5 Clever Ideas for the Prettiest Christmas Table Settings

Looking for ways to dress up your table for the holidays? Check out these 5 clever Christmas table settings to make your holiday feel festive, welcome and cozy.

When I decorate, I love to bring the outdoors in with lots of greens, flowers, and natural, textured elements.

For the holidays this year, I’m drawn to neutrals with pops of red, so today’s Christmas tablescape has lots of pretty wood and organic textured layers.

Dressing up a table is one of my favorite things to do and I love how this one turned out.

Wait until you see these clever Christmas table settings ideas.

Oh and don’t miss my tip at the end of this post about achieving different looks with the same items.

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Christmas Tablescape Blog Hop

I am really excited to join the Creative Christmas Tablescape Inspiration Tour hosted by my talented friend, Rachel of The Ponds Farmhouse.

She pulled together such a beautiful group of talented bloggers with the most incredible Christmas table setting inspiration.

If you are coming from my good friend Kristin’s from White Arrows Home, welcome to my home!

If you are new here, I’m Stacy, a self-taught master gardener who lives and gardens in northern New Jersey, zone 6a.

We recently moved to a beautiful 1850 Farmhouse with 10 acres of gardens, sculptures, and statues.

I’ve been gardening for over 20 years and enjoy helping beginner gardeners find their inner green thumb, as well as discover a love for all things plants and flowers. I love to bring the outdoors inside my home too.

I hope you enjoy visiting my home today and hope you come back so we can grow stuff and create beautiful spaces together.

Rustic Christmas Table Settings Ideas

I love entertaining and dressing up my dining room table for guests.

No matter how big or small the event is, I love to design a beautiful centerpiece and set a gorgeous table that coordinates with it.

But it’s gotta be easy!

This year, the inspiration behind my Christmas table decorations is this gorgeous holiday centerpiece that I made using my favorite vintage toolbox.

Create a Beautiful Christmas Dining Table Centerpiece

Whether you make or purchase a centerpiece for the dining table is a matter of preference.

I prefer making my centerpieces because they are more budget-friendly and brings your personality to the table which lends to the overall Christmas aesthetic.

Before making a centerpiece, start with a vessel you love.

For me, I am obsessed with a vintage toolbox that I found in Vermont. It looks incredible on my farmhouse dining table plus it’s a really nice size.

This toolbox has gone through many looks this year.

It began as a gorgeous Thanksgiving centerpiece idea. Then I tweaked it to make this beautiful Christmas centerpiece idea.

After the holidays, the same toolbox transitioned to this amazing winter centerpiece idea for the dining table.

And then I changed out the winter greens for spring and summer with this centerpiece idea for the dining table.

It was a little more spring than it was summer, but I kept it until fall because it was neutral, looked gorgeous, and I loved it.

When fall rolled around, I gave it a whole new look.

And this is how I decorated it for Christmas.

Doesn’t it look awesome? I love how earthy and organic it looks with the old wood of the toolbox and faux winter greens.

And those present ornaments are the cutest, aren’t they?

To make this centerpiece, I stuffed it with beautiful faux greens, pine cones, and some rustic Christmas ornaments.

You could anchor the greens and accessories in with floral foam, but I just stuffed enough greens as the base to hold everything.

Now that we designed the holiday centerpiece, let’s decorate the dining room table.

Shop This Vintage Christmas Centerpiece Look

How to Create Rustic and Elegant Christmas Table Settings

For this year’s Christmas table decor, I focused on beautiful greens and earthy neutrals with fun pops of red.

I love what I did last year but wanted to change up the look for this year.

And I love how it looks!

So how do you create a rustic and elegant Christmas tablescape?

Layers, layers, and more layers.

Think layers when creating any tablescape because they bring warmth, dimension, and personality to the table.

Next time you shop, pick up dining accessories that you can reuse over and over again.

Because I create a lot of different looks using the same basic pieces.

But before you head out shopping though, look around your home and see what you already have or forage in the landscape. You might be surprised at the cool things you have hidden away.

Be creative and most importantly, have fun with it!

Decorating a Christmas Tablescape

Since I love to leave my farmhouse wood table exposed, I start with a beautiful red ticking runner like this one.

