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  1. Midwest Living
  2. Homes
  3. Seasonal Decorating
  4. Festive Holiday Tables

Festive Holiday Tables

By Midwest Living editors Updated November 06, 2022
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Natural chic

Add cheer to Christmas meals with these quick and easy ideas for festive table place settings.

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Natural Chic

Natural chic

Silver and sparkles lend glam appeal to natural elements. Here, seasonal greenery tucked into a mercury glass votive holds a handmade place card—and doubles as a take-home gift for guests. Ferns, succulents and moss on the table look elegant on silver platters and glass cake stands.

Related: Nature-Inspired Christmas Decorations

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Mix and Match

DiSanto Home
Credit: Greg Scheidemann

To create this table, start with a base of cedar clippings or a garland nestled around mismatched brass candlesticks, linen napkins, and antique glassware. For the floral arrangement,  white and black anemones and white hydrangeas mix with sprays of feathery seeded eucalyptus.

Related: Easy Christmas Centerpiece Ideas

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Winter Scene

Winter scene

Faux berry sprigs, spray-painted white branches and pinecones, and tiny cardinals create a red-and-white winter scene on your tabletop.

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Vintage Glam

Vintage glam

A collection of vintage dishes, ornaments and bottle-brush trees makes a sweet holiday tabletop. Tucked between pink Depression glass plates, a vintage-style greeting, photocopied from a Christmas card, centers the table setting. A vintage brooch doubles as a napkin ring.

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Golden Glow

Golden glow

When you want to dazzle your guests, bring on the gold and silver. Here, gift wrap serves as an inexpensive table runner. A pretty silver bow ties up a table setting of a gold charger, striking salad plate and white dinner plate.

Related: Sparkling DIY Decorating

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Pinecone Beauty

Pinecone beauty place cards

White-tipped pinecones atop napkins hold place cards. The soft colors repeat in white candles wrapped with fat green velvet ribbon attached with pearl-headed pins. 

Related: Clever Pinecone Crafts and Decorations

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Artful Arrangement

Artful arrangement

Our casual place setting shows simple can be beautiful. Its personality started with a cleverly folded "pocket" napkin. Then we added artfully arranged silverware, an inexpensive place mat, layered dishes and a frame of grapevine twigs—all on a table runner cut from bargain burlap.

Related: Throw a Holiday Party on a Budget

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Action Figure

Move it

Create woodland animals inspired by old-fashioned mechanical toys—they're perfect for embellishing napkin rings, wine bottles and packages. To make, print images onto a stiff paper, cut out the shapes and attach moveable limbs with brads.

Related: Easy Christmas Crafts

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Arctic Inspiration

Arctic inspiration

A frozen environment inspired this serene tabletop in organic colors of gray and winter white.

To set the scene, fill a simple centerpiece bowl with rocks and faux snow, and then add some bare branches. Free-form plates paired with frosty glasses and flatware continue the icy theme. Reinforce the idea of a winter landscape with a place mat and accent plates in bark and tree branch motifs. A notched birch branch holds a place card. The prowling polar bear (found in the toy section of a crafts store) feels right at home in this habitat.

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Velvet Votives

Velvet votives

Add sparkle to your tabletop with these easy-to-make candles. Just wrap velvet ribbon around silver votives, and glue on mini pinecones to add a festive touch.

Related: Holiday Candle Decorations

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Stocking Stuffer

Stocking stuffer

Tuck silverware into small stockings to create festive place settings. Any small purchased or handmade stockings will work. If you want to make your own, draw a 7-inch-tall stocking shape and cut stockings out of scrap fabric. Glue or sew the sides together and, if you have extra time, cross-stitch a design on the front.

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Bell-issimo!

Bell-issimo!

Inexpensive gold bells on a snow-white tablecloth start this modern scene. Sprinkle glittery "snow" onto foam trees wearing a light coat of spray-on glue; add bells as treetoppers. An upside-down wineglass filled with shredded tinsel is another sparkly tree shape. Pine boughs in glass vases filled with the same sparkly "snow" make an easy centerpiece. Fold white napkins like trees and add garlands of gold ribbon. For a take-home gift (and place card) fill a glass ornament with tiny bells and tag with your guest's initial.

