It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Now that Thanksgiving is over, we're all focusing on our Christmas and New Year’s Eve party planning. We live for helping you be the ultimate host and create the most memorable get-togethers. From cookie baking parties, to evening cocktails, to a full-on formal dinner spread, we’ve got the holiday entertaining essentials to suit your special event at home.
Our #1 tip for amazing holiday entertaining?
IT’S ALL IN THE DETAILS.
How to Create a Magical Holiday Atmosphere
Maybe you’re tired of your old décor, or maybe you just moved into a new home and are starting from scratch. Whatever your situation, we’re here to help! Attention to detail in your holiday décor will help create a sense of wonder and excitement. Your guests will experience a process of discovery as their eyes pass from one visual delight to another.
To break down some specific ideas and decorating strategies:
1. Use one dynamic focal piece - like our lacquer art serving trays - to create a color story and theme. It seems like common sense, but this will help you stay on track with your additional décor and serving pieces. Think of your tray as a mood board – that you can serve drinks on!
2. Coordinate your coasters with your serving tray. This may feel a little formal, but you’ll look really put together, and your effort will not go unnoticed!
3. For a slightly more casual feel while serving drinks, you can use coordinating cocktail napkins instead of hard coasters. But if matching everything isn’t your aesthetic, you should still stay within the same color scheme as your serving tray to keep the whole look pulled together.
4. Embrace placemats. While beautiful plates and utensils will certainly get the job done, a striking set of placemats will create that wow factor your guests will never forget. If you’re serving buffet-style, you can still use placemats underneath all your serving dishes for a beautiful and thematic table. We have a selection of hard placemats and paper placemats to suit your style.
5. Fill in the small spaces on your tables with different textured pieces that go with your theme. Candles and natural elements like branches and pine cones are perfect for the season. We’ve saved a few tutorials on Pinterest for bleaching or painting your pinecones for any occasion. Shiny ornaments, battery-powered string lights, beautiful ribbon, berries on branches, tiny flower vases, fruits and vegetables (think artichokes, pomegranates, even whole nuts) are all wonderful additions.
6. Assemble gorgeous goodie bags and consider incorporating them into your tablescape. Goodie bags create a bountiful look for your table, and everyone will be over the moon about taking home a piece of the party. Our Itsy Bitsy gift bags are stylish and sturdy, come in 3 different sizes in cotton canvas or jute, and your guests will be able to use them for years to come. You can throw in cookies, candy, specialty lotions or lip balms, a holiday candle, a special ornament, or confetti shooters and paper horns for NYE. Get creative!
To further help you hone your decorating and entertaining ideas, we created 3 holiday themes from our current collection: Classic Christmas, Cozy Cabin, and Merry Metallics. You’re sure to find inspiration to jump start your party planning!
Classic Christmas
If you love the cheerful red, green, and white color palette of a Classic Christmas, start with our Red Truck 18 inch round lacquer art tray. Not only does it capture the nostalgia and tradition of bringing home your Christmas tree in a vintage truck, it’s also a durable serving piece and beautiful focal point. For the rest of your table, lay out our matching Red Truck paper placemats with your plates and silverware on top, Red Truck coasters, and Red Truck paper napkins or coordinating red or green cloth napkins. With this foundation, you can layer in branches, pinecones, and tiny Christmas-themed gift bags like our pack of Itsy Bitsy Gift Bags in Monte Rosa.
Some other Classic Christmas designs you can play with are Cardinals on Birch Trees, Ski Bears, cute and colorful Stockings, and our iconic Christmas Tree.
Cozy Cabin
If you’re dreaming of a white, snowy Christmas, with soft, neutral accents, and cabin-inspired coziness, you'll love our Ski and Winter Stags prints for your holiday décor. Imagine make-your-own-fancy-hot-cocoa bars with a variety of sprinkles and toppings, cute pj’s, and homemade cookies galore. Mountain Fun Itsy Bitsy tote bags would make amazing s’mores kits with marshmallows, chocolate, graham crackers, and a personalized marshmallow-roasting stick.
Find Winter Stags on paper placemats and coasters to set a beautiful brunch or dinner table. Small Silver Metallic Itsy Bitsy bags are a contrasting and sparkling accent. Metallics pair wonderfully with neutrals, and you can also incorporate rustic, wooden rounds, dry or evergreen branches, chunky metallic or wooden candle holders, or a collection of metallic deer figurines. We saw a DIY on Pinterest for a candle holder made out of a wooden log that would be amazing as part of a centerpiece for this Cozy Cabin theme.
Merry Metallics
If you’re all about glitz and glitter, our metallic collection will make your event sparkle! Gold Sunbursts is a show-stopper that will light up your whole house. It’s also more versatile than you think, and you can use it not only for Christmas but for New Year’s Eve and even birthdays (we did at our office!). Easily layer other pieces and prints from our gold metallics for a truly dazzling experience.
As with the Cozy Cabin theme, metallics and neutrals work really well together, and you can accent your Merry Metallics not only with other metallic ornaments and baubles, but also natural elements like wood, evergreen branches, and cream-colored candles. Experiment with bringing in pops of red with real or faux berries.
If silver is more your speed, our Silver Snowflakes and Silver Medallion designs evoke freshly fallen snow and sunlight glinting off ice.
Keeping all of your decorating accents white and silver will make your color scheme strong - as well as the impression on your guests. Think glittered white berries and branches, silver ornaments, icy trinkets, faux snow, chunky knit throws, and as many paper or DIY snowflakes as you can handle (make the kids help!).
What's your favorite holiday decorating theme?
