Christmas Tea Party Tablescape - Party of 6

Christmas Tea Party
 for a Party of 6 Co-workers

  

Christmas - my favorite time of year!  The season brings out an energy of creativity and a sense of wonderment.  I love to bake and entertain this time of year.  I love creating an atmosphere that makes guests feel special and the house welcoming.

 When it comes to decorating, nowadays, non-conformity is the norm. Since my family room is decorated in dominant blue , I kept the blue theme minimal, extracted the white and highlighted it with more silver. However, I kept the main living room and dining room in the colors of Christmas: green and red.

My goal is to show that you can make something simple, affordable and yet elegant by recycling what you have around the house.   Most of the things I used for this tablescape I already have (an accumulation over the years).  If I don't have enough to meet the color scheme I create them or try to go to discount stores to buy accessories to enhance and complete the story. 

For the centerpiece, I like to decorate the table using varying heights and forms to tell a story, and thus, encourage a conversation. In this case, the angel (from my angel collection) arises from a bunch of poinsettia flowers(symbolizing purity) announcing the arrival of the season. It is surrounded by 3 glittery cones representing the 3 kings. The color blue of the candlestick represents royalty (as in Jesus King of Kings) lighting the way.

I went for anything with silver and highlighted the décor with a touch of blue.  The cones are made of silver beads and clear stones in all kinds of sizes glued to a heavy duty plastic cones.  The pinecones (from the backyard) were spray painted silver.

A small Christmas Tea Luncheon for a party of 6 has a sense of formality but the party itself is informal, thus the paper napkin.

Since the table is mainly white and silver, I added these blue and white floral paper napkins to enhance the blue candlesticks.   

Lunch Menu:  Variety of Sandwiches 

• Shrimp Sandwich on sourdough bread 
• Cucumber and Cream Cheese sandwich on buttermilk bread
• Tuna Sandwich on rye bread
• Sweet Rice bread with homemade jams of:  pineapple mango jam, strawberry jam and lemon custard
• Strawberries with Caramel dip
• Vegetable Quiche
• Assorted Teas

  

The sandwiches are cut in different shapes: round, square and diamond to differentiate them.

  

Desserts (I made)

   Spiced Pumpkin Fudge

 Madeline Cookies  

Magic Bars

Cookie Exchange

I like having extra dessert, the more the merrier! (you can tell I have a sweet tooth)!  Christmas is also the time of year I enjoy tasting all kinds of cookies. So, I asked the gals to make at least a dozen cookies to share during dessert time. Dessert was served in the dining room buffet table where there's a lively Santa Theme.

The gals brought: peanut butter cookies, chocolate cracker bark and ginger bread cookies

Giveaway

My late mother loved baking all kinds of bread for her breakfast and afternoon snacks.  As a tribute to my mother who loved Christmas , I always make this favorite family recipe of Banana Bread to give to friends and neighbors during Christmas time.  

Banana Bread fresh from the oven.

I love giving  handmade ornaments that befits the person's personality or interest: a candy cane for the gal who loves sweets;  a calico ball  for the one who enjoys sewing; a snowman for the gal who collects snowman; a jack in the toybox for the gal who takes good care of her grandkids and the wreath for that one who brings us together with good cheer. 

 At the end of lunch, I provide a box to fill with their cookie loot! 

Happy Holiday munching!

See also
Winter Tea Party Tablescape
Graduation in December
Christmas Buffet