I set a lot of fancy tables for photo shoots, but to be entirely honest, I’m much more of a paper plate and lap trays kind of hostess.  I do love pulling out my fine china, linens and silver, but I don’t do it very often (to actually eat on, anyway.)  Our gatherings usually involve football, teenagers and/or small children, so they’re pretty informal.  We’re hosting Christmas this year, so I decided to set a pretty table for my family.  This table is totally different from ones I set up for shoots.  It’s simple, with mismatched chairs and a stained tablecloth that was given to my grandmother as a wedding present.  I’m using my mother’s wedding china and a silver pattern that has been collected by three generations of women in my family.

Gray linen napkins are rolled in mismatched silver napkin rings.

I love the inscription on this one.  I bet Roberta E. Perron never would’ve guessed that her napkin ring would travel from Brooklyn, NY to an antique shop in Petaluma, CA and back to the east coast in my suitcase to be used at a Christmas dinner in Gettysburg, PA.

I’m sure I’m using the wrong fork in the wrong place for the wrong course, but who really cares.  (Well, I have had someone tell me that my knives were facing the wrong way and I would never be taken seriously as a designer if I didn’t know the proper way to position a knife in a table setting, so obviously some people care…)

I’m pulling out some of the fun pieces in my silver collection as well like the salt cellars.

This Christmas table is a great example that entertaining doesn’t have to be elaborate.  You can have a pretty table simply by using pretty things.  I’m using mostly family pieces, but a lot of my linens, silver and china were acquired in thrift stores and yard sales as well.

Tomorrow is about cooking, wrapping and getting ready for the family to show up bright and early on Christmas morning.  I’ll also probably give my office a bit of attention.  Am I the only glutton for punishment who decided to rearrange furniture and rip a room apart two days before Christmas?  Maybe I’ll just close the door and deal with it later.  Yeah, that’s sounding pretty good right about now…