I’ve also used a table skirt or area rug as a table runner.

So if you want to keep your table exposed to show the wood, think outside the box!  

Here’s a really good example of how I used a tree skirt as my table runner.

How to Set the Table

So now that we are thinking outside the box, let’s set the table!

For each table setting, I layered placemats, chargers, and dinnerware.

I started with my favorite cedar branch placemats. As an aside, these are no longer available so if you can’t find something like them, try using a boxwood wreath instead to get a similar look.

I then topped each placemat with these rustic rattan chargers.

Because they add some texture with the cedar branch placemats, I tend to use these a lot when decorating tables.

If you want to add some ambiance, center the centerpiece, and flank both sides with some cool candlesticks.

To add rustic elegance, I used my neutral Lenox fine china that was passed down from my grandmother.

Whenever I can, I try to incorporate my Lenox in tablescapes because it is nice to be able to use them instead of keeping them tucked away in storage.

And I love the gold rims on them!

It adds a touch of sparkle to a casual tablescape without overpowering it.

For some added bling, I used her gold flatware that I have tucked into these adorable pouches from Cutlery Couture.

I don’t typically use this gold flatware set, but love that pop of gold and how casually elegant it looks.

I love how pretty the table looks all put together don’t you?

Those Christmas gift ornaments look great in my toolbox centerpiece and complement those plaid napkins really well.

It’s amazing how many different looks you can achieve by swapping out a few items.

There are so many elements on this table that I use in several of my tablescapes and I’m always in awe of how unique each table looks!

As much as I love to shop for decor, the best tip I can give is to add to what you have instead of purchasing whole new looks.

When you add to your collections and expand, it is much easier to mix and match each year to achieve different looks.

Shop This Look

Want to Learn How to Decorate With Fresh Greens for the Holidays?

Sign up here to get my email and get a discount on my ebook, 15 Easy Ways to Decorate With Fresh Greens for the Holidays that offers beautiful, budget-friendly, and sustainable holiday decorating inspiration using fresh greens from the landscape.

This 40-page guide is full of simple DIY holiday decorating ideas that includes how to cut, care for, and design with fresh greens, as well as tips to purchase and incorporate faux greens with your holiday decorating style to create a cozy, beautiful, and organic vibe.

From porch styling to cozy centerpiece and tablescape inspiration, wait until you try these budget-friendly holiday decorating ideas using fresh greens for every room in your home.

Want to Learn What You Need to Set a Beautiful Table?

Click here to get my FREE GUIDE that tells you everything you need to set a gorgeous table!

Welcome friends and family to a cozy dining table with this must-have list of tabletop decor that you’ll use over and over again.

Looking For More Christmas Decorating Ideas?

Wait until you see these holiday decorating, entertaining, and food ideas to create a cozy home for Christmas.

• How to Make a Christmas Kissing Ball
• The Cutest Scented Christmas Gift Tags DIY
• First Christmas in Our New Home Tour
• Last Christmas in Our Home Tour
• 6 Delicious Dinner Ideas for Christmas
• Christmas Tree Ornament Storage Hack (Tiktok Made Me Do It)
• 6 Clever Christmas Dinner Easy Table Decorating Ideas
• Where to Buy the Best Faux Christmas Trees
• Where to Buy the Best Faux Winter Greens and Florals
• Christmas Decorating Trends for 2021
• 13 Simple Christmas Decorating Ideas for Your Home
• How to Make an Advent Wreath
• Winter Gardening With Outdoor Planters
• 17 Christmas Tree Decorating Ideas
• Easy Christmas Cookies
• Rustic Farmhouse Christmas Decorating Ideas
• Easy Outdoor Planters for Winter
• Budget-Friendly Winter Outdoor Planters

Here’s 4 More Beautiful Christmas Table Settings Ideas You Will Love

Thanks so much for stopping by my home today. I hope you found some inspiration from my rustic farmhouse tablescape ideas.

Next up on the tour is my good friend Ann from Dabbling and Decorating.

To visit the rest of the tour below, click on the blog name.

The Ponds Farmhouse / Shiplap & Shells / White Arrows Home / Stacy Ling Bricks n Blooms / Dabbling & Decorating

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Enjoy a beautiful day! xo

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