Okay, I have serious issues.
Because what I was supposed to be doing was this: putting away Christmas decorations. And I did do that (hmm…for the most part). But when I got to my Christmas Table Decor, and I started putting away the holiday plates, and the glass Christmas trees, and anything else directly related to Christmas, what I had left on the table looked….well, quite pretty.
And a little idea started forming.
A little decorating idea.
I needed a tablescape for January! Something wintery and woodsy and whimsical. Something to bring the frost indoors. A table that could last me until the Valentine’s Day Decor came out of boxes.
The next thing I know, I’m in full on decorating-mode. Never mind the half-filled Christmas bins scattered about. Never mind the fact that I’ve got china plates stacked up to the wazoo, and I’ve got to go back to work the following day, and really, a nice clean organized house and some good lesson plans should be priority. Nope. I’m putting nests with walnuts and pine cones on top of mercury candlesticks, and creating a snowball centerpiece.
I climbed into the attic and dug through my Halloween bins until I found my white owl, people.
Yep, issues.
But it was so worth it. I love my little winter wonderscape. I love that I have something pretty to look upon throughout the month of January.
Let me share with you how the whole inspiration came together. As I said before, this was not anything remotely planned; I was supposed to be cleaning. Anyone who read my Christmas Tablescape post will recognize that I definitely left items behind; and while this sort of seems like cheating, it is a good reminder to all that decorate, don’t be afraid to reuse! Something one way might look completely different used another way.
So my reindeer stayed.
He was actually the first little hint that this could become something of a woodland scene, rather than a Christmas table.
Then I added the nest.
This nest is proof that items can be reused and reused over and over again! He has come out for almost every holiday! He’s held a red cardinal for Christmas, blue robin’s eggs for Easter, and you can even see him decorated for autumn in my Fall in Blush post. For this wintery table, I decided to fill him with walnuts. I wanted to use something natural with brown-tones. Since walnuts were already a part of my Christmas table, I simply swiped a few up and added them to the nest. They look quite earthy, don’t they?
Okay…those snowballs!!!!!
So, here’s the story. I frequented Michaels a few times after Christmas, looking for this or that, checking out sales…you know the decor-addict drill. On one particular visit, I came across these snowball ornaments at 70% off. Now, I knew they were too big to actually go on a future tree–real trees do not like heavy ornaments–but I had this thought that they’d look really cute in a pail or bucket. I loved, loved, loved the basket of ornaments Lucy from Craftberry Bush did in her Flocked Tree post (her Christmas decor inspirations are to die for, they are so beautiful!!!!!) and this is what popped in my mind when I saw the ornaments. I bought them, left them in the bag, and they were currently waiting to be put away for next year, like every other Christmas item.
I decided to see if I could somehow incorporate them into the scene. I didn’t have a bucket, nor even a white bowl to put them in, and I almost decided to give up the idea all together, when my cake stand caught my eye.
Hmmmm…..
It was different. But it just seemed to work. And after a few minutes, I really began to like it.
Now at this point, I was on a roll. I knew I was seriously decorating, not just playing around. And for some reason, the burlap table runner just seemed to be missing something. Since I was recreating a winter wonderland scene, I wanted shimmer. So out came my World Market Winter Solstice Table Runner (didn’t know it was called that until I googled it, but it certainly does go) that I had used previously on my Fall Table, and everything, yes everything, even a very carefully-displayed-cake-stand-of-snowballs, had to be moved off the table, and then back on again.
This just goes to show that I don’t always work in a manner that is logical.
Other items that stayed on from my Christmas table: my birch tree candles, pine cones, the West Elm snow globe (I have a sweet student to thank for that!), and my mercury tea lights.
I swapped out my Christmas plates for simple white china, and used mini-twig-wreaths as napkin rings.
Now, it was at this point that I was trying to decide what was going on the right half of the table. I brought over a few Mercury candles from the bar, and added another nest. Meh…didn’t like it. I needed something white. I added a candle to one, but still needed something for the other.
This is when I remembered my little white Halloween owl. This is when I went digging up in our attic.
But he’s so sweet!
I made a feathery white nest for him using a simple white boa, then added some leftover feathers from my DIY Feather Napkin Rings. I think he added such a nice touch to the table.
And when in decorating-mode, why settle on just one table? That’s right. The buffet table got a little dusting of Winter spirit too!
I kept the beaded wreath, and left the walnuts and pine cones in each of my hanging lanterns.
I added a few blue-gray pussy willow branches to a vase, and because the vase needed a little warmth, wrapped it in a fur wine glass cover.
I will tell you that the fur wine cover was the only thing I purchased specifically for the table (on sale for $5.00 at Marshalls), but I’ll be honest, I didn’t plan to use it as a cover for anything–wine bottle or vase. I actually planned to cut it into small pieces and make little fur napkin ring holders for my napkins, but once I brought it home, I sort of hesitated. It really is pretty and super soft, and I reasoned with myself that if I did decide to make fur napkin ring holders, I could always just purchase fur ribbon (probably way less messy, now that I think about it). So furry vase, it is!
I just love how everything came together in the end.
I hope this post added a nip to your air, a shimmer to your day, and has given you a flurry of winter inspiration! Comment below to let me know what you think. I’d love to hear from you!
