Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year! I just don’t feel I have enough time in the day to accomplish my own holiday decorating, as I’m out setting the tables for others. That’s just me though. 

I LOVE helping my clients spice up the flavor of their home décor for the holidays. Part of my helping reasoning is so they don’t make a mess out of the beautiful rooms we’ve created when their family and friends arrive. Do you think that will put me on Santa’s Naughty List? I hope not….my intentions are good!

A couple of week’s ago I decorated a home for a magazine design competition here in Las Vegas and one of my favorite clients of all time, Bobbi Billard. (And yes! I often type or write Boobi Billard when making notes about her projects.) Bobbi is an absolute doll. Even her website says she’s a Bobbi Doll! How cute is that? And…my auto correct keeps correcting “Bobbi” to “boobi”. It must be a throw back to our Save The Ta-Tas Campaign?!? Bobbi was having her family over for the holidays and needed two festive holiday tables decorated and fit for the Royal British Family, yet her mother might say the Royal French Family due to her deep French heritage. Bobbi is without a doubt one of our few clients that will allow us to take you inside her home.  I thought it was only fitting to also share the details of the table decorating project so that you can all give this a try at home. (Thank you for giving our readers a peek Bobbi!) This is an easy way to decorate a table and it’s not too late to do it today! Give it a try and impress your family this Christmas season. Here’s how we did it…. We already had dinnerware, flatware, and glassware. Together we went to a local Hobby Lobby store and shopped for about an hour. Throwing anything in the shopping cart that we even thought might work. I’m glad we did! We ended up using it all!!! I’ve compiled a rough shopping list of items we use on a daily basis in Bobbi’s house along with the items we gathered in a short hour of holiday shopping in the Hobby Lobby craft store. Keep in mind that we were decorating two tables; therefore I’ve tried to give you an idea of how much product you’ll need to decorate a single table.

SHOPPING LIST Determine the number of guests that will be hosted and buy the numbers you need. I always recommend combining the total number of seats you have in the home and buying enough dinnerware and linens to adorn each of the place settings just incase you decide to invite additional guests or break a plate or two. Everyday Tableware Linen Placemats & Napkins from Inside Style Home – call to order. Cream Crest Dinnerware Service from Horchow Light Weight Iron Chargers from Inside Style Home – call to order. Jewel Sphered Place Card Holder from Pottery Barn Wine Holder & Cheese Set from Inside Style Home – call to order. Turkey Cloche & Serving Plate from Pottery Barn Medium to Large Iron Candle Holders from Inside Style Home – call to order. Decorative Holiday Items from Hobby Lobby with Online Purchase Options 12 Burlap Poinsettias with Gold Glitter Edges Botanically Correct Christmas Greenery 10 Yards Curled Crushed Limed Ribbon 5 Yards of Jute Ribbon 5 Decorative Gold Balls 3 Decorative Amber Balls 2 Twigs of Gold Berry Spray 4 Yards –Brown Saddle Toned Pleather Fabric (for a 10ft table) After shopping at the Hobby Lobby craft store we went back to Bobbi’s house. In the driveway there were 10 pieces of gym equipment being unpacked and assembled. We made our way through the boxes and to the dining room. The outdoor table was brought inside and the decorating fun began. In about an hour we brought holiday magic to BobbiLand and decorated both tables. Here’s what we did from the best of my memory. Feel free to comment if I’ve left something out or if you have a question. I’ll be happy to answer. [sociallocker] [/sociallocker] Instructions for Recreating Bobbi Billard’s Holiday Table: Creating the Swag Table Runner

1. Start with a clean clear table.
2. Put the Pleather Fabric on the table as a tablecloth. You shouldn’t have to cut the sides. The ends should hangover as shown in the photos.
3. If you’re an over doer, lay placemats first to give you a sense of boundaries for the decorating area.
4. Place swag of greenery running as a table runner. Turn branches so that they appear natural yet cover both sides of the table evenly. Have some stick up to give a sense of height. I like using varied greeneries but starting with the darkest tone on bottom. This also helps if the base greenery is the most supportive in terms of branch strength when using artificial. To me, there’s nothing better than mixing real greenery with the artificial for a send of smell.
5. Add five large gold poinsettias placed evenly throughout the greenery. Point them in various directions to give a sense of organic flair. In other words, don’t line them up! Nature sure doesn’t.
6. Space the decorative gold and bronze Christmas balls evenly. Tuck larger ones deeper in the greenery. Bring smaller or oval shapes closer to the edge.
7. Twirl ribbons throughout the pieces. Tuck the ribbon underneath some of the Christmas balls and poinsettias to secure the twirls.
8. Nestle the gold branches and any alternate greenery throughout the swag runner.
9. Add candleholders with brownish toned or cream-colored dripless candles at each end of the table. Don’t forget to light the candles before the dinner party.
10. Now it’s time to set the table. A special thanks to ChiTownMoms.net for the image on how to set a table with basic glassware, tableware, and flatware. Napkins can be used in multiple ways of table décor. For Bobbi’s table we simply used a napkin ring with a basic fold and insert. Then, placed the napkin in the center of the plate for a little holiday sparkle.

Thank you all for reading and for your comments in advance! If you like articles such as this one and find them useful please leave encouraging comments, this way I will write more! Please take a minute to vote on another product I did for BLVDs Las Vegas Magazine. I’ll try to share the details of that table soon. Be sure to subscribe by entering your email address to receive the notification when I write new blog postings. Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays friends!