19 December 2012

Holiday Party Tablescape

"Someone said that life is a party. You join in after it's started
and leave before it's finished."

~Elsa Maxwell, American special events planner and hostess
If you have paid attention to my blog, you know that I have been on a design team for Halcraft USA. Have you ever been to a Michaels.com store and seen the wall of beads in the Bead Gallery line? Yup. That's Halcraft. And I am one of six designers that gets to play with new-not-yet-released beads and findings months in advance to share with Michaels.com. {I can tell you that something fun is coming out in the spring! You will want to keep your eyes peeled for those!}

Back in October, the fine folks at Halcraft asked us to switch gears and create holiday themed designs. Instead of our usual offerings, they asked us to think outside the jewelry box... I was simply astonished by the clever and cool Yule designs that our team created!

For this holiday project I chose to work with a festive tablescape. I wanted to come up with designs that had a great impact and were easy to produce. Click the links to take you to the step by step instructions for each project on the Michaels.com website.


{Happy To Serve - bejeweled serving utensils}

Wouldn't these Happy to Serve utensils make the perfect hostess gift?

{Close up of the slotted spoon. Dollar store finds never looked so good!}
I bought the utensils at the dollar store and used a little wire and some pretty vintage-y metal and jewel-encrusted slides from the Bead Gallery line at Michaels.com to whip these up. You could have a whole set done tonight! You can find the instructions here.

For a more blingy project and one that might be better for next year at this point, you could go with the O Bejeweled Christmas Tree for your mantel or tabletop.
 
{Jeweled Tree - Frontgate.com}
I was inspired by this jeweled tree that I found on Frontgate for the bargain price of........ {wait for it}....... $699! {It has now been marked down to $449 - what a deal! ;-)} Zoinks! I knew that this would be a pricier design due to the amount of materials required but I was certain that it wouldn't cost me nearly that ridiculous amount!

Because I was on a tight time frame, I was not able to take advantage of any good sales for the materials. Still, I think that I spent less than $100 on this. I am sure that if I had been able to buy these items on sale, I could have made this for about $60. I know that sounds like a lot, but this is not a throw-away decoration. This is something that would make my Aunt Charlotte proud and something that would be passed down. And it is heavy so you know it will last. However, Michaels.com is always having a good sale, and if I were to make this again, I would buy and hoard all the vintage sliders needed so that eventually I could sit down and make this again.  Because it really is that spectacular.
 
{O Bejeweled Christmas Tree - doesn't it look spectacular against my red wall?}

The way the vintage sliders from the Bead Gallery line at Michaels.com catch the light is dazzling! My pictures just do not do this justice. And the base was a tall candleholder that I found at Michaels on clearance in the Halloween section! I used a little bit of gold paint rubbed on to give it that burnished antique look. But you might already have a candleholder to use or could even pick on up at a thrift store for cheap!

{O Bejeweled Christmas Tree - showing all sides of the tree. I like mine better than the pricier one, don't you?}
This would be a festive design in any color, but I chose the same red, green and turquoise palette as the serving utensils. The cool thing is that you could do this in just about any color. Black, white, silver and gold was another combo that I considered. And you could go really quirky with purple and pink and lime! You could even sprinkle in some of grandma's earrings and brooches and fill in the blanks on this to make it ultra personal and use the Michaels vintage line to fill in the spaces.

So there you have it! Two festive holiday ideas that there is still time to whip up for Christmas! ;-)



10 comments:

Alice said...

Everything looks gorgeous! I would not ever thought of decking out serving utensils in jewels, but it's a wonderful way to make the holiday table even more inviting.

It looks like you had a lot of fun with this!!

Lori Bowring Michaud said...

Oh my goodness! Both are gorgeous Erin! That's thinking outside the box!

peacockfairy said...

Gorgeous Erin! A good friend of mine made a brooch bouquet for her wedding last year. I loved the look so much and wondered how I could incorporate it into something I would enjoy (since I'm not in need of a bouquet). A tree just might be the perfect thing!

peacockfairy said...

Oh, and sorry to hear of your luck with your Anthropologie order.... their fan blog that I follow mentions that problem a lot - cancelled ordered and delayed notifications. I hope they can fix it and give better customer service.

Sally Anderson said...

Erin I love all these things you've made. Every year at this time (why can't it be in, say, September) I get inspired to do something Christmas crafty. But I'm stuck in an ornament rut! Your tableware is wonderful and such a great idea. I really, really want to do a tree like yours. Do you have a tutorial for that? Also what are sliders? I haven't heard of them, I don't think. I actually like your tree better than the $700 one!!! The candlestick is so perfect for it, too. Also love the red wall. I guess, what I'm saying is I really loved everything in this post!!

Torque Story said...

I second Sally's enthusiastic endorsement! The tree is breathtaking.

JeannieK said...

OH ERIN! I LOVE THE TREES. I like yours better than original with the bold jewel tones they have.
Not any decorating in our house this year, so I really enjoy seeing others are doing.
Merry Christmas to you Erin and your family. Looking forward to spending another creative year with you.

Unknown said...
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Brandi Hussey said...

Omigosh, how clever is this! Absolute love your jeweled tree, Miss Erin. Must give it a try next Christmas!

Jennifer Cameron said...

Absolutely gorgeous! I adore both the serving pieces and the centerpiece. Wow!

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