Winter's Garden on your table

Fresh splashes of green and a little sparkle anchor this fanciful setting.

Amid the bluster of holiday preparations, winter's onset goes virtually unnoticed. While we're busy decorating with tinsel and lights, nature offers glittering frost and sculpted branches. Take a break from the holiday montage, and set a table to celebrate the beginning of this beautiful time of year. If you live in warmer climes, follow our instructions, and pretend it's cold outside.

Set the Table

White defines the season; it's the color of snow, frost, icicles, and stars.

* Cover the table with an inexpensive piece of white felt. The soft nap provides warm, inviting texture.

* Use white dishes and napkins to continue the scheme. For fun, add pops of color with dessert or salad plates; our chartreuse finds were on sale at Pier 1 Imports.

* Settle on clear glassware for beverages and centerpiece vases.

Go Natural

Take advantage of winter's quiet, serene landscape. It reveals aspects of the garden hidden during other seasons.

* Use bare branches instead of flowers for the centerpiece. Gather them from your yard, or purchase them in a bundle from a hobby or crafts store.

* Anchor the branches in a vase full of snow. Don't worry; we don't mean the icy white stuff that falls from the sky. Hobby and crafts stores sell packages of faux snow (the one we used is called SnowReal!) that you mix with water and whip into frothy drifts for the perfect look.

* Nestle pots of chartreuse club moss (Selaginella kraussiana) into birch-bark containers for a simple, easy-care addition to the centerpiece.

Add Sparkle

Darkness comes early this time of year, so warm the evening with a tablescape that twinkles and glows.

* Adorn the place settings with glittering snowflakes. Cut them out of plain white paper, coat them with spray adhesive, and sprinkle granulated sugar on top. When they are dry, place one on each accent plate for a distinctive touch.

* Silver's cool luster shimmers in this wintry-looking mix. At each place setting, a stainless steel votive holder, a dollop of faux snow, and a small ornament top the snowflake. Other votive holders on the table gleam with candlelight.

* Stack frosty white ornaments in clear vases to fill out the centerpiece arrangement. A crystal-bead garland meanders among the vases as the finishing touch.

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Dec 2006
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved