A Christmas Table with a German Touch

Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.
― Washington Irving

This little tablescape we had for the Christmas Eve dinner had the same rustic touch as our Christmas tree. It is easy to assemble and adds a warm and festive ambiance to the table. Some of the branches came from Queen Elizabeth park, my favorite park. I gathered them off the ground while dog walking. And some evergreen sprigs are from the bottom part of our Christmas tree that had to be cut off.

The straw stars and ornaments are part of the Christmas decorations inventory I have collected over many years. The same goes for the glass heart ornaments. The red heart ornaments make it out of the treasure box every year. I think they are over 30 years old. I bought them when I met Klaus…

Items used for this arrangement

1 LED battery powered string light with 20 warm lights (the table is 1 x 1 meter)
Greenery: western red cedar bows, silver fir, holly, a couple of branches from a conifer tree
Straw ornaments, 2 glass heart ornaments
2 pillar candles, recycled wide, red ribbon
Optional: a long platter or wooden board if the arrangement needs to be moved or the table cloth changed

Putting it together

If desired, use a table cloth. It actually helps with the sprigs staying in place easier. The red cedar bows go on the table first. Then place the light string along the middle. Our string was folded in half. For more sparkle or a longer table, use several or longer light strings. After the cedar, the conifer branches were laid on top. And then the fir and holly boughs were tugged into the branches and light cable. At each end a pillar candles wrapped with a rich satin ribbon was placed at each end. Use more candles if desired. And finally place a liberal amount of straw decorations on the greenery, and if desired a few glass ornaments.

See here for the Christmas tree that inspired this table decor.

2018