Tag Archives: china

Decorating for Christmas in the New Retro Style

Posted on by

The new retro style is an updated version of the traditional retro styles from the fifties through the seventies only the result is less corny and kitschy. AS a color scheme for linens, wreathes and glass globes for your tree you should use colors such as bright pink, china blue, chartreuse, cream and gold with glitter. Style wise you should thing of using simple Scandinavian designs. Decorate your tree with animal cookies and garlands made of cranberries and popcorn.

Instead of a nativity scene, holiday village scenes should also be a part of your decor. Instead of heavy Christmas cakes Christmas puddings are the way to go. Dried blueberries and cherries, gingerbread cookies and homemade cranberry chutney are also contemporary but have a vintage style feel.

Christmas trees are not artificial any more. I try to get a real spruce or balsam that looks a bit like a bottle brush tree and then decorate it with clumps of think silver mirrored tinsels. Vintage glass ornament and tiny clear white lights that do not blink are also part of this new retro look. White wooden Christmas decoration and white porcelain decorations also add a unique touch to both the tree and mantelpiece. Any type of stylized white porcelain Christmas tree piece is considered to be very hip for Christmas 2011.

Instead of eggnog contemporary retro enthusiasts are serving Gingertinis and Crantinis at their Christmas cocktail parties. Flower centerpieces are created from Rannunculus and berries rather than poinsettias. White fake apples look nice on a tree or as a centerpiece. Hang large gold acorns and gold deer antlers on the mantelpiece or near your front door.

Presents are wrapped in recycled wrapping papers and card tags are made from recycled cards. Pom poms and shiny trims and ribbons look eco-savvy under the trees. Eco bags are also the latest trend when it comes to packaging Christmas gifts as is wrapping gifts in bows made from strands of cheap fake pearls. You can also dress up your gifts with white and gold ornaments. Some vintage loving hosts go as far to decorate their serving plates and cocktail glasses with small white Christmas decorations.

Another retro fad is for Kleenex boxes with vintage reindeer or snowman patterns on them. It is also nice to make bouquets of white roses and pine cones and set them around the room. These are not only pleasing décor accents they are nice too look at.

How to Decorate Place Settings in A Cranberries and Cream Themes for Xmas

Posted on by

The secret to decorating your home in a cranberries and cream theme for Christmas is to combine rich red accents with cream colored linens and bone colored china. You can get beautiful linen tablecloths made out of red striped grain bags that have been recycled from McInnis Antiques and similar online places that recycle this type of fabric. The idea is that your entire table-setting is created from white and crimson colors.

When setting a table be sure to add tall cranberry colored candles. Make them be in the scent of cranberries if you can get them. Liz Beloton and Rebecca Tanquera who have written a book called Table style use repurposed rustic linens as table cloths and add recycled tart molds to create this type of look.

If you collect ruby red glassware now is the time to showcase it on your table. Heavy porcelain goblets also look nice as part of this type of décor.

One nice touch is to freeze a ring of cranberries inside a tubular cake mold. You then set candles in the ice and let it melt slowly on the table. If you like you can just sprinkle cranberries across the table in a random pattern.

Another innovative centerpiece is to take tall vases and simply fill them to the hilt with sugar and cranberries. This is a sexy centerpiece that also looks great with a crimson poinsettia cutting or bundle of crimson or green calla lilies sticking out of the top.
Invu Drapery and Ikea are companies that sell very nice drapes and curtains in cream and cranberry colored patterns. You can also mix and match drapes. Try pairing velvet cranberry hued panels with cream colored chiffon drapes. The opposite effect also works well. Pair crimson colored sheers with heavy cotton or satin drapes in a cream color.

Cream colored lace pillows interspersed with cranberry colored ones also look lovely and help update a couch to make it look more Christmas-like.

There are all kinds of place settings on the market that have that crimson red handle. Mother of pearl handled table ware also goes nicely on crimson colored napkins.

You can easily make cranberry garlands and string them from a chandelier. Cranberry garlands can also be used as tie backs on curtains. You can also burn cranberry and vanilla scented incense to make your home smell even more like a luscious cranberry and cream dessert.