works always to make that wonderful tree pop! There are other colors in the gifts under the tree. I feel so lucky to have them! Plan to use from now til the end of January this season for a change!

    27. Charlotte

      I have read almost every post but I know I have at least read every post the last couple years when I subscribed to your blog. I enjoy seeing the email updates from you and reading about what you’re up to, your family, your projects. They bring a bit of decor sunshine to my day so don’t sell yourself short. I’ve enjoyed following you along and will continue to do so. Thank you!

    28. Jeannie

      Your table is very pretty. I love dishes! I use pfaltzkraft winterberry plates & mugs for December-February. I also have a set of pretty red dishes with curvy edges that I use with the winterberry.

      I really enjoy reading what you are up to. Hope you are feeling much better.

    29. Gayle

      Oh my goodness, I have Christmas china my mother bought me that I use every year. I’m trying to not buy and practice a more minimalistic life. These dishes are challenging my commitment!!

    30. Christy Keyton

      I have Lenox Holiday that I love. But recently I inherited a set of old Noritake nick named “Christmas Balls”. It was Noritake’s oldest running pattern discontinued in the 90’s. I found a full set in the attic while cleaning out my in-laws house. It is gorgeous!

      • Betsy

        Lucky you Christy on finding the Noritake china. I worked in the china area of a department store and sold those dishes. Every year it was displayed on a white damask table cover with gold flatware. In the center of the table they did an arrangement of gold leaf stems and cranberry tree balls. Everyone commented on that display and we sold many a place setting. My description did it no justice, it was stunning. merry Christmas to you.

    31. Caroline

      Beautiful, charming dishes! I also have a dish “fetish” and tend to accumulate Christmas dishes in particular. But I have a bad habit of saving and not using my pretty things. For the last several years, however, I have switched out our everyday dishes for a set of Christmas dishes, and I always get out special Christmas china for the actual Christmas Day dinner. My everyday dishes and several other sets of nicer china are all varieties of blue and white, but the Christmas dishes, all of the different sets, and the more typical red and green on white or cream. Just love dishes!

    32. Joyce

      Yes, I have Spode Christmas dishes. Love them!

    33. Ruth

      These are spectacular! I absolutely love them! And they fit your home so well! What a great find! I do have a set of Pfaltzgraf Christmas dishes that my mother-in-law bought me years ago. She has since passed, so they are extra special now.

    34. Kathryn Casey

      I originally bought a small set of Currier and Ives Royal China dinner plates thinking they’d make good “winter” plates. Then I fell in love with the collection. They are our every day dishes and feel especially right during winter. Funny thing about these dishes is I showed my husband (who doesn’t give a lick about decorating) a photo of your little tree with the candles and he pointed out your dishes on the wall, feigning shock that you don’t have Currier and Ives dishes. Have you come across them?

    35. Cheryl

      They are so beautiful ❄️? and so YOU!!

    36. Michele M.

      Oh, how sweet! Never saw those before.

      I have waaaaay too many Christmas china pieces. Just sayin. We all have our addictions.

    37. Kimberly Carnegie Bruhn

      I love Christmas. I wish I were more grown up about decor like you (at least that’s how it seems to me) but I love red, green…all the bright colors that come with the holidays! I have a very dressy set of Japanese dishes that are tartan (around the rim) and white and I just bought a super cute little set of dishes that have Scottie Dogs on them at a local estate sale…these two sets will play well with each other! I have other dish sets including the Waechtersbach Christmas Tree dishes that I will soon be selling…trying to learn from the lady’s predicament at the estate sale where I bought the Scottie dishes…if you don’t use it…pass it on to someone who will!

    38. Katie Mansfield

      They are beautiful. I’ve never seen them out antiquing. So pretty on your table. I picked up the Pioneer Woman Jadite cake stand today. I love it! Thanks for the inspiration.

    39. Linda

      To add to your observation about readership, I am a senior and ONLY read your blog via emails. I really enjoy them, but don’t look at facebook or instagram.

    40. DONNA

      Love the whole setting- but I REALLY love your new profile pic with the kitten. Your hair is lovely and the top you have on is so perfect for you too. ♥ I love how your style comes through in your clothing too- not just your home.

    41. Patricia Kasparian

      I think your new Christmas dishes are terrific!

    42. Valerene

      They are soooooo beautiful! Love from Malaysia.
      -Valerene-

    43. Christine Irvine

      Marian, these are perfect for you and your family! They’re lovely. I was considering doing a similar thing, but buying Norman Rockwell Christmas plates…the collector plates you hang on a wall or hutch…but using them as salad plates. I haven’t gotten around to it yet. But what I do have is my grandmother’s almost complete set of Homer Laughlin Currier & Ives (a winter scene). The dishes and teacups/saucers are of one type of winter scene and are very used and faded. The soup bowls are pristine. I also have a teapot, creamer and sugar bowl of a different winter scene…those are in good condition…and I take them out every Christmas. I love them, but funny thing is, I don’t remember her using them! Anyhow, it’s a nice connection to my past.

      Merry Christmas…happy to see you with one of your early Christmas presents, your kitty, and looking so well!
      Christine
      New Hampshire

    44. PC

      You betcha!! As the owner of several sets of holiday dishes, I love them and treasure where they originated. I plan on using my late mother-in-law’s set for Christmas Eve and my own are on the dining room tablescape. The other sets use for accent during the season. TG dessert is served on Christmas plates to kick off the holiday mood. This makes memories for children and grands forever.

    45. Janet

      Beautiful. Love the attention to detail and use of so many textiles. Would love to visit the store.

    46. Lisa

      Marian I love these plates! Do you know if they are intended to just be collectible plates or if they are food safe? Thank you and Merry Christmas @

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    Marian Parsons - Miss Mustard Seed

    I’m Marian, aka Miss Mustard Seed, a wife, mother, paint enthusiast, lover of all things home and an entrepreneur, author, artist, designer, freelance writer & photographer.  READ MORE to learn more about me, my blog and my business…

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