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Easy Setup

Easy set up

Enjoy a casual table for holiday meals all month long. Deer-motif dish towels make nifty place mats. Buy two sets so you can leave the table set while the dirty towels get washed.

Related: 6 Ways to Craft a Merry Little Christmas

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Wrapping Paper Accents

Wrapping paper accents

Turn colorful, graphic designs into bargain Christmas decor for your table.

For napkin rings, mount wrapping paper scraps to card stock. Cut 1x10-inch strips. Starting 1-3/4 inches from one end of a strip, create a 1-1/4 inch slit. Wrap strip around a napkin, pulling the opposite end through the opening. A felt snowflake adds finishing frill.

Wrapping paper scraps can also make merry place card holders. Glue paper to both sides of a 3x5-inch piece of card stock. Fold in half, leaving a 1/2 inch lip to fold up as the card holder. For extra cheer, write names in holiday colors, or "give" guests names from classic Christmas tales and let them pick their seats.

Related: 6 Colorful and Affordable Christmas Paper Crafts

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Tiny Tree Table

Tiny tree table

Out-of-the-ordinary vessels will make tiny evergreens stand out.Here, foot-high yews, with root balls nestled in moss, look fresh lined up in a galvanized tray. Anchor with white and purple eggplants for an all-natural look. Use eggcups with tiny juniper sprigs to create "trees" at place settings; fill the cup bases with spice berries and pinecones. Linen napkins wrapped with green ribbon complete the organic look.

Related: Ideas for Decorating with Tiny Trees

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Dress Up Chairs

Dress up chairs

Add to the appeal of your holiday table by dressing up chair backs. Here, we draped the chair with a yard of soft white fabric tied in a square knot, added a purchased twig wreath, and held it all together with a fat red ribbon and glued nametag.

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Edible Place Cards

Edible place cards

Eye-catching fruit like these Anjou pears makes a perfect platform for place cards.

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Super Simple

Keep it super-simple

White plates provide a pretty contrast against a red charger and red tablecloth. A simple striped ribbon adds just the right touch of color to the white napkin.

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Lovely Layers

Lovely layers

For a quick and easy casual presentation, fold napkins into a square and top with an evergreen sprig and a pretty ornament, such as this crocheted star.

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Fragrant Decor

Fragrant decor

For a fragrant chair-back decoration, bundle bay leaf, thyme, rosemary and marjoram with twine. Bouquets can be made several days in advance, then refrigerated. Once dry, use them for cooking.

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Red and White

Christmas centerpiece ideas: carnations

Centerpieces of red-and-white carnations set the tone for this table. Complete the setting with clear glass jars filled with mints, peppermints scattered on the table, red-and-white ornaments and more.

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Initial It

Initial it

Create cute letter shapes for your place settings with red-and-white pipe cleaners. Add a sprig of fresh greenery for color.

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By Midwest Living editors

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    Everything in This Slideshow

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    1 of 22 Natural Chic
    2 of 22 Mix and Match
    3 of 22 Winter Scene
    4 of 22 Vintage Glam
    5 of 22 Golden Glow
    6 of 22 Pinecone Beauty
    7 of 22 Artful Arrangement
    8 of 22 Action Figure
    9 of 22 Arctic Inspiration
    10 of 22 Velvet Votives
    11 of 22 Stocking Stuffer
    12 of 22 Bell-issimo!
    13 of 22 Easy Setup
    14 of 22 Wrapping Paper Accents
    15 of 22 Tiny Tree Table
    16 of 22 Dress Up Chairs
    17 of 22 Edible Place Cards
    18 of 22 Super Simple
    19 of 22 Lovely Layers
    20 of 22 Fragrant Decor
    21 of 22 Red and White
    22 of 22 Initial It